SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Josiah Infante admits he doesn’t know much about Williamsport.
He knows what it took to get there, though.
And for a 12-year-old who has spent the summer helping Hamilton West Side Little League navigate a path traveled by generations before him, that is enough.
“I’m about to find out,” Infante said when asked what he knew about the Little League World Series. “I don’t really know that much about it.”
He paused before putting the moment into perspective.
“This is a dream come true,” Infante said. “This is all I’ve really wanted.”
West Side is headed back to South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, carrying with it one of Ohio’s richest Little League traditions — and a team that has increasingly looked capable of adding another chapter to it.
The Great Lakes Region champions open the 2026 Little League World Series against Mountain Region champion Paseo Verde Little League of Henderson, Nevada, at 2 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20. The game will be televised on ESPN. The 20-team tournament begins Wednesday and concludes with the world championship game Aug. 30.
Paseo Verde earned its berth by beating Billings Big Sky Little League of Montana 9-2 in the Mountain Region championship Friday in San Bernardino, California. The Nevada champion also defeated Laramie, Wyoming, and Lone Peak, Utah, during regional play and is making its second Williamsport appearance in three years.
West Side captured its 23rd Ohio Little League championship in July, beating Canfield 4-3 in the state championship at Boardman’s Field of Dreams. Caiden Trent delivered the walk-off hit that sent Hamilton back to the Great Lakes Region.
Infante helped power the state tournament run. He homered in each of West Side’s first three games, including a two-run shot and three RBIs in a 6-5 victory over Canfield.
West Side then went unbeaten through the Great Lakes Region tournament in Whitestown, Indiana.
The Hamilton squad defeated Michigan 10-4, Indiana 11-0 and Kentucky 11-4 before meeting North Oldham, Kentucky, again in the regional championship.
West Side needed only one inning to take control.
Infante launched a two-run homer during a six-run first, Finn Dykes delivered a bases-loaded three-run triple and Boone Treadway took care of everything else. Treadway threw a one-hit shutout, struck out nine and needed just 62 pitches as West Side won 6-0.
Infante knew what he wanted when he stepped into the box.
“I was just looking, ‘Give me inside, give me inside,’ and I got middle instead,” Infante said. “I still took it like it was inside. That’s all I was focused on.”
It was another defining moment in a summer filled with plenty of them for Infante — whose development has stood out to West Side manager Tim Nichting.
But Infante quickly redirected the credit.
“I give them a bunch of credit,” the first-baseman said of West Side’s coaches. “They help me with my swings and everything else.”
That development has happened throughout a roster that includes Treadway, Trent, Infante, Dykes, Hudson Vonderheide, Bobby Frazier, Zach Hilton, Leo Feltner, Bryson Williams, Jack McAdams, Walker Osborne and Xander Kinkade. West Side is managed by Nichting and assisted by Ken Coomer, Chris Hilton and Chris Craft.
“We’re swinging the bats like crazy,” Nichting said. “It seems like every game we just get a roll going, one inning, and we just kill it.
“There’s no quit in them, man.”
West Side previously reached the Little League World Series in 1991, 1993, 2007, 2010 and 2021.
The 2026 team makes it six — the most Little League World Series appearances by any Little League program in United States history.
West Side reached the 2021 Little League World Series championship game, becoming the first Ohio team to advance that far before falling 5-2 to Taylor North Little League of Michigan.
“It’s super exciting,” Infante said. “Knowing that we’re one of the top 10 (U.S. teams) right now, it’s really exciting.“
PHOTO BY SARAH BAKER-DYKES
