La Mirada Celebrates Junior League World Series Champs with a Hometown Welcome
They went to Michigan as the La Mirada Little League Junior All-Stars. They came home as World Champions.
La Mirada captured the 2026 Junior League Baseball World Series championship with a dramatic 6-3 victory over Chinese Taipei in 10 innings in Taylor, Michigan, bringing home the city’s first Junior League World Series title since 2003. Then La Mirada did what La Mirada does best. The community came out to welcome the player’s home.
On Tuesday, August 25, the city turned the team’s homecoming into a celebration worthy of world champions, complete with a double-decker bus, lights and sirens, fire trucks, decorated EDCO vehicles, cheerleaders, a high school band and streets lined with residents holding signs and cheering as the champions passed. By the time the team reached City Hall, the promenade was packed with parents, families, friends, community members and well-wishers waiting to celebrate a group of young athletes who had just put La Mirada on the international baseball map.
The championship game itself provided enough drama for a Hollywood ending. La Mirada and Chinese Taipei were tied 3-3 as the game stretched into extra innings. Then, in the top of the 10th inning, Jaden Valdez stepped to the plate and launched a three-run home run, breaking the tie and giving La Mirada a 6-3 lead. It proved to be the difference.
La Mirada held on to claim the World Series championship and, in doing so, ended an extraordinary run by Chinese Taipei, which had won the previous seven Junior League Baseball World Series titles. For La Mirada, it was the culmination of a journey that began months earlier, although for many of the players and coaches, the journey had really begun years ago.
Manager Ray Jauregui described a team whose relationships were built long before the World Series. “We’ve been playing since June together, and a lot of these boys we’ve been coaching since they were in T-ball,” Jauregui said following the championship. “They’ve been with us for a long time. It’s a great feeling.”
Many of the players also share another hometown connection, having attended Hutchinson Middle School in La Mirada before moving on to local high schools. They grew up together. They played together. And in Taylor, Michigan, they became world champions together.
Winning the World Series may have happened more than 2,000 miles away, but the celebration belonged to La Mirada. The August 25 homecoming began at Behringer Park, where the team boarded a double-decker bus for a championship procession through the city. Accompanied by lights and sirens, fire trucks and decorated EDCO vehicles, the champions traveled along Alicante Road and La Mirada Boulevard toward City Hall. Residents came out in droves. They stood along the route with signs. They waved. They cheered. Families brought children out to see the champion’s pass by.
At City Hall, cheerleaders waved their pom-poms while the high school band greeted the team with victory music. The City Hall promenade filled with parents and supporters, while the Council Chamber and lobby were packed with well-wishers.
Then came the moment when the players who had represented La Mirada on the world stage were introduced at home. One by one, each player and coach was recognized before the community that had followed their journey. And sitting prominently on the dais throughout the ceremony was an enormous silver trophy: unmistakable proof that these young men had accomplished something extraordinary.
Remember Their Names. Championship trophies preserve a victory. A hometown newspaper preserves the names of the people who made it happen.
The 2026 La Mirada Little League Junior All-Stars World Champions are:
Ryan Barberena, Adam Brewer, Nathan Dowlin, Lucas Gaeta, Noel Jaime, Noah Jauregui, Blake Leal, Jayden Lopez, Ryder Ong, Jeremiah Ortega, Ryann Rios and Jaden Valdez.
The team was led by Manager Ray Jauregui, with coaches Ernie Jaime and Ricky Rios.
Behind those names are months of practices, games, travel and sacrifice and, for some, years spent playing baseball together from the time they were little boys. Behind them are also parents and families who drove to practices, rearranged schedules, traveled to games and supported them through victories and disappointments. And behind all of them was a community that watched, cheered and waited for its champions to come home.
There will be other baseball seasons. There will be other teams and other games played on La Mirada diamonds. But there will only be one 2026 La Mirada Junior League World Series Championship team. Years from now, the players may not remember every pitch or every inning that carried them from their first tournament game to Taylor, Michigan. But they will remember the home run that sailed out in the 10th inning. They will remember becoming World Champions. And they will probably remember coming home.
They will remember riding through La Mirada on top of a double-decker bus with lights flashing around them. They will remember seeing people standing along the streets holding signs. They will remember the cheerleaders, the band and walking into a City Hall overflowing with people who had come for them. And somewhere in those memories will be the sight of a giant silver trophy sitting on the dais.
For one summer, twelve young baseball players carried the name La Mirada all the way to Michigan and onto the world stage.
On August 25, their hometown had the opportunity to return the favor. Welcome home, Champions. La Mirada is proud of you.
Photos courtesy of La Mirada City Hall
