HAMILTON The numbers stretch across the board overlooking West Side Little League, reminders of teams and players who came before.Twenty-three Ohio championships. Five trips to Williamsport.At most Little League programs, those numbers would represent a history worth celebrating. At West Side, they also establish the expectation for whoever comes next.The latest group gets its opportunity beginning Saturday.West Side returns to the Little League Baseball Great Lakes Region Tournament in Whitestown, Indiana, where the Ohio champion will face Michigan champion Greater Bay Little League at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Little League Central Region Complex on ESPN+.The five-team tournament runs through Wednesday, with the champion advancing to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.Like you guys all see, our board up there with all our state titles, everybody expects to win here, West Side manager Tim Nichting said. We have a very competitive regular season. Weve got competitive coaches. And our kids all know the history of West Side Little League. They just want to fill the shoes of all the kids before them.That history began long before the current players or even their coaches arrived.West Side held its first opening day in 1952 and has spent more than seven decades as part of Hamiltons baseball identity. The league competes in Ohio District 9 and operates from its Eaton Avenue complex.Nichting has been around for much of the programs modern history.He began helping his father coach a Little League team in 1983, starting a coaching run that has stretched more than four decades. Before that, he spent two years as a batboy and three years playing Little League.His connection to West Side is essentially lifelong.You get older, you realize what youve done as a person, Nichting said. Having Kenny and me and him just going at it year after year, I think thats obviously the consistency.Were kind of keep saying it all the time were a little nuts in the head, but we love making kids better in Hamilton and baseball. My dad started that for me, and I just go from that. I had a good teacher.Kenny is longtime West Side coach Ken Coomer, another central figure in the programs sustained success.Nichting and Coomer have traded roles during some of West Sides biggest runs. Nichting managed West Sides 2007 Little League World Series team with Coomer as a coach. Three years later, Coomer managed and Nichting coached when Hamilton returned to Williamsport.West Sides five World Series appearances came in 1991, 1993, 2007, 2010 and 2021. Little Leagues historical records show Hamilton has accounted for five of Ohios 12 appearances in Williamsport.The most recent trip became the deepest.West Side reached the 2021 Little League World Series championship game before falling to Taylor North, Michigan, 5-2. It was the first time the Hamilton program reached the World Series final.Five years later, Williamsport is again within reach.Its special every time you go because the kids change, Nichting said. Fresh as a daisy, man. Want to do it again.Its kind of like the end of the rainbow. Even for me, trust me, its awesome taking kids and just helping their dream come true. But its pretty neat for me too, I aint gonna kid you.Looking for redemptionThere is another number that matters to this West Side team.Nine-four.That was the final score of last years Great Lakes Region championship game, when Clarendon Hills, Illinois, ended West Sides season one victory short of Williamsport.Hamilton had looked dominant before the championship. West Side beat Kentucky 7-0 in its opener, defeated Michigan and then routed Clarendon Hills 11-1 to advance directly to the title game. Illinois fought back through the elimination bracket and beat West Side 9-4 in the rematch.Two members of this years team Boone Treadway and Bobby Frazier experienced it.They have not forgotten.Theres no doubt Bob and Boone, they both work at it hard, Nichting said. Theyre both great kids. I get the feeling them two really have a little bad spot in their stomach about last year, as we all do.Treadway has tried to turn that experience into something useful for teammates entering the regional stage for the first time.Just stay focused. Be calm, Treadway said. Theres a lot of fans there. Just play the way you play usually.Were probably going to see faster pitching in regionals. Weve been busting the machine up to like 70 miles per hour, so thatll help us a lot in regionals.Frazier has delivered a similar message.His teammates have asked what the regional experience is like and what reaching Williamsport could feel like.I told them that its really fun, and of course its good to win, Frazier said. Theyve asked what it would be like if we were to win. Id say itd be great. Itd be a nice accomplishment of ours. Win it for Ohio.West Side earned another opportunity with a state tournament run that finally tested a team accustomed to overwhelming opponents.Hamilton opened state play by beating Ironton 13-1 in five innings and followed with a 16-0, four-inning victory over Olentangy. Then came Canfield.Josiah Infante homered in three of West Sides four state games before beating Canfield twice to advance to the Great Lakes Region. Through four state tournament games, Hamilton has outscored its opponents 39-9.I was just focused on seeing the ball, Infante said. And I saw it three times.Canfield came through the elimination bracket and pushed West Side to the final outs. Hamilton entered the bottom of the sixth trailing 3-2 before Caiden Trent delivered a two-run, walk-off double for a 4-3 victory and West Sides 23rd Ohio championship.It was West Sides fourth state championship in the last six tournaments 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025 and now 2026.The latest title also continued an extraordinary recent run in which West Side has repeatedly placed itself one tournament away from Williamsport.Yet Nichting saw something valuable in the way this championship was won.His team had to respond to pressure.Infante felt it, too.Going into state, we were just focused on trying to get a bunch of runs to start the game, Infante said. Going through, we had a whole bunch of fun. Coming out on top, we just kept the energy up the whole time and tried our hardest.Frazier called the tournament very energetic.It was great for us because we got pushed, Frazier said. Pushed our limits.That might matter in Whitestown.Last year it broke our hearts, Nichting said. We hope to be a little bit more ready for that situation this time.More than baseballThe West Side players had just won an Ohio championship.They had returned to Hamilton after a long week of baseball in Boardman. There was finally an opportunity to rest.Several players had another idea.We got home, lets say seven oclock at night, Nichting recalled. Like seven of them said, Are we practicing tonight?No, well take tonight off.Nichting laughed at the thought.God love them for their love of the game of baseball.That might explain this particular West Side team better than its home runs, pitching or another state championship.The players want to be together.The biggest part of this group, they all like each other, Nichting said. They all get along. They all want to hang out with each other. They dont want to go home from practice. The coaches want to go home before they want to go home, which is a crazy thought.Some players knew each other before the All-Star season. Others came together through West Side.Infante, for example, played basketball with Walker Osborne. That connection eventually brought him to West Side winter workouts, Nichting said, and one thing led to another.West Sides website announced another significant change before this season, welcoming players from the Hamilton-Fairfield Little League footprint under a ONE Hamilton message as registration opened for 2026.Nichting wants more children from the Hamilton and Fairfield area to see West Side as an opportunity.Kids wanna go to the Little League World Series, Nichting said. I wish we could get more kids from the Hamilton-Fairfield area that would wanna come over here and play more baseball at West Side and get a trip or at least a chance to go to the Little League World Series.Infante said the friendships formed quickly once the All-Star team came together.Everybody just came together, started talking, helping each other out, Infante said. Thats how we just kept on going on bonding.Just having fun and playing with friends, added Treadway.Generations of players have grown up staring at West Sides championship history. Some eventually returned as coaches. Others brought their own children through the program.Nichting has watched that cycle for decades.He has also watched 12-year-olds learn things that have nothing to do with throwing strikes or turning double plays.The teams that went to the World Series, the longer we have them, the more their kids, I feel like, become more disciplined, more understanding about just everyday life, Nichting said. Without a doubt, we are teaching kids more than baseball.The current team has already added its own number to the wall.Twenty-three.Nichting noted that the total places West Side among the countrys most accomplished programs at the Little League Major level.But another number remains untouched.Five.Five West Side teams have reached Williamsport. The 2026 group has a chance to become No. 6.Ask Infante what comes to mind when he hears Williamsport, and the answer arrives immediately.I really want to make it there, he said with a smile. Thats what my teammates are trying to make, too.Frazier thinks of Pennsylvania and getting all the cool stuff.Treadway knows what stands between Hamilton and all of it.Stay focused. Stay calm. Play baseball, he said.And when Nichting was asked what people should know about the 2026 West Side Little League team, the longtime coach needed only five words.Man, we like to win.The 2026 West Side Little League 12U All-Star team consists of Boone Treadway, Bobby Frazier, Caiden Trent, Josiah Infante, Hudson Vonderheide, Zach Hilton, Leo Feltner, Bryson Williams, Finn Dykes, Jack McAdams, Xander Kinkade and Walker Osborne.West Side is managed by Tim Nichting and assisted by Ken Coomer, Chris Hilton and Chris Craft.