Fairfield Metro National Little League welcomed home in grand style

FAIRFIELD – Players such as Luca Pelligrini and SJ Taxiltaridas were busy autographing whatever kids threw up to the Fairfield Metro National Little League team on Monday evening as the town celebrated their magical run.

The ride for the U-12 regional and state champion team may have come to an end on Sunday with a third-place finish in the Little League World Series, but they wound up on another short ride on the Post Road as the players rode on a Fairfield Fire Department ladder truck in a parade escorted by the Fairfield Police Department to Sherman Green.

They were greeted by about 400 people showed up there to honor the 12 players from Fairfield.

With the support of nearly 60 local business sponsors – each of whom donated $500 for the 2025 Fairfield National Little League season – the team was able to spend the past two months playing in state, regional, and national tournaments. In the end, the team known as Fairfield Metro (signifying the Metropolitan Region champion) finished with the second-best record in the Little League tournament with a record of 5-1. They wound up making history locally as the first Fairfield team to reach the U.S. championship game, which they lost to the Mountain Region champ Nevada, 8-2 on Saturday, Aug. 23.

“I lost my voice about two weeks ago,” Fairfield Metro Manager Brian Palazzolo told the crowd Monday. “I’ve been fortunate to be with these guys for about five years now. They played an incredible game of baseball. We called it ultimate baseball. They loved being there. We kept them seven days a week for about three hours a day. I’m so proud of them. I’m completely blown away by the crowd today.”

As the DJ blasted “Enter Sandman” by Metallica, the players made their way to the Sherman Green gazebo where Palazzolo introduced the players.

The winning team

Those players include:

Logan Gryga, OF

Ben Herbst, RF/3B/P

Charlie McCullough, 2B/P

Luca Pelligrini, SS/P

Dante Madera CF

Joe Sorrentino, LF

Brian Palazzolo, P/2B/3B

SJ Taxiltaridas, 3B/SS/P

Tommy D’Amura, 1B/P

Colin Curley, OF

Jimmy Taxiltaridas, C

Boden Dunlap, P/OF

Coaches: Tom Curley and Dave Gryga
Plenty of speeches

State, local and Congressional lawmakers showed up to thank the team, its coaches, families, and the community for a special 2025 summer.

“I wanted to thank everyone for coming out to celebrate this Metro Fairfield National Little League team,” said newly installed First Selectman Christine Vitale. “To these young men, their coaches, and their families, on behalf of Fairfield I say thank you and congratulations. Our community is so incredibly proud of you and thankful to go on this incredible journey with you.”

She gave the key to the town and fellow Selectman Brenda Kupchick gave the players chocolates.

Gov. Ned Lamont made an appearance as well.

“Fairfield National, we love you!” he shouted. “There were watch parties all over this town and all over this state. You make each other better because you are a team.”

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who was also joined by U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, had some uplifting words.

“I wish everyone can see from here what I see, which is a beautiful picture of a community coming together,” the state’s senior senator said as he described the view of the crowd. “Everybody from different walks of life. You guys did it. You made his history (pointing to the team). They made history because they got guts and grit. They got determination. Most of all, they worked hard.”

Locally, state Sen. Tony Hwang, who hopes to enter the race for a special election for first selectman, helped hand baseball and shoes to the players to be signed for adoring fans.

“I want to thank these kids for taking us on a great journey,” he said. “I wanted to thank the community, coaches, the unconditional loving parents for spending their summer vacations to be with these kids. I want to thank the players for making all of us feel like kids again.”

Team record

As for the team, it earned third place overall in the LLWS by defeating Aruba, 4-2, on Sunday. While it had defeated eventual U.S. champ Las Vegas, 7-3, in the semifinals, it could complete the sweep of the team from Sumerlin Little League in Nevada on Saturday, Aug. 23.

It tore through the Metro Region tournament in Bristol with a 3-1 record by winning the regional title vs. New York, 12-1. Overall, in regional and LLWS play, Fairfield Metro was 8-2.

In the consolation game, Metro started the scoring in the third inning when SJ Taxiltaridis hit a two-run double and later scored on a wild pitch to take a 3–0 lead. In the sixth inning, Fairfield added an insurance run in the top of the sixth when Jimmy Taxiltaridis drove in his brother, SJ, with a groundout.

Metro used a committee of pitchers, including Charlie McCullough, Brian Palazzolo, and Tommy D’Amura, to earn the win. D’Amura was a key reliever, pitching 3.1 innings of scoreless baseball to close out the game.

FNLL President Diego De Lan was appreciative of all the work by the players, coaches, families, and sponsors.

“Thank you to the coaches, parents, and the sponsors for supporting our league and getting us to where we are today,” he said.

FNLL 2025 sponsors

The Fairfield National Little League offers sponsorship opportunities to local busineses. They offer a $450 plan that includes the name and logo of the company on the uniforms and a $500 plan for signs and or/banners at Tunxis Hill Park.

Here is the list of sponsors for the 2025 season: