El Segundo Little League champions to ride float at Rose Parade

The world champion El Segundo Little League World Series team will ride on a float sponsored by DirecTV in the 135th Rose Parade on Jan. 1.

The announcement was made Monday, with players being surprised with the news after being invited to a gathering at the DirecTV headquarters in El Segundo.

El Segundo won the Little League World Series in August on a walk-off home run by Louis Lappe, setting off a victory celebration heard from Williamsport, Pa., to El Segundo.

The players have already participated in a hometown parade thrown by El Segundo, but the Rose Parade is, as the Rose Bowl Game is called, "The Granddaddy of Them All."

Shortstop Brody Brooks said his parents usually have the Rose Parade on at his house on New Year's Day via their TV. "They'll probably watch a lot more this year," he said.

Most of the players are now in seventh grade, and it will be interesting to see how many have entered growth spurts by the time Jan. 1 comes around.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.