. >> marquis jackson. >> 12-year-old marquis jackson lost his cousin to gun violence and he says he ande determined to show the good in his community. >> we are going the right thing to people look at us a different way, that south side of chicago is knot all about shooting but kids coming to play baseball, african-american kids that are doing the right thing. >> butler is the team's manager. >> it is a sad situation for the kids and it is sad to have, you know, every last one of them maybe losing someone that they t were close to him in some way, shape or form. but it is the reality, though. >> during the tournament it is the reality that the young men were able to forget and as the umpires say, play ball. >> why not us, you know, talented group of guys, they love the game of baseball, why not us? why not just go as hard as we can go and win as many games as we can. >> robinson all-stars have been on the road for more than three weeks. jim, the city of chicago on wednesday will welcome them home for the parade. >> axelrod: what a great bunch of kids. elaine quijano in pennsylvania, tha

. >> my name is marquis jackson. >> reporter: 12-year-old second baseman marquis jackson says the violence of chicago's south side motivated the team to get to williamsport, pennsylvania. >> i had a cousin, andre. he got shot when he was coming off the bus. it affected me a little bit, but it just drives me to work harder. >> reporter: the game is their sanctuary. tammy king's son, eddie, jr., is the team's youngest player, just 11 years old. >> when they're on the field for baseball, they don't have to worry about their environment in terms of being safe. upon but they're playing the game of baseball so they don't have to think about the negative things. it brings back home hope, not only to our teammates but to those other children that are looking forward to seeing what can they do. ( cheers ) >> reporter: king and her husband, eddie, are nurturing their son's interest in baseball. they've opinio been to every roe for the past two weeks. >> as i look in the stands, everybody else was emotional, and something positive coming from chicago, great. >> reporter: all 13 players have at least

throws to probably the strongest man on the team, marquis jackson. and has the ball in his hand. watch the footwork, and the strike to first base, double play. and american champion. >> karl: hard to imagine what it means to the kids, the families, the little league, jackie robinson west, and the city of chicago. they are the united states world series champions. an unbelievable story. taking care of the powerhouse of the west. las vegas, nevada. hondras. double play balls. some strong pitching. we'll be back after this message, and a word from our abc stations. >> karl: welcome back. again, we started the telecast talking about optimism and hope. the unpredictability of 11, 12, and 13-year-old boys. the first all-african-american team to make it here in about 30 years. 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, the consolation game, japan and las vegas, nevada. and then 1:00 p.m. eastern time on espn. what a shot from brad stone in the fifth to put his team on top. and the first four hitters for las vegas. they are feared, and should be. stone coming up with a huge hit. and the houston bouncing back.