As the truck neared, the cheering grew louder and louder, until the air was filled with screams.

Standing atop the bed of the truck were the 13 members of the Barrington U12 All-Star team and the three coaches. Players' moms and dads, brothers and sisters stood in one section of the crowd, wearing the New England team colors: maroon and blue. They waved frantically, took videos with their phones and screamed as loud as they could. 

The encounter was brief — the float rolled past the crowd of Barrington families in less than a minute and continued along the route to the thousands of other people who had gathered for the parade in downtown Williamsport, Pa. on Wednesday night.

The parade marked the first time many of the parents had seen their sons in three days. On Sunday morning, just hours after winning the New England Regional Championship in Bristol, Conn., the team rode a charter bus to Williamsport for the start of the Little League World Series festivities.

Players' families headed back to Barrington following the regional title, but began rolling into Williamsport on Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon.

Michael Pfeffer stood along the parade route with the rest of his family and waited to see his younger brother, Owen, the star of the regional championship game. Owen ripped four hits in the regional final against New Hampshire and drove in three runs. He also pitched a complete game — his final pitch of the game struck out New Hampshire's top hitter and stranded two runners on base in the 6-4 Barrington win.

Michael said he received seven text messages from some of the boys he played U12 baseball with years ago after they watched Barrington win the regional title. 

"Every single one said 'Wow' with a period after it. There was nothing else to say," he said.

Michael began cheering when the truck carrying the Barrington team rolled closer. 

"I think this is probably by far the coolest thing a 12-year-old boy could do on the planet. It really is," said Michael.

"This is one those things that they will wish they could do for one more day every single day for the rest of their lives."