HAMILTON, Ohio — The game was supposed to start at 2 p.m. Thursday.
So Hamilton showed up early, claiming tables inside Shooters Sports Grill.
But then came the rain.
The first pitch was pushed back to 6 p.m., leaving fans to choose: head home and come back later, or hold their spot and wait it out.
Some left, but by 3 p.m., fans were already trickling in and camping out, ready to watch West Side Little League begin its latest run at the Little League World Series.
WATCH: Hamilton community rallies at shooters for its hometown little league team in the world series
Because for Hamilton West Side fans, this isn't just another baseball game — it's a tradition.
"We follow this team for, I don't know, forty, fifty years," longtime fan Leah Sizemore said.
For a community that has watched generations of kids come through West Side Little League, the annual excitement surrounding Williamsport, Pennsylvania — the host city of the Little League World Series — has become something people look forward to, particularly when the hometown team makes another trip to the East Coast.
And Hamilton has plenty of reason to celebrate.
West Side is making its sixth trip to the Little League World Series, a remarkable run for a program with 23 Ohio state championships.
At Shooters Sports Grill Hamilton, owner Todd Helton has watched that support grow year after year.
The goal, he said, has always been for Shooters to be the place for local sports, and it doesn't get much more local than this.
The fans filling the restaurant aren't strangers to the players they're watching.
"You hear someone say that's my grandson, or that's my nephew," Helton said.
That's part of what makes the experience different.
It's parents and grandparents. Friends. Former coaches and teachers.
Marianne Lobuono is a preschool teacher who taught some of the boys on this year's team.
Watching them now on a national stage is difficult to put into words.
"There's nothing like it," Lobuono said. "It's like almost magical."
On Thursday, there was another familiar face in the crowd.
Former Cincinnati Reds star and 1990 World Series MVP José Rijo was at Shooters, not as a celebrity appearance, but as another fan watching Hamilton West Side.
Rijo has supported the team before, including sending motivational messages and working with the players in practice.
He has seen baseball fans rally around teams in cities across the country, but said Hamilton stands out.
"I've seen a lot of fans, and I've seen a lot of cities in support of their team, but the love that I see in here..." Rijo said.
And there's something he believes the players may not fully understand yet.
The kids know their hometown is behind them.
But they may not realize just how much the hometown gets from watching them.
"You know we pay all the attention to those kids because it means a lot to them," Rijo said. "But it means more to all of us."
That's why the rain delay hasn't killed the excitement.
If anything, it has given fans more time to sit around, talk baseball and wait for their team to take the field.
And if Hamilton keeps winning, Sizemore already knows what comes next.
"We'll have a big celebration when they come home if they win it all," Sizemore said.
The game may have been delayed until Friday due to the rain, but Hamilton is still watching.
The players may be in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, but their hometown will always be watching.
