Monumental day for Mountain Ridge kids

The recognition wall stands 8x12 feet and is encased with some of the most alluring river rock you will find, glimmering under a sunlight that draws one’s attention to the stainless steel baseballs and those names of players and coaches on them.

There is acknowledgment of the City of Las Vegas and its seal, along with steel plaques protected from rusting by layers of patina. There is a silhouette of a player and the park’s name across the top of each side.

In one corner near its highest point, wedged between a few rocks, is an old, tattered, worn baseball, like millions that have been thrown and hit and fielded by young boys across weathered grass and dirt lots everywhere, a flawless symbol of the game’s innocence.

The plaque reads: Home of the 2014 Little League World Series Finalists.

“It’s a blessing,” Austin Kryszczuk said. “Even if some of us don’t go on and play baseball, we can always come back here and say, ‘Wow, look what we accomplished.’ We know all of this won’t last forever. At some point, and I think it’s going to happen soon, we’re all going to get back to reality.”

The transition from fame to normalcy continues for Kryszczuk and his Mountain Ridge Little League teammates, who on Saturday morning were honored by the city at their home park with that impressive wall, which will forever commemorate the team’s run to the United States championship game in Williamsport, Pa.

Reality can be a tricky thing for those suddenly bestowed overnight celebrity status.

It can be an almost impossible concept for 12- and 13-year olds to grasp.

Mountain Ridge players have been hosted at countless events since returning from the World Series and have seen their social media profiles grow exponentially. They have thrown out first pitches at a 51s game and told NASCAR truck drivers to start their engines and attended heritage festivals and watched Blue Man Group perform.

I would think UNLV football coach Bobby Hauck might request the kids attend all Rebel home games for the remainder of this season, given their appearance at Sam Boyd Stadium on Friday night coincided with a rarity of sorts in Hauck’s team winning.

The players also took part in the annual Coats for Kids drive and will also be involved in toy drives for needy families during the holidays.

“The welcoming we received from Las Vegas has been phenomenal, from the parade to the procession down The Strip to all the events the kids have attended,” said Ashton Cave, who managed the team that became the first from Nevada to reach a Little League World Series. “It was great to see the community come together and support us.

“Have the kids been completely grounded? Not yet. I think the limelight and next event just rejuvenates those feelings and takes them back to those moments (in Williamsport). They’re going to miss this. It was a life-changing experience. But they need to remember this is just the beginning of their lives. At some point, the statistics say the game will separate itself from most of them. Half might not even play beyond 13 years old.

“They need to realize there is a good, better and best in life. Baseball might end up being the good for them. But then they get to discover what is better and best.”

Cave, the man who grasped and understood the experience better than anyone, has exhibited an inconspicuous demeanor since returning home, content to have returned to his job as a Clark County firefighter and to those daily moments he cherishes most with his wife and children. Dropping the kids off at school. Reading to them. Tucking them in at night. A hug.

He hasn’t been a constant at all the events — “I’ve pretty much fallen off the face of the earth and let the kids enjoy it,” Cave said — but has done his best to ensure players are protected from outside influences that are meant to damage more than celebrate.

“There have been some issues we’ve had to deal with, because there are obviously people out there with the intent to do harm or just generate chaos in the lives of these kids,” Cave said. “But I believe in the parents and mentors we have to protect them.

“Reality and normalcy are the important things in life. It’s easy to get caught up in the hype and what others perpetuate for you, but that creates a false security. It’s not real. Looking back, the entire journey was a tremendous amount of time and work and money for all of us. But you hear about things in life that you would never trade the experience. I wouldn’t trade what happened with this team for the world.”

Now, as you enter Mountain Ridge Park, a recognition wall stands to honor that journey.

Look near its highest point, wedged between a few rocks, for an an old, tattered, worn baseball.

A symbol of innocence.

Normalcy at its best.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on “Gridlock,” ESPN 1100 and 98.9 FM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.