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Montoursville Little Leaguers play catch with the president on White House lawn

The White House was looking to celebrate the start of a pandemic-shortened Major League Baseball season with some little leaguers.

MONTOURSVILLE, Pa. — Members of the Montoursville Little League played catch with president Donald Trump on the White House lawn on Thursday.

13 players and five coaches from Montoursville were chosen to head down to the nation's capital.

"I told the kids there are three million little leaguers in the world. They were one of 13 kids to play catch on the south lawn and meet the president of the United States," Montoursville Little League President Scott Metzger said.

Player Chase Jones said he was shaking because he was so nervous before meeting President Trump.

"We were all talking about how, 'oh, jeez what are we going to do when we see the president!' We were like talking about how we couldn't drop a ball. We were just like, 'please don't drop a ball,'" Jones said.

The White House contacted little league headquarters in South Williamsport on Wednesday looking for a team to throw around the ball with President Donald Trump.

The White House wanted to celebrate the start of a pandemic-shortened major league baseball season with some little leaguers.

The next day, players and coaches from Montoursville were at the White House.

"Just the whole experience was something I would love to do and I never thought I would be able to do," player Shea Ulmer said.

All of the players and coaches were tested for the coronavirus at the White House before they could meet with the president.

"We had our results within the hour for the entire group and we're all pretty relieved to say that we're all COVID-free," Montoursville little league team manager Bruce Jones said.

In addition to meeting President Trump, players and coaches also learned a thing or two from former Yankees all-star relief pitcher Mariano Rivera.

"He taught all of us his slider. How he threw his slider and that was pretty cool," player Jay Houseknecht said.

Now, players in Montoursville are back on their home field playing ball and feeling inspired.

"This will definitely be something that I will remember for the rest of my life," Chase Jones said.

All told, members of the Montoursville Little League spent about two hours at the White House.

Video of their visit has been posted to the White House Facebook page.

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