They've settled into their dorms in Ancaster, Ont. and right now, the Moose Jaw Little League Major All-Stars are getting ready for their first game of the Little League Nationals.

All-Stars head coach Tony Dreger is seeing the wide eyes of the team as they experience a once-in-a-lifetime journey.

“This is a huge experience for them and it’s something they’ll get to live with and know for the rest of their lives, which is the exciting part,” he said. “This is baseball. We come here to play baseball, but it’s also a life experience, right? So that’s the exciting part about being able to come down to Canadians and experience this.”

The team won provincials here in Moose Jaw a couple of weeks ago and had a very short period of time to raise the needed funds to get there. The community came out for several fundraisers to help out, and Dreger is thankful for that.

“It’s actually beyond words,” said Dreger. “The support that the community gave in such a small window of time... You can’t say enough about Moose Jaw and about the community and about the people that were so excited about our boys being able to come down here.”

Moose Jaw plays a team based out of Quebec at 8 a.m. Saskatchewan time tomorrow. They then take on the host Ancaster team Friday afternoon.