Dreamwork

 I have no idea what Louis Lappe does after this, because he's 12 years old and when you're 12 years old all the doors stand wide open -- even the ones you don't yet know are there.

All I  know is what Louis Lappe did yesterday.

Stepped to the plate as the first batter in the bottom of the sixth out there in Williamsport, Pa., and jacked the second pitch he saw out of the yard. Flung his bat skyward. Raised his arms to the heavens as his teammates came boiling out of the dugout behind him.

That's because Louis had just hit a walk-off home run to win the Little League World Series. 

I don't know what any of Louis' classmates in El Segundo, Calif., did on their summer vacations. But no one's beating that.

It's the kind of dreamwork that is the province of every 12-year-old who's born lucky enough to entertain dreams, and it is the fuel that sustains them. We've all been there, on scruffy baseball diamonds or driveway basketball courts or vacant lots where the grass is long and footballs hang in the autumn air, there for the taking if you can stretch out your hands far enough.

You're Travis Kelce in that moment, not just all-time center because you're slower than fossilization. You're Steph nailing the step-back three as the horn blares in Game 7. You're Aaron Judge or Shohei Ohtani or Mike Trout cranking the walkoff into the upper deck to win the World Series.

Louis Lappe actually got to live the latter yesterday.  Reality collided with his 12-year-old's imagination, and it was the best collision ever.

"This is a unique feeling that maybe only five or less people experience in their lifetime," Louis said after the 6-5 win over Curacao. "I feel great. It's hard to beat this feeling."

It sure is. And so for every kid who ever imagined that feeling, savor it, young man. Savor it long and longer.