When 48-year old Brant Hester founded the Bethesda Little League franchise in 2007, he could only dream of bringing a world championship back home to Montgomery County.

The league's president still finds himself giddy with excitement when he envisions a local team playing before an ESPN national television audience in Williamsport, Pa., during August's Little League World Series.

"We are obviously a couple years away," said Hester, who is also president of StarCatch Sports Marketing Services and heavily invested in local youth sports. "[Getting to Williamsport] is a next-decade item. … The attitude is: Last year, Salisbury made it to Williamsport, and that's not much different in my eyes. Down the road, it should be possible."

The LLWS, the international organization's marquee event, consists of some of the world's best 12-and-under youth baseball teams.

Each of the 16 qualifiers must go through district, state and region qualifying before reaching the final tournament. Teams comprise players from their respective area leagues, with 2.5 million players worldwide.

Bethesda Little League, Inc., which began play last year, recently completed the first half of its eight-team season.

From May 23-25 in Waldorf, the league also took a major first step toward prominence. A group of primarily 11- and 12-year-olds from six different league teams captured Bethesda's first-ever tournament championship, the Maryland Little League District 7 Memorial Day Invitational Tournament.

The squad of John Brisbane, Kyle Condon, Noah Abramowitz, Jack Nemeroff, Jimmy Devol, Ian Heffley, Alok Shetty, Matt Warner, Nick Evangelista, Josh Davis, Riley Pfaff, Brendan Tennant and Richard Banach went 5-1.

"It was a blast," said manager Mike Domanski, a cardiologist at the National Institutes of Health. "[Coaching is] the nicest thing in the world that can happen, win or lose. The kids just had a great experience that was totally unexpected. … It's a wonderful new addition and Brant is doing a fabulous job."

The landmark victory was just a small stride toward Hester's ultimate vision for the 104-player league. The University of Maryland and Walter Johnson High alumnus has secured a three-year contract with the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission to use and maintain the fields at North Chevy Chase Park for games.

Hester has also negotiated several sponsorship deals and received parent involvement to ensure that the league thrives properly. On Saturdays, games are played all day, with concessions, barbeques, parades and other family-oriented events at the field.

"I enjoyed watching [the LLWS] up there in the summer," Hester said of his inspiration. "I thought it would be cool to have. … It's the No. 1 youth program in world. It is a quality program for franchise."

While Little League is celebrating its 70th anniversary year, its presence in Montgomery County has been sparse because of local youth baseball organizations such as the Olney Boys and Girls Club, Gaithersburg Sports Association and Montgomery Village Sports Association.

"As far as I know historically, I am the only [official Little League in] Bethesda ever," said Hester, whose son, Brantley, played baseball at Whitman High. "I could be the only one ever in Montgomery County."