For the first time in franchise history, the Texas Rangers are World Series champions. The Rangers clinched their first-ever title with a thrilling 5-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 5 of the 2023 World Series on Wednesday night.
It's an exciting week for Rangers fans but the City of Aledo is extra proud after one of their own wins a World Series ring.
Aledo is home to just over 6,000 people and 630 of them go to Stuard Elementary, just like one hometown hero, Cody Bradford.
“Cody! Cody! Cody,” students chanted at an end-of-the-day assembly on Thursday. “Let’s go Rangers!”
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Before Bradford was a pitcher for the Texas Rangers, he was an Aledo Bearcat.
“I just remember him being a really smart kid,” Bradford’s 5th-grade teacher Kelly Crain said.
Crain showed elementary school yearbook photos of Bradford, remembering him as a smart kid.
“Oh my goodness! It makes me all excited like I get a little emotional about it just to think how cool it is,” Crain said. “Just to see how well he’s done, but also to be the hometown kid that’s made it so far.”
“Special, special kid,” Aledo High School Head Baseball Coach Chad Barry said. “I had almost…emotions of watching as a little kid my heroes play.”
Barry was Bradford's Baseball coach at Aledo High. He sent his former player a text minutes after the World Series ended.
”To see a kid that has come through here and be able to do that I couldn’t imagine anything more exciting,” Barry said. “Such a proud moment for our community.”
That was clear from the volume of the cheers in the Stuard Elementary School gym. There is a lesson by example.
“I think it teaches that hard work pays off in the end,” Barry said
