As summer came to an end, the most popular, and arguably the most successful, baseball team from Chicago emerged on the national scene.

From the south side of Chicago, the team of Jackie Robinson West little leaguers made an incredible run to the Little League World Series finals. They won the U.S. Championship in the process.

This team of 12 and 13 year olds supplied Chicago what the Cubs and White Sox haven’t in a long time: late-summer baseball excitement in a city starving for some. They captivated an audience of millions beyond America’s third-largest city and captured the imagination of all generations.

The enduring memory of this team won’t be their 8-4 loss to South Korea in the championship game. It will be the energy and enthusiasm that JRW players invested in every pitch for a payoff that had nothing to do with fame or money, or the money that ESPN made off their popularity.

They wanted to win for their coaches, teammates and families, for themselves, for a country that embraced their enthusiasm and for a city that sorely needed their example.

I’m not saying JRW’s success in winning the U.S. championship will stop one African-American teenager on the South Side from going down the wrong path, but you can say this team just gave thousands of at-risk kids a reason to take the right one.

Nobody’s saying 13 black youths can cure all the problems that plague urban culture in their Chicago neighborhoods, but we can say they make us feel better about there being a solution. I’m not even saying that you still remember every player’s name, but it’s a good guess people never will forget their exuberance, their hustle, and their touching sportsmanship.

A community came together Sunday, from 119th Street on the South Side to State and Lake in the Loop, from the suburbs where we live, to the inner city, to watch a Little League World Series game in Chicago.

“They are the pride of Chicago,’’ said Mayor Rahm Emanuel at the rally at Millennium Park for the team. “This team has electrified our city and rallied people from every neighborhood to support these great kids. They are great ambassadors for the city, and for the world.’’

Emanuel’s words are strong, and calling the kids ambassadors for Chicago is quite a responsibility. The South Side has seen plenty of loss in the last year. 20 out of the 49 Chicago Public Schools were closed in this part of the city. It also has seen a higher proportion of gun deaths and shootings. Many of these neighborhoods are starved for economic resources as well.

But this message from the mayor had to do more with this team opening doors than the closing of their South Side schools — the kind that had to do with progress, not politics. A note sent to every JRW player and their manager, Darold Butler, by Rachel Robinson, Jackie Robinson’s 92-year-old widow, summed it up best.

“To have an African-American squad from Chicago, the first from the city to qualify for the series since 1983, succeed and inspire other young men and women is so meaningful,’’ Rachel Robinson wrote. “Thank you for upholding my husband Jack’s, your namesake’s, legacy through your hard work, dedication and excellent teamwork.’’

Similar sentiments flooded social media, with everybody from Chicagoan Isiah Thomas to reporter Robin Roberts to rapper Lupe Fiasco among those celebrities tweeting congratulations for JRW.

Even president Barack Obama called the team after the final game, one South Side resident congratulating another. A parade that ended at Millennium Park put a final conclusion on the great run for JRW.

“None of these kids will ever forget these moments.” Gov. Quinn said to an overwhelming crowd at Milennium Park.