Liam Cretsinger was just a well known clarinetist before the 8th grade alley cats trip. His friends described him as “hard-working” and “funny”. Recently, he made the top band at region, taking on the role of second chair and basking in the prestige and honor of the position along side just 3 other band students making it that far this year.
Recently, on April 30, 2025, at the eight grade alley cats trip, a miracle was witnessed. “No way this kid just won,” said Kevin Garcia at the stage of the phenomenom. After spending every single one of his 300 credits on the stacker aracde game, Liam had enough left for one more try. Against all odds, Liam Tate Cretsinger rode home on the bus that day with a PS5 in the hands of trusty math teacher Mr. Szymanski. “He’s just so skilled and whimsical,” says Ashlyn Louis, one of Liam’s close friends and band-mates. Liam was a hero, our school’s own national anthem, but how would he respond to this newfound fame?
After school that day, Liam took the PS5 back home with him where he booted it up and began playing some games. “I thought that they could be scamming me. I mean, what are the chances it’s a gummy PS5?” Liam says when asked about his first thoguhts after winning. For the remainder of the week, Liam was bombarded with questions concerning his PS5. Did he actually win it? Does it work? Did he get jumped after school? Luckily, Liam did not get jumped after school, but he was given some offers. “I think the highest one I got was $400, but I wasn’t going to give it up for anything less than $500, and even then I’d still have to think about it.”
Liam’s story is a rare one, but it’s important to be told in order to give hope to the next generations of children. “The only advice I have is to stick in there, don’t give up, and make every move with presicion. Every chance you get to play; play it the most accurately you can,” says Liam when asked about advice. Hopefully, when the current 7th graders go to Alley Cats next year, one lucky student can share the same fate as Liam and bring home the gold.
