Every kid who loves baseball dreams of hitting a walk-off home run.

The sad reality is very few grow up to get the chance to do exactly that in the big leagues.

Even fewer get the opportunity to hit a walk-off blast for their hometown team over the crosstown rival.

Mike Tauchman did just that Wednesday night at Wrigley Field, sending the 40,073 fans into a frenzy in the bottom of the 9th.

The Palatine, Ill., native deposited the 2nd pitch from Michael Kopech into the left-center bleachers to give the Cubs a thrilling 7-6 victory over the White Sox.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever hit a walk-off homer,” Tauchman said. “So I didn’t really know what to do. I’ve seen some.

“I love this group. That was a win that took every single guy. So many huge at-bats for us, big pitches thrown, defensive plays – everything. That’s a signature of our team is we win as a team and we had contributions all throughout the roster. Just a complete team win.”

[WATCH: Tauchman reacts to Cubs’ walk-off win]

For the second straight night, the Cubs fell behind early against the White Sox – owners of the worst record in the league.

And for the second straight night, the Cubs put together late rallies that featured big plays from up and down the lineup.

Tauchman was at the center of it with an 11-pitch at-bat in the 7th that helped lead to a 3-run inning. During the course of the at-bat – that featured 6 foul balls – White Sox pitcher Mike Soroka balked, sending Dansby Swanson to third base and Yan Gomes to second.

On the 11th pitch, Tauchman drew a walk and Swanson came around to score on the wild pitch.

A couple batters later, Cody Bellinger drove home Gomes with a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 5. After Christopher Morel walked, Ian Happ dropped a broken bat single into right-center and Tauchman motored around to score the go-ahead run.

The White Sox evened the score in the top of the 8th, setting the stage for Tauchman’s heroics in the 9th.

This is the second season with the Cubs for the 33-year-old Tauchman, who has carved out a nice role for himself on this team as an outfielder/DH who frequently draws starts in the leadoff spot against right-handed pitchers.

“Tauch’s a dog,” said Jameson Taillon, the Cubs’ starting pitcher Wednesday. “Every time he’s up there, you know he’s gonna have a tough AB. You know he’s gonna be prepared. He knows what the opposing pitcher’s got. He knows how they’re going to try to attack him. There’s no one more prepared and I feel really comfortable when he’s up there.

“Also just a cool story. Someone everyone should feel really comfortable rooting for – good dude has bounced around, gone to Korea. Really cool to see him getting an opportunity and getting these moments for his hometown team. It’s kind of like a movie.”

[WATCH: Taillon’s postgame presser]

The Cubs are Tauchman’s 4th MLB organization and he also spent the 2022 season playing in Korea.

He came up in May last season when Bellinger was injured and wound up playing 108 games for the team with a .363 on-base percentage and 2.4 WAR.

He has been just as valuable this season, sporting a .372 OBP and his 0.9 WAR ranks behind only Ian Happ (1.0) for the team lead among position players.

“[He’s been] unbelievable,” Nico Hoerner said. “The consistency of the at-bat, the ability to play multiple positions, hit lefties and righties, slug, get on base, hit situationally.

“He’s a guy that does all parts of the game at a high level as well as bringing a really healthy amount of edge to his day-to-day approach to baseball and all that he’s experienced in his career.

“He’s at the heart of the team on the field and how he carries himself day-to-day in a great way. He’s been a huge, huge deal for us.”

Tauchman has always downplayed the narrative that he is a hometown hero and he is not one to get caught up in the hype of singular moments during the course of a long season – even a moment like Wednesday night.

“I think every kid just dreams a hitting a walk-off homer,” Tauchman said. “To have that moment, it’s special. It’s something that when it’s all said and done, I’ll look back on and I’ll always have that and be able to smile about it.

“We’re gonna enjoy the win tonight. And then we got a big stretch coming up here. So you got to move on fast.”