Waipi'o, baseball fans eager to take on the world
By Scott Ishikawa and Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writers
The Waipi'o Little League All-Stars beat some of the toughest teams in the state and region to secure a berth in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.
Now comes the task for the players' parents that may prove just as difficult: securing a flight to watch the team play in the round-robin tournament beginning Friday.
"Everyone is scrambling right now to get a flight," said Waipi'o Little League team president Troy Ogasawara, who watched the regional title game on ESPN2 Monday. "I heard some parents may not be able to fly into Pittsburgh at such late notice, so they may fly elsewhere on the East Coast and drive a couple of hundred miles the rest of the way.
"It's all crazy planning travel arrangements right now, but, hey, this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience," Ogasawara said, laughing.
The Waipi'o team, made up of fourteen 11- and 12-year-olds, beat an Idaho team, 5-2, on Monday to earn a berth in the World Series. The team was expected to arrive in Pennsylvania late last night.
This was the second time the Waipi'o team played in the regionals, but the first time they reached the Little League World Series. The last team from Hawai'i to reach Williamsport was Pearl City in 1988.
Ogasawara said nearly all of the 15 parents who watched the squad win the Northwest Region Major Division regional in San Bernardino, Calif., are expected to come home because of work commitments, then see if they can schedule a flight out to arrive before the first game at 10 a.m. Friday, Hawai'i time.
The Waipi'o team will play at least three games in Williamsport.
Assistant coach Gordon Oshiro, who returned home after the game, said Monday's victory didn't sink in with the team until later that evening. He said the team's success far exceeded the expectations of its coaches and players.
"We won the states, and we got to San Bernardino and they weren't really looking past that," said Oshiro, who will get back on a plane Friday to Williamsport and miss the team's first game. "Some of the kids were crying because things set in that they were going farther than they ever thought they would."
On Monday, it looked like Super Bowl Sunday in many Central O'ahu neighborhoods as family and friends of the team held parties and watched the game on TV. Ogasawara said the party at one Little League official's home got so loud during the final inning that neighbors thought it was an emergency.
All three World Series games involving Waipi'o will be televised on ESPN or ESPN2. And with Friday being a city and state holiday (Statehood Day), many are expected to stay home to watch.
"There are parties being planned around the neighborhoods, but I don't know where yet," Ogasawara said.
Regardless of how the team fares, Oshiro said the players and coaches will enjoy the experience.
"After we won yesterday, the handout that they gave us for Williamsport said there are 16 teams and you're one of the best 16 teams out of 7,200 all-star teams around the world," he said. "Last night we were sitting in the dorm and after everything settled down, I was looking at that and felt, 'That was incredible.' "
The Waipi'o Little League was organized in 1985 and encompasses Launani Valley to Mililani to Waipi'o-Gentry and Waikele. The top fourteen players from the league's three "major division" teams were selected to play in the state and regional tournaments.
The Waipi'o team will also have a secret weapon flying from Hawai'i to the Little League World Series: first base Sanoe Aina, the only girl on the team.
"Sanoe played the first part of the regional, but had a prior commitment back home, so she had to miss Monday's final," Ogasawara said. "But she's catching the next flight out."
Oshiro said he knows there will be teams at the World Series with more talent and size than Waipi'o. But those don't always win championships.
"If you believe in yourself, that overcomes talent," Oshiro said. "The chemistry of the 14 kids is way different from what I've seen on other teams. If one is not doing so good, there are a couple of others who always step up. That's how our whole series of games has been from when we first started."
Reach Scott Ishikawa at sishikawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 535-2429.
Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8025.
Correction: Sanoe Aina plays first base for the Waipi'o Little League All-Stars. Her position was incorrect in a previous version of this story.
