Randy Stevens, Dean Abiva and Ben Aina celebrate in second-inning action at the Waikele Golf Course Clubhouse while watching the game on ESPN2. Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser

Even if the Waipi'o Little League All-Stars lost, nothing would ever compare to this moment in their lives — the opening game of the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. But they won, defeating the team from Worcester, Mass., 3-2, on a sixth-inning home run by Travis Jones that set off five minutes of pandemonium, hugs and shouts of “Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!"

And all the friends and family that gathered to watch them today knew it was something to savor.

They filled the clubhouse at the Waikele Golf Course, 40 strong. They put a sign, "Go Waipio," under the TV. They hooted and cheered and screamed at their 11- and 12-year-old heroes, their sons and brothers and friends.

This was the first of three games and the end of a season that started in April. The Waipi'o team will face Fort Worth, Texas, at 9 a.m. Hawaii time Sunday. The game will be televised on ESPN.

Today, every out was an event, celebrated between bites of eggs and Portuguese sausage.

Ben Outram had come to see his 11-year-old son, Kelsey, a boy who started playing baseball when he was 5. Both had hoped for a moment like this.

"Oh, it's big," Outram said. "I told my son, just have fun, try your best. If you come home 0-3, I will still love you. I won't care. Just have fun."

To reach the Little League World Series is an achievement all by itself. More than 7,200 teams played a worldwide elimination tournament that started in June. Now there are only 16 left.

It is like being in the big leagues, what pro baseball players call, "The Show." The young players stay in resort-like hotels and wear custom-fitted uniforms that are cleaned and brought to their rooms each day.

But they had humble beginnings, not to be forgotten, said Troy Ogasawara, president of the Waipio league. When the team played at the Hawai'i state tournament on Moloka'i last month, everyone slept on cots or in sleeping bags on the floor of a union hall, sharing space with centipedes and mice. The team's 14 players were drawn from just three teams; Mainland teams draw from three or four times as many.

"It shows the quality of the kids and the coaching staff," Ogasawara said. "And the kids probably don't realize the accomplishment they've made."

Randy Stevens coached one of the teams. He has two players in Williamsport ­ he said that with the kind of broad smile usually reserved for new fathers.

"It's awesome," Stevens said. "We're really proud of the kids. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. To represent Hawai'i in the Little League World Series is a great thrill for everyone."

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8012.