It was the twin braids sticking out from underneath her helmet that made her a hit.

Just the ninth girl to reach the Little League World Series ­ Victoria Roche, of Brussels, Belgium, was the first in 1984 ­ Aina has become a celebrity in South Williamsport.

"Sometimes, I don't like all the attention," the 12-year-old first baseman said. "People are going, 'You're the girl from Hawai'i, aren't you?' And I'm just a player like anyone else."

But even at this level, Aina is not just like anyone else. Since Little League began officially allowing girls to play in the late 1970s, it has had to accommodate coed teams at all levels of play.

That can be especially problematic at the World Series, where players don't stay with their parents but are housed in a dormitory complex and kept separate from the media and fans.

"She is separated from the rest of the team," said Clyde Tanabe, manager of the Waipahu team. "It's not too distracting, because she stays with us until lights out. But someone else has to stay with her then, and we need to meet up with them again in the morning. She's just not as free to come and go as the rest of the boys."

And when she does come and go, she is recognized everywhere.

Last year, Tatiana Maltseva, a backup catcher for Russia, was the only girl at the series. Russian manager Vladimir Eltchaninov said Maltseva generally enjoyed the attention, but that it quickly grew old.

"Tatiana kind of understood, because in Russia baseball is a boys sport and was usually the only girl," Eltchaninov said. "But she had a lot more attention here, and sometimes she got a lot of attention from boys. Sometimes she had to be strict with them."

Aina said she's grown used to being one of just a few girls playing baseball, although there was another girl at the Northwest Regional tournament, playing for Taylorsville, Utah.

But unlike Maltseva, Aina is not a seldom-used backup. In fact, she started at first base and batted cleanup until the Regional, when she left the team to compete in a national track and field meet in Hershey. (She placed fourth in her age group in the softball throw.) Aina had to watch as her team came from behind to beat Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Aina rejoined her teammates in South Williamsport ­ her mother bought the plane tickets even before the regional championship was played ­ but has yet to regain her starting job.

She pinch hit in Hawai'i's 3-2 victory Friday over Worcester, Mass., hitting two balls foul before striking out. In its second game, an 8-0 loss yesterday to Fort Worth, Texas, Aina hit a hard line drive that was caught by the second baseman, then reached base on an error in her second at bat. She also played some defense, subbing in at first base.

Aina would like to get back into the starting lineup ­ that will come with time, her coach said ­ but she said she's just happy being here.

"I don't think of myself as anything special," she said. "I'm just like the other players, and I just want to play baseball."