After games during the World Series, Michael's teammates would spend their free time away from the field. But the 12-year-old from 'Ewa Beach would ask his coach if it was OK to stay at the park and scout a future opponent, said Michael's father, Mack Memea.

"This one would shy away from the rest of the crowd and go watch the games and ask me: 'What do you think about how they are playing?' " Mack Memea said. "And we would talk. I have not seen him yet, follow the crowd."

Michael is an eighth-grader at Damien Memorial School, and by all accounts, is a student who doesn't quit.

"He is not one of those kids where it just comes to him," said Mack Memea, an aviation machinist with the Navy. "Everything he does, he has to work for it. That's the thing about him. Working hard. Every grade he has to earn it outright."

Wally Aina, the dean of students at Damien and a former football coach, said Michael has a genuine concern for other kids.

He's not a talker or a bragger, just a boy with "quiet strength," Aina said.

"He is a kid who sticks his nose to the grindstone and works hard," he said.

As one of the biggest students in the class, Michael could be intimidating, Aina said.