SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Although about 50 family members have traveled from near and far (mostly far) to gather in this remote rural area of Central Pennsylvania to cheer on the Waipi'o Little League baseball team, their time with the players has often been limited.

The players and managers are housed in dormitories on a hill just above Lamade Stadium, in a gated complex called "The Grove." The Waipi'o parents more commonly refer to it as "the barracks."

On game days, the family members do not get to greet the players until after the game, and only for 10 or 15 minutes at that, before the kids hustle off to dinner. Most of the Waipi'o family members are staying at a motel in Danville, Pa., about 45 miles away.

"It's tough not seeing them," said Raena Donahue, whose husband Timo is the Waipi'o manager and son Christian "C-boy" is a shortstop/pitcher. "Especially with (younger son) Jordan, he misses his dad."

On Aug. 15, 17 and Wednesday, Waipi'o played night games, which meant the parents did not greet their kids until past 10 p.m.

The parents usually spend their days doing laundry, eating at restaurants or shopping. They have a rice cooker, so on Thursday Iolana Akau's and Kainoa Fong's parents made spam musubi for the team, which has been on the Mainland since July 30.

The motel has allowed the Hawai'i parents to use a conference room as an unofficial "headquarters," where they keep snacks and refreshments ready for late-night talk-story sessions.

Since seven of the Waipi'o players have been teammates for several years, the parents also have developed close friendships.

"We have great parents," Raena Donahue said.

Back at the barracks, the players are looked after by Donahue and LLWS volunteers affectionately called "uncles." One of the Waipi'o uncles, Ron Frick, is one of the team's biggest fans.

"These kids are unbelievable," Frick said. "They've battled all year and they stay level the whole time, nothing shakes them. They're always kidding each other in the dorms, having fun."

Frick, who was an uncle to 2004 U.S. champion Conejo Valley (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) and International champion Japan in 2006, told the Waipi'o players during the week, "This is your year."

EXTRA INNINGS: Home and visitor team designations are decided by a coin flip, and Waipi'o again will be the visiting team and bat first in today's overall title game against International Champ Mexico. Waipi'o was the home team in its first four LLWS games until yesterday. ... Besides family members, a few Hawai'i expatriates now living in Pennsylvania have shown up to cheer on Waipi'o. Among them yesterday was James Smith III, who graduated from Radford High School in 1965 but now lives in New Cumberland, about a two-hour drive from Williamsport. Smith, who still has family living on O'ahu, was wearing an orange aloha shirt and said he also showed up to cheer on 'Ewa Beach during its LLWS title run in 2005.