Waipi'o's 12-3 victory over Mexico in Sunday's Little League World Series championship game was so convincing, it made many people forget that Mexico actually had been the Series' dominant team.

And until their return home at Honolulu International Airport last night, Waipi'o manager Timo Donahue and his players didn't even know they were considered to be such huge underdogs.

"I didn't know all that until you just told me," Donahue said last night, after The Advertiser rattled off some of Mexico's stats and feats prior to Sunday's game. "But I did know they were a very good team."

With Waipi'o's challenging schedule in the United States bracket, Donahue had been focused on the opponent at hand and did not pay much attention to what Mexico was doing in the International bracket.

In the meantime, Mexico was pretty much cruising through to the International final, winning its first four games by scores of 6-2, 12-0, 10-0 and 5-2. In fact, the Williamsport (Pa.) Sun-Gazette reported that Mexico had won 21 of its 22 previous games before Sunday, including 12 straight, and that Mexico had outscored those 22 opponents 107-15, including 38-8 in the Little League World Series.

By comparison, according to the Sun-Gazette, "Hawai'i entered the Series with a reputation as a team that scraps and finds ways to win close games ..."

So Donahue said although he did not know Mexico was regarded as the heavy favorite, it did not really surprise him to learn that last night.

"People were saying the same thing (in pool play) — Connecticut was supposed to beat us, Florida was supposed to beat us," Donahue said. "Ever since the (West) regionals, we kind of flew under the radar, which is fine."

But when the Waipi'o bats started to heat up and the run production rose as the tournament went on, "it started eroding that reputation (of accidental victor) during pool play and Sunday the West champ shattered it."

Waipi'o pounded out 11 hits — including two home runs by Tanner Tokunaga and one by Iolana Akau — and became only the second team in the Series' 61-year history to score a run in every inning of the championship game. Mexico pitcher Jesus Sauceda, who had thrown a perfect game earlier in the week and was considered almost untouchable, gave up three runs.

Waipi'o's nine-run margin of victory was the largest by a U.S. team over an International champion since the title game included foreign teams in 1967. The previous record was set by Kirkland, Wash., in a 6-0 win over Taiwan in 1982.

The U.S. champ had won the previous three title games by one-run margins, including West O'ahu's 8-7 victory over Curacao in 2005 on Michael Memea's game-winning home run in the bottom of the seventh inning.

But in typical fashion, the Waipi'o players were unfazed by numbers and stats and what was supposed to happen.

"We knew (Mexico) was really good, but I thought we faced better pitchers," said Tokunaga, a second baseman/shortstop/pitcher.

That unshakable confidence in the most pressure-filled games proved to be Waipi'o's lasting legacy, one that will be remembered in Williamsport.

"Every (winning) team takes on its own personality," said Chris Downs, the Little League World Series media relations director. "But this team had a quiet tenacity about them. They had fun, but they were mostly reserved in their emotions until the end. They were successful largely because there was an even keel involved.

"They just got the job done."

EXTRA INNING: OC-16 sports director Dave Vinton said last night that all of the Little League World Series games, including the U.S. championship and World championship, are available for viewing on Oceanic digital cable channel 221, "Sports on Demand." There is no charge, but you must be a digital cable subscriber to have access, Vinton said.