So, this is what your modern day Cinderella story looks like cast in black and red.

It has a bleached mane that, along with a trailing shirt tail, flows in the wake of a 77 mph thunderbolt of a fastball. It has a Harry Potter magic and a Hollywood screenwriter's sense of drama. It has a deft bunt touch and fence-clearing clout.

Though it has "Northwest" scripted across its chest, everything about the faces and mannerisms in the polyglot lineup say "Hawai'i."

Whether you prefer West O'ahu or 'Ewa Beach as the name for this team, the planet knows it best today as the Little League World Series champion.

And an inspiring, resilient journey it has been, indeed. With a 7-6 extra-inning victory over Curacao yesterday, this beyond-remarkable band of 11- and 12-year-olds has gone where not only no Hawai'i Little League team has climbed but few island teams of any level or sport have ascended.

We know this from the whoops that echoed through Makiki and other neighborhoods when Michael Memea's leadoff home run in the bottom of the seventh soared over the centerfield fence to end it. We know this, too, from the crowds that gathered around the 50-inch plasma TV near the entrance to Costco Iwilei.

But you didn't have to watch this unfold on an SUV-sized $3,199 high definition set to know something special was afoot; something that transcended sports.

Not since the Pearl City team of 1988 — well before these players were born — had a Hawai'i team gotten to the championship game in South Williamsport, Pa.

And once this team did, it was clear, time and again, even under some challenging circumstances yesterday, it would not be content to leave there with a consolation handshake. It wouldn't be the ninth team to come home without the hardware.

Not after winning the state title — perhaps its toughest challenge until yesterday. Not after wading through a regional in San Bernardino, Calif., then knocking off the U.S. favorite, Rancho Buena Vista, Calif.

So, while West O'ahu left the bases loaded in the first inning after no outs and was victimized by a controversial call in Curacao's three-run third inning, you got the feeling that instead of being over, it was just getting started.

When the ABC-TV announcers reminded us time and again how the defending champions had four players who were veterans of last year's series and what a difference it was supposed to make, West O'ahu just reached back for a little bit more. In this, Vonn Fe'ao, the relief pitcher with a piercing gaze and mitt-thumping fast ball, was a poster player.

So much so that, if not for NCAA rules prohibiting early recruitment, it would behoove University of Hawai'i baseball coach Mike Trapasso to meet Fe'ao at the airport, 2011 letter of intent in hand. Before June Jones got there.

When the 6-3 deficit endured through a one-two-three fifth inning and TV began counting down the outs toward the first repeat champion in a couple of decades, a chant of "USA! USA!" rose from the home dugout.

After all, as the signs in the Hawai'i portion of the stands put it, "We Got Faith."

Along with a little persistence and perseverance, too. Well beyond the players' tender years.

Until this month the West O'ahu Little Leaguers might have known them best as classroom spelling words. Funny how this Little League thing works, though. The whole experience is supposed to teach those on the 16 teams that play in the World Series what character-building words like them mean.

Instead, a remarkable team of youngsters defined them for us all.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.