Most of us didn't give more than a passing thought to the Waipi'o baseball team as it made its march to the Little League World Series through the state tournament on Kaua'i in July and the West Regional in San Bernardino, Calif., the first few weeks in August. After all, there were other teams playing in the Little League Juniors, Seniors, PONY and Cal Ripken series that had to be monitored.

But once the 12- and 13-year-old Waipi'o boys got to Williamsport, Pa., for the start of the series, we began to take notice. The team rattled off wins against Shelton, Conn., Tampa, Fla., Rapid City, S.D., and Mill Creek, Wash., before its heart-stopping come-from-behind win against Lake Charles, La., and blowout of Mexico for the World Series title.

Luckily, we sent reporter Wes Nakama to Williamsport right after Waipi'o won its semifinal game against Washington. In 2005, we decided against it and though the coverage was superb, there's nothing like having our own staffer on the scene, especially one who knew some of the coaches and parents.

Nakama, the only local Hawai'i reporter at the World Series, didn't disappoint, writing three stories on the team winning the U.S. championship against Louisiana a week ago and four more the following day detailing the world championship. He wrapped up the significance of the event in Tuesday's paper.

The industrious Nakama, knowing he didn't have time to interview all the players to gather details about their likes and dislikes, assigned the task to manager Timo Donahue, pitching coach Gregg Tsugawa and some of the parents. An hour later, he had the information and sent it to the sports desk.

It helped that Nakama knew Pikai Winchester's dad, Kanoe, since eighth grade and Tanner Tokunaga's dad, Glenn, the Wai'anae High School athletic director and former baseball coach. His easygoing manner made it easy for Nakama to meet other family members, including Kainoa Fong's parents and uncle, Iolana Akau's mom and uncle, Tokunaga's mom and grandfather, Matt Yap's mom and Khade Paris' dad.

The import of the moment was not lost on Nakama, who was on hand for a number of historic sports events, from Chaminade University's upset of No. 1-ranked Virginia in 1982 and the NBA Eastern Conference Finals (with Michael Jordan) in 1997 to Tiger Woods' best round as a professional (11-under 61 at the Grand Slam in Po'ipu in 2002) and the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 (Washington State vs. No. 1 North Carolina) last spring.

"I rank being at Waipi'o's two victories in the Little League World Series right up there with all of them, maybe even No. 1 overall considering who was involved, what was at stake and the unique atmosphere," Nakama said. "During the last game, I kept having to remind myself what a rare feat this is, because Waipi'o was almost making it look easy. But this definitely was historic, something that you don't get to see very often (even though it's now twice in four years)."

Reporters try to stay as neutral as possible when covering events, but Nakama was secretly rooting for the Hawai'i team. He wore his aloha shirts during the U.S. and world championships and Winchester's mom gave him a lei during the Saturday game, which he wore until he left the stadium out of respect for the gift.

Sports Editor Curtis Murayama gives Nakama most of the credit for our coverage, although it was amply supplemented by a team of city reporters, local editors and designers, as well as freelance reporters and photographers. The overall team effort was amazing.

When he got word two days before the U.S. championship game that he needed to be in Pennsylvania, Nakama spent more than 20 hours getting there, leaving at 9 p.m. on Thursday night and getting to Williamsport at about 11 p.m. on Friday. During a four-hour layover on Friday, he called Donahue and one of the players for a Saturday story that formed the basis for a preview of the U.S. championship.

After the Sunday championship, Nakama wrote four stories in four hours, finishing the last one at just before 4 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Monday and just in time for our 10 p.m. Sunday deadline. That gave him just about two hours to shower, pack and drive 40 miles to the airport before his 6:18 a.m. flight home.

No sooner had he hit the ground than he was pressed into helping with today's Little League World Series commemorative edition. All in all, Nakama and the World Series team rose to the occasion of another special moment in Hawai'i's sports history.

Mark Platte is senior vice president/editor of The Advertiser.