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Instant celebrities
The champions are welcomed
back to school with fanfare
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The first day back to class for several returning Little League World Series champions started not with schoolwork, but with more leis and raucous cheers.
Several members of the Ewa Beach baseball team were back to classes at various schools after missing the start of the new school year so they could play in the tournament.
And judging by the multiple receptions, they could have been mistaken for rock stars.
At Damien Memorial School in Kalihi, middle school students ripped sheets of folder paper from their binders to get an autograph from Michael Memea, the eighth-grader who hit the winning home run against Curacao for a thrilling 7-6 victory.
"He told me he was going to save the best for last," said his father, Mack Memea.
About 475 students roared and clapped in the gym as Memea was recognized during the school's national honor assembly. "I didn't expect all of this," said Memea, who was surprised when fellow students started asking for his autograph.
"The kids were all cheering and cheering for one of the quietest kids in the school," said school President Brother Greg O'Donnell.
"Quiet but effective -- that's what Mike is," middle school Principal Burton Tomita said.
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At Our Lady of Good Counsel School, Myron Enos Jr. endured being the center of attention during a morning assembly.
"We were all glued to the television this weekend," Principal Cindy Olaso said. Pointing to his dyed hair, she said, "We saw that blond guy! He belongs to us."
More than a hundred children from preschool to eighth grade lined up to give Myron leis, homemade cards and hugs. They cheered and spelled out his name and cheered again and again, "We are proud of you! We are proud of you!"
Afterward, the eighth-grader said he was still taking it all in. "I thought I'd come back to school and do the regular thing," he said. "I still can't believe we won."
Myron said things are mostly the same, except, "just gotta sign autographs."
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At Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Ewa Beach, about 250 students crammed into a small church and, after Mass, cheered their own baseball hero, seventh-grader Layson Aliviado.
The screams and yells drowned out everything else and triggered big smiles from the Aliviado family, including Layson's father, the team manager, mother and older sister, Lacie.
"He's still the same brother," she said. "I don't think he expected this. He's really shocked and overwhelmed."
After more cheers of "2-4-6-8, who do we appreciate!" had died down, Layson let everybody know exactly what he appreciated the most, especially since the school year at Our Lady of Perpetual Help began on Aug. 7.
"Thank you, everybody, for letting me skip school," he said with a smile, then added, "and for all the blessings that God gave me. Thank you."
His mother, Debbie, laughed and said, "We told the boys if they don't keep winning, you gotta go back school."
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In the gym of Hanalani Schools, a private school in Mililani, more than 700 students stomped on the bleachers and cheered for eighth-grader Ty Tirpak as they held signs that read, "Ty U Rock" and "Got Ty? We do!"
"It's awesome that everybody came out just to do this. It's just really cool," Tirpak said.
During the special assembly, Tirpak's homeroom teacher, Joanna Chai, read a poem that Tirpak wrote in November of his dream to win the World Series.
"He's so humble, so passionate," Chai said. "He's an overall phenomenal kid."
Ty's father, Clint, who also coached for the team, reminded students of a life lesson, that "when you work hard, good things happen to you."
Elementary students lined up to greet Ty with a congratulatory slap on his hand.
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At Highlands Intermediate School cafeteria, about 1,000 seventh- and eighth-graders crammed into a small cafeteria and screamed for team members Sheyne Baniaga and Ethan Javier. They also recognized seventh-grader Cory Quiamzon, who, along with his Hawaii baseball team, won the Cal Ripken World Series.
Students provided their own entertainment, with eight girls playing ukuleles and serenading the three onstage. At times during the rally, the students cheered and screams were deafening.
"It's like this whenever we have a pep rally," said Principal Amy Martinson amidst the din, "except this is a bit more."
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At Waipahu Intermediate School, seventh-grader Quentin Guevara and eighth-grader Zachary Rosete were driven around campus in golf carts decorated with star-shaped mylar balloons and soda cans stringed to the bumper.
About 1,300 students stood outside their classrooms cheering and holding bright-colored signs that read, "World Champs."
"For a small island like this, we actually did it," eighth-grader Michael Agpaoa said.
Like Memea, Rosete was shocked at all the attention. "I didn't expect all this," he said.
Principal Randell Dunn commended them for their poise. "Just the maturity ... they had made the school very proud," he said.
The schools presented each baseball player with awards for representing his school and being a role model student.
More accolades are expected today for Harrison Kam at Mid-Pacific Institute in Manoa and next Thursday for Vonn Feao and Zachary Ranit at Ilima Intermediate School.
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World Series title boosts
first-base coach’s
fight against cancer
Testicular cancer slowed Clint Tirpak during the Ewa Beach Little League team's season, but winning the World Series title "helped push me along," he says.
The team bonded not only to win the Little League World Series, but to help the first-base coach battle the cancer.
"It (the championship) was something we've been striving for two years," Tirpak said. "God pulled me through."
Tirpak, father of player Ty Tirpak, was diagnosed with testicular cancer in December. A couple of weeks before he flew to Pennsylvania for the Little League World Series, he had completed three months of chemotherapy.
Tirpak, 41, underwent surgery at Straub Clinic & Hospital to remove a testicle. Tirpak said he was doing well after the surgery. But in April, doctors detected a tumor in his lower abdomen.
He had chemotherapy, but he was forced to stay in his Ewa home because of the side effects. "My whole immune system was shot," he said.
"That was harder than surgery," Tirpak added. His wife, Anita, said Tirpak suffered from weight loss and fatigue.
His father-in-law flew in from New Jersey to help care for the couple's children. Parents of his son's teammates also stepped in.
"Everybody chipped in," Tirpak said. Zachary Rosete's father, Jerry, temporarily took over as first-base coach while Alakai Aglipay's father, Jesse, filmed all the baseball games he missed.
"He's doing very good," Anita said, noting that her husband will see his doctor to follow up.
He wears a yellow band on his wrist that reads, "Live Strong." The band was launched by Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour de France champion, who overcame testicular cancer.
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