More cheers, fireworks as Ocean View team returns to OC - OCRegister
HUNTINGTON BEACH - Noah Segovia, 11, of Baldwin Park, held an American flag while awaiting the return of the Ocean View Little League team.
He only knew the world champions from television, but he was still compelled to join a crowd of about 500 supporters in welcoming home the team from Huntington Beach on Monday night in the parking lot of Murdy Park.
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"They inspire me to play better baseball," Noah, a shortstop and second baseman for the Baldwin Park White Sox, said as he stood close to his father Sid Segovia.
The Ocean View Little Leaguers were met with chants of "O.V., O.V." from the crowd as they made a celebratory jog through a narrow gap in the crowd and onto a red carpet. A few team moms placed Hawaiian flower leis around the players' necks as Mayor Joe Carchio greeted them.
During the festivities, fireworks erupted in the sky above the players as they huddled before the screaming and cheering crowd.
"It's the best birthday ever," Justin Cianca told the crowd.
Since their 2-1 victory over Japan in the Little League World Series championship game Sunday in Pennsylvania, the boys have found out just how many fans they made during their championship run.
They were approached by fans everywhere they went, from Pennsylvania to Cleveland, and from Houston to Los Angeles.
In the Houston airport, people who said they saw the game on television congratulated the team, said assistant coach Tony Cianca. The pilots made an announcement about Ocean view's victory on the team's flight into LAX.
"They'd say, 'Hey, way to represent the United States,' " Cianca said of the reaction from fans. "You know, strangers from Texas."
Even at LAX, the team was met by a crowd. But it was the hero's welcome they received in Surf City that the players said they found most overwhelming.
"Our hometown is what it's all about … we have so many (fans)," said Steven Kotkosky, 12, an outfielder for the team.
During the time they were in Pennsylvania, coaches would read the boys emails from supporters back home.
"We were overloaded with fan mail, basically," Kotkosky said.
Their fifteen minutes of fame is not over yet.
So far, the Ocean View board has been contacted about appearing on the Jimmy Kimmel and Jay Leno shows, and about visiting the statehouse to see the governor, said board member Steven Blokdyk.
All of those appearances will come down to parental permission, Blokdyk said.
On Sept. 10, the city of Huntington Beach will hold a parade to officially honor their achievement. The parade will begin at Orange and Main streets and go down Main to end at Pier Plaza. It is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.
Coach Cianca said initially he wanted to shield the players from all of the media attention.
"This is not what we play the game for," he said. "(But) we can take advantage of this for the next week or two. It helps (the kids) remember what a great summer this was."
For now, the players have become stars among their peers at home.
Sydney Sitton, 11, watched her friend and the team's third baseman, Dylan Palmer, 12, play in the World Series.
"I'm really proud of (Dylan). … He's made some amazing catches," Sydney said. "I'm kind of a baseball fan, but I've never really been into it."
Other local kids surrounded the Ocean View players to offer their congratulations, but mostly they asked for autographs from their newly famous friends.
Eric Anderson, 12, who scored the winning run in the 2-1 victory over Japan on Sunday, was bombarded with requests to sign baseballs.
Michelle Thienes, 12, was collecting autographs on her shoes.
By 9:30 p.m., an intercom announced that the ceremony was over, partly because the boys were autographed out.
"They're going to be signing autographs for the rest of their lives," Braeden Wallace, 13, said to some of his friends.
30 Aug, 2011
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Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEN9mBR9WB4VqNe79MFcyAAicAjNQ&url=http://www.ocregister.com/sports/team-314450-players-ocean.html
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