HILO, Hawai'i — Hilo's baseball world champions returned home yesterday, riding the airport escalator down to their cheering families with the heavy, precious Cal Ripken 12 and Under trophy brandished high above their heads.

A crowd of about 200 people greeted the Hilo All-Stars at Hilo Airport, including Tina Cawagas, pitcher Ekolu Martins' cousin. Cawagas joined family and friends who held signs welcoming the players home, and reminding them that "You Da Best."

"Beautiful, awesome, they so deserve it," Cawagas said of the world champions. "I'm so proud."

Big Island Mayor Harry Kim gathered with the team in the baggage claim area to hand out certificates of congratulations to the 11 boys and one girl, team coaches and the team mom.

"We was gonna give you guys the keys to the city, but nevah have enough keys," cracked Billy Kenoi, Kim's executive assistant.

Yesterday's plane ride back to Hilo marked the end of a month-long journey that began when the team arrived on the Mainland for the Pacific Southwest Regional Tournament in Woodland, Calif., on July 21.

The team won the tournament, and 10 days later went on to the 2006 Cal Ripken 12 and Under World Series in Aberdeen, Md. They emerged victorious by defeating Mexico, 5-2, on Sunday.

Along the way the players used all their skills, and all of their good luck stuff.

In Woodland, the Hilo players didn't wash their uniforms after a painful loss to the Bakersfield team. Somehow, it seemed to help. They won the next day, and then played Bakersfield again that night, and won again.

"Everybody started saying it was good luck, so then we didn't wash it until the championship," said catcher Chayce Kaaua, 11.

In Aberdeen, assistant coach Baba Lancaster showed up with a plastic bottle full of dirt from the baseball diamond at Hilo's Walter Victor Stadium, to remind the players where they come from. Before they stepped up to bat in the World Series, the players would use Hilo dirt to dust their hands.

As for skills, Lancaster and others believed from the start of the trip that the Hilo All-Stars had what it takes to win it all.

Rayce Kaaua, Chayce's father, said five of the boys on the team had traveled to the Mainland before for Cal Ripken regional tournament play for 9- and 10-year-olds, giving the team an experienced core of players.

Manager Kaha Wong, who is also father of pitcher Kean Wong and outfielder Kiani Wong, said he never doubted his team.

"We got them mentally and physically ready to play with the top 11- and 12-year-old kids in the world," he said.

The low point for the team was early in the trip, when they were pummeled, 11-1, by Bakersfield in the Pacific Southwest Regional Tournament, he said.

"That woke us up right there," Wong said. "Our kids said, 'Coach, we don't want to go home.' We got things straightened out, and we had to win five straight to get to the World Series, so from there on everything was uphill, everybody was playing, everybody was cheering on.

"We've been on the road for a month and had enough left when it counted," Wong said.

In 2004, Wong's Hilo team lost to Mexico, 12-3, in the championship game, so the 2006 victory was sweet. "I had to live with that until Sunday," he said of the 2004 loss.

"This is the best in my life right now," said Wong.

Hubert Pruett took 24 days off from his job with ramp service for United Airlines, and his son, Kawika Pruett, missed a dozen days of school. It was well worth it, his father said.

"The feeling of the group, the competition, the kids there, every parent up there was on a high just making it there," he said. "I had a feeling they could go that far, and they proved they could."

"The World Series and the championship is the best thing ever for me in baseball," said Kawika Pruett, who is the younger brother of former Kamehameha star and Milwaukee Brewers farmhand Hubert Pruett III and current pitcher-shortstop Alika Pruett of Kamehameha.

A highlight for the Hilo team was meeting Cal Ripken Jr. "It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing and he signed autographs for us," Kawika said.

Hubert Pruett said he was most proud of his son on the day of a loss, not a win. It came Aug. 16 when the team fell, 2-0, to Bryant, Ark.

"I liked the way he handled himself, even with the loss," the elder Pruett said of the composure shown by his son on the pitcher's mound.

The parents who traveled with the team made sacrifices. Wong said 18 to 20 adults and players stayed in a two-room hotel suite for 10 days in an effort to save money, and Team Mom Carrie Hoopii lost her job as a teller at Central Pacific Bank on the trip.

Hoopii said she was faced with a choice of returning to work or giving up the job, and said she chose to stay with the team and her son, Ridge Hoopii-Haslam. "I'm very happy that I chose that," she said.

Hoopii's story drew criticism from people who said the bank should have been more understanding, but Central Pacific Bank spokeswoman Ann Takiguchi Marcos said "there was really more involved than her trip for this World Series." She declined to be more specific, and said Hoopii resigned on Aug. 3.

So what's ahead for the Hilo coaches and players?

"Gerald called to congratulate us; it showed a lot of class," Wong said of Gerald Oda, manager of the 2005 O'ahu All-Stars that won the Ripken World Series. "I'm already looking forward to going head-to-head with him next season. We've got six players coming back and he's got a good team."

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.