Hitting Home : Cypress at Fever Pitch Over Little League Champions

Up to now, this city of neat housing tracts and well-groomed parks had only a race track and a spiffy new industrial park to boast about.

Baseball was something that big cities like Los Angeles to the north and its Orange County neighbor, Anaheim, cheered about. That is, until this week, when the Cypress All-Stars triumphed over a Michigan team during the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

The win moved Cypress into the U.S. finals of the 44th Little League World Series.

“Usually, people don’t even know where Cypress is,” said Carol Wilkerson, the Little League incoming president. “But the team is going to put Cypress on the map. We’re real excited.”

Cypress was to play the winner of the East and South semifinals today, but rain caused suspension of that game on Wednesday. The East-South game was rescheduled for this morning.

Officials of this city of 45,700 wedged into 6.4 square miles were in such a frenzy this week to throw a big bash for their boys of summer, they momentarily forgot that in order to plan a downtown parade, you need to have a downtown.

“We wanted to have something, you know, like a lot of big towns with a professional sports team or a big college team have when they parade downtown. . . . but we don’t have a downtown,” said Councilman John Kanel.

And so, instead, the city and Little League officials are planning an elaborate celebration for their young players--win or lose--on the steps of City Hall, Kanel said.

The ceremony is planned for Tuesday, because if the team wins, the local boys may travel to Washington on Monday for a White House visit with President Bush.

Kanel, who helped found the Cypress Federal Little League in 1963, said the All-Star team is only the third Orange County team to make it to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, the home of Little League in the United States. In 1968, the Bolsa All-Stars from Santa Ana lost, 3-0, in the semifinals, and the Northwood All-Stars from Irvine made it to the finals in 1987, only to be pounded 21-1 by a Taiwanese team.

Wilkerson said the team’s achievements have already generated town pride and an excitement unmatched in the city’s history.

“We have a tight-knit community. Everybody knows somebody on that team. We’re really proud,” said Judy Woiemberghe, who has lived with her husband and family in Cypress for 18 years.

Marquees at the city Community Center and Cypress High School offer congratulatory praise, while some local stations in Los Angeles broadcast snippets of the team’s 9-0 win over Brooklyn, Mich., on nightly newscasts.

“I’ve been following them and I think it’s neat because I have a boy,” said Julie Novak, from La Palma, who was shopping at a store in Cypress. “If we had this happening to a team in La Palma, I think we would be going nuts!”

Several fans urged Wilkerson to ask the local cable company to broadcast Tuesday’s Cypress-Brooklyn game. But the cable company told her it would cost $1,320 for the telecast.

“We had to go around and get pledges and sponsors to hear the game,” Wilkerson said. “They couldn’t show the game because they didn’t own the rights so we could only listen to the audio portion. But we raised the $1,320 in six hours.”

Wilkerson’s mother, Margaret, sat glued to the television set during the Cypress-Brooklyn game and heard the announcer describe the local team’s back-to-back home runs by Eddie Zamora and Pat Murphy.

“You should have heard it. It was grrrreat!” said the elder Wilkerson.

The excitement is spreading even among non-Little League fans.

“We don’t have any professional sports and the only good team to watch was the basketball team at the local college,” said Ronald Krieg, who sells and repairs vacuum cleaners in a Cypress shopping center.

“I’ve never followed Little League before, but with all the news on Cypress now about the kids and their team, I’m going to start watching their games on TV,” Krieg said.

One fan at a Buena Park restaurant is especially proud, but anxious. Daniel Chlebowski, 25, owner of Northwood Pizza, was the sponsor of the Northwood All-Star team from Irvine that went to the World Series three years ago. And this year, he was the Cypress All-Star team’s sponsor.

“Jinx? Me? Oh no, don’t even say that!” exclaimed Chlebowski, who plans to show today’s game on two giant TV screens at his restaurant.

Chlebowski said he donated more money after the Cypress team won the regionals to help pay for out-of-pocket travel expenses, including meals.

The Little League’s national organization pays only for flight and hotel costs of the players and coaches. Wilkerson said 52 parents and 14 boys traveled to Williamsport.

The city’s Little League excitement really started to take shape after June 17, when 14 boys were selected as all-star players to represent the Cypress Federal Little League.

They won their district, which included Norwalk, Bellflower, and Buena Park. Then they swept through their sectional and divisional playoffs and won the Southern California Divisional Championship to reach the Western Regional Championship game held last week in San Bernardino.

Wilkerson said the team beat teams from Arizona, Utah, Hawaii and Idaho to take the regionals and win a chance to play in Williamsport.

Win or lose today, one thing seems certain: The spunky team of predominantly 12-year-olds will not soon be forgotten on the streets of Cypress.

RAIN DELAY: Bad weather fails to dampen spirits of Southland stars. C14