Huntington Beach to Honor Its Little League Heroes

The Ocean View Little League All-Stars were so close to the Little League World Series, it was almost a given that the team would be a contender for the biggest prize of all for baseball kids.

But they tripped over their final hurdle Thursday night in the Western Regional title game in San Bernardino, losing to Hazel Dell Little League of Vancouver, Wash, 3-2.

Despite that, officials in their hometown of Huntington Beach said they hope to honor the team of 11- and 12-year-olds that almost went all the way.

City spokesman Richard Barnard said the Little Leaguers will be honored at a City Council meeting in early September. On Monday, council members will discuss ways to commemorate the team’s efforts, either with pins, hats or maybe banners, and some sort of public ceremony.

Some in the city might feel a little remiss. Before the team left for the playoffs, there were no banners at City Hall to send them off. Nor were there any signs in neighborhoods around the field where the youngsters played this year. Typically, cities consider the mere possibility of a Little League championship a tremendous civic prize.

“They’re heroes to the community, they’re heroes to their families, probably heroes to themselves and their friends,” Mayor Dave Garofalo said Friday. “I think it’s a nice, solid, positive experience, not only for them but for us.

“They may have lost the series, but they won’t the game. I think they won the game of life. A bunch of little kids came together, young men . . . competed and had fun and had a lifetime experience they’ll probably never have again, and I don’t think there’s any loss in any of that.”