As a veteran of 16 major league seasons, former 'Ewa Beach Little Leaguer Mike Fetters had his share of cheers and glory on the baseball diamond. But on Sunday, he was a fan. A fan of the West O'ahu Little League World Series championship team that rallied to defeat Curacao, 7-6.

"I'm very proud of them since I played in the 'Ewa Beach Little League," said Fetters in a telephone interview from Los Angeles, where he was on business. "This will be a lasting memory for all of them."

Fetters, who played at Iolani School and Pepperdine University before signing professionally in 1986, retired after last season.

Unfortunately for Fetters, he missed Michael Memea's game-winning home run in the seventh because in some areas of the Mainland, the game was cut short because of news coverage of Hurricane Katrina.

"The news cut it off in L.A.," Fetters said. "I got to watch them tie it in the sixth, but didn't get to see the walk-off home run."

Fetters said he was impressed with the talent of the West O'ahu team, which is based out of 'Ewa Beach.

"They're a thousand times better than I was at that age," said the 40-year-old Fetters. "They're a well-coached team."

Fetters said his Little League Majors Division team never got past the district playoffs. He recalled his team losing to a Wai'anae team that featured another future pro athlete: Kurt Gouveia, who played in the NFL.

Fetters is working for the Beverly Hills Sports Council, learning the ropes of becoming a sports agent. Sports Council had represented Fetters during his career.

"There are three, four or five guys that I wouldn't mind signing," joked Fetters about players on the West O'ahu team.

"This team had pitching, defense and hitting; I think they didn't have any weakness," said Clyde Tanabe, the coach of the Waipi'o team that posted a 2-1 record in pool play at the 2002 Little League World Series, but was eliminated because of a tiebreaker rule.

"The sky's the limit for this team," said Tanabe, who believes the West O'ahu team could "keep winning" titles in the Little League Juniors (age 13-14) and Seniors (15-16) divisions if it stays together.

"I was really happy — not just for the state — but for the whole nation," said Merv Yoshimoto, the manager of the Pearl City team that finished runner-up in the 1988 Little League World Series.

Yoshimoto said he recognized some similarities between West O'ahu and the 1988 Pearl City team, which lost to Taiwan, 10-0, in the championship game.

"We had good defense, speed and aggressiveness on the bases, depth and pitching," he said. "One difference was (West O'ahu) had power hitting."

Yoshimoto said the West O'ahu team was a class act.

"I was happy they were from our state — not only because they won — but their display of attitude and sportsmanship," he said.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com and Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com.