CRANBERRY TWP — Making the Little League playoffs is special. Just ask Josh Creese.

Before the pitcher-outfielder's Angels team participated in the Cranberry Township Athletic Association playoffs, he decided to get his hair cut into a Mohawk and paint it red, the team's color.

"The playoffs are different and I thought it'd be something fun to do,"Creese said. "A lot of the other guys decided to do the same thing."

Creese got his Mohawk on a Tuesday, just four days before Saturday morning's playoff game against the Indians.

By game time, all but three Angels players had mohawks. Two of the other three painted their hair red.

"Josh told me he was going to get the Mohawk and paint it to support the team,"Angels manager Mark Ondo said. "I thought it was a great idea.

"We got some e-mails circulating and most of the kids got on board with it."

Most of the parents did as well, including Danielle Ball, mother of third baseman-pitcher Ryan Ball.

"Ryan got his done yesterday (Friday)around practice,"she said. "I had no problem with it. It was all personal choice. Actually, it looks kind of nice.

"It helps that school's out, too. If he was still in school, Ryan wouldn't be looking like that."

Alex Ondo, the manager's son, has a thick head of hair. He painted it red, but wouldn't go the Mohawk route.

"We were out at 6:30 (Saturday morning) painting his hair,"said his mother, Robin Ondo. "It's something the kids were talking about and I think it's a cute idea."

The idea promoted team unity, something Mark Ondo supports all the time as a 14-year coach-manager of CTAAbaseball.

Had the entire team gotten Mohawks, Ondo agreed to get one as well. Besides coaching youth baseball, Ondo is a manager of telephone operations at Allegheny General Hospital.

"I'm glad all the kids didn't do it," he said, laughing. "I would have looked a little silly in a meeting Monday morning at work. But I was prepared to follow through."

Ondo said the team Mohawk idea shows that baseball is a fun sport for kids to play, nothing more, nothing less.

"Sure, we all want to win and we play to win,"he said. "But I try to teach the kids to win the right way with integrity, sportsmanship and respect.

"It used to be that only the coaches occasionally lost control during a game and yelled at the umpires or whoever. In recent years, parents at the game lose control at times."

Ondo cited one example: A parent leaning over the fence at a recent game and saying, "It doesn't matter if you walk the whole team, son, we're still going to win."

During Saturday's playoff game, the Indians had an 8-0 lead and were batting in the fifth inning when the umpire called a runner out at first base on a close play. Parents screamed at him from the top of the hill overlooking the field at Cranberry Township Park.

"Things like that ... it's the wrong message to send to kids,"Ondo said. "This is a bunch of 10-year-olds playing baseball. We need to keep perspective.

"The Mohawk thing helps to do that."

After the Angels dropped the 8-0 decision Saturday, the disappointment of losing overshadowed the new hairdos somewhat.

"I hate this Mohawk idea,"a player mumbled.

The rest of the team laughed.

"It's all just a game, no matter how you look at it,"Ondo said.