Take me out to the ball game
Canadian Little League Championship kicks off today
For three years Medicine Hat’s been getting ready to host the biggest Little League tournament in Canada. Today, it begins. Seven teams of 11- and 12-year-olds (and at least one who will turn 13 during the event) will play off over the next 10 days to see who will represent their country at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Penn.
“It’s just been excitement honestly, I haven’t been stressed at all,” said Evan Morrison, who’ll represent the home team. “It’s just exciting.”
A buzz was unmistakeable at Lovell McDonnell Field Wednesday as teams arrived for practices — and a few wasps came down to check out the spread too.
What they saw was the diamond that hosted the 1997 championships upgraded with new seating, signage, even professional-style lines in the grass amid an awe-inspiring view with the South Saskatchewan River out past the fence.
“This is one of the best fields I’ve ever played on, it’s so awesome,” said another Hat player, Brett Getz. “The backdrop is so nice, not many fields that we play on in majors have grass infields and that’s really nice too. It’s good to play on it.”
Three games will take place daily for the next week, the round robin-style format then giving way to four semifinalists and eventually a champion Aug. 12. That squad will be whisked away to Williamsport, where the world’s best begin play Aug. 17.
Here’s a quick look at all seven teams and how they got here:
Medicine Hat (Host)
Ever since the city earned the right to host this year’s tournament, Medicine Hat kids who knew they’d be in the right age group to potentially play on this year’s team have clamoured to get better and represent their city on a national stage.
Just making the team’s been just one part of the process this summer.
“You can see it in the boys, they have some nerves going on,” said coach Marc Seiller. “The summer goes a bit longer; it’s been a different year knowing this was on the horizon. But the boys are excited now.”
With a 10-11 overall record, the hosts may be a bit of a dark horse. They didn’t get to play in provincials since they already had a host qualifying spot, so they added a couple extra tournaments to fill out the schedule instead.
“We went to Great Falls which was our tune-up so to speak,” said Seiller. “The kids did well, through the round robin we only let up four runs. It’s good confidence building.”
Tonight they’ll face B.C. champion White Rock, following the 4 p.m. opening ceremonies. B.C. put two teams in last year’s final, including the host side, though neither champion Hastings nor Whalley made it back which shows how much depth there is in the province.
“The season has been really good, every game we’ve been getting better and better and now I think we have a good shot at winning this,” said Getz.
White Rock All Stars (British Columbia)
The White Rock All Stars will be running hot into tonight’s 5 p.m. opening matchup against the host Medicine Hat squad.
White Rock boasts one of the most prolific offensive lineups the tournament has to offer. After going undefeated through their provincial championship run, coach Emmanuel Factor says they’re still waiting to truly meet their match on the mound.
“Our run differential for the districts was 87 for us and 15 against us, so we are a very strong hitting team,” said Factor, adding the team has built some considerable chemistry over the years. “We’ve got a bunch of kids who have been playing together for a number of years. Basically we’re just out to have some fun.”
The lopsided run differential becomes all the more impressive when considering it took place over just five games. In those contests, White Rock rallied for a staggering 70 hits and a combined .530 batting average.
Glace Bay Colonels (Atlantic)
When you enter Glace Bay in a Google search, the second suggestion to come up — behind Canada — is baseball.
The 20,000-person community in eastern Nova Scotia seems to be synonymous with the sport. Glace Bay’s Little League program boasts an impressive five Canadian Little League Championship titles — the second most in the nation — and even hosted the event in 2013.
“We’ve got a great program. It starts with the tots back home and works its way up,” said Colonels coach Allan Gillis, adding his players all come to the diamond with the right attitude. “It’s great. The kids, from Day 1, they’ve been A-1. Since the end of May we’ve been on the field and it’s all coming together.”
The Colonels went 11-0 through their season, taking an Atlantic banner in the process, and infielder Robert Gillis says they’re hoping to extend that when they open the tournament against Lethbridge Southwest on Friday at 2 p.m..
“We have good fielding and great pitchers,” he said. “We’ve been practicing, working on our infield. Every day we’re on the field.”
Port Arthur Nationals (Ontario)
The Port Arthur Nationals have been to this stage before. This time they don’t plan on leaving empty-handed.
The Nationals are coming off back-toback Ontario titles, but with the sting of last year’s 2-4 finish at the Canadian Little League Championship still fresh in their minds, manager Tony Lachimea says they won’t be taking their second chance for granted.
“For some of these kids, I truly believe winning the Ontarios was the highlight (last year). They have to take it to another level, but they’ve been here and the nerves are out,” said Lachimea. “I think a lot of our guys were just in awe when they got there last year. It was in Hastings, in downtown Vancouver. So you’ve got the PNE stadium behind you, rollercoasters ... It was a learning experience for the guys.”
Jack Pineau is one of Port Arthur’s seven returning players from last year’s roster, and he says
“We blew lots of leads in the sixth inning last year so we’re just going to try to keep it strong and not even give out hits in the sixth inning,” said Pineau, whose team went 7-0 en route to the national championship. “We’re trying to win it this year and get to the Little League World Series. That’s our goal.”
Lethbridge Southwest All Stars (Alberta)
They may not be the home team, but Lethbridge’s Southwest All Stars are sure to have some serious fan support when they throw out the first pitch against Quebec’s Diamond Baseball Academy at 10 a.m.
Southwest manager Wade Pearce says his team has played in Medicine Hat five times this season, and they seem to have a knack for taking dramatic victories at Lovell McDonnell Field.
“A lot of our games this year, like the Medicine Hat tournament which we won, we came from behind two or three different times. They just don’t quit,” said Pearce, adding his squad went 21-6 through the season. “They’re a resilient bunch of players who don’t seem to know what a panic button is. They’ve sort of been able to let loose and stick with it.”
Southwest infielder Riley Pearce added he and his teammates are no strangers to big games. After clinching the Prairie championship with a 10-7 victory over Fish Creek last week — capping off a 7-0 run through the tournament — Riley says they’re feeling confident in their chances of going all the way to Williamsport.
“We’re just going to try our best. Go play and hopefully get a good outcome,” said Riley. “Last year in Vancouver we came fourth.”
Regina Kiwanis All Stars (Saskatchewan)
After going 3-0 through their short provincial qualification tournament, Regina will be looking to add to their winning streak when they kick off the tournament this afternoon at 1 p.m. against Ontario’s Port Arthur Nationals.
The defence-first squad will surely have their mettle tested against some of the country most prolific offences, but left fielder Griffin Allen says they’re up for the challenge.
“We’ve got outfielders who have been playing quite a while,” said Allen, adding they’re feeling confident after defeating Moose Jaw for the provincial title. “We just shut them down.”
Regina coach Rob Krueger added the key will be keeping balls in play, and with any luck, on the ground.
“Our infield is like a vacuum and our pitching is pretty solid,” said Krueger, adding his arms paved the way to a provincial title. “We played Moose Jaw back-to-back — six innings and six innings — and over those 12 innings we walked zero batters.”
Krueger, a high school baseball coach out of Regina’s Notre Dame, added he couldn’t hope for a better place for the tournament to be played. After making several trips to the Gas City in the past, Krueger says he’s well aware of just how much Lovell McDonnell means to the local baseball community.
“They named it after the right guy,” said Krueger. “He’s a prince of a man, so it’s nice that a prince of a man gets a prince of a ball diamond.”
Diamond Baseball Academy (Quebec)
After getting to the semifinals in 2016, Quebec’s Diamond Baseball Academy returns to nationals confident and excited to get another chance.
With that in mind, returning player Stefano Paolucci was asked what tips he’d give to first-time attendees.
“I think last year I was really nervous, impressed of how the other teams could be, how strong they are,” said Paolucci, one of four veterans of last year’s squad. “So just relax, have fun.”
Quebec went 4-3 last year, losing all of their games against the B.C. teams who fought it out in the final. They get the nerves out early this time around, facing Alberta champion Lethbridge in the opener.
Paolucci might be the oldest player in uniform this week, as today’s also his 13th birthday. Players had to be 12 or younger as of Aug. 1 to be eligible.
“I hope we can get a victory (today) for the team, maybe play well, hit a little home run for my birthday would be nice,” he said. “This tournament’s really going to show what this team can do.”