Beacon Hill aims to thrive under B.C. Little League spotlight
Victoria champions begin play at provincials on Sunday
The road to South Williamsport, and the Little League World Series, continues at Chris Zuehlke Park in North Vancouver with the 2016 B.C. championship for 11- and 12-year-olds.
“The way they have been able to market Williamsport and the Little League World Series is quite remarkable,” said Craig Shaw, who with Rob Stevens and manager Thor Wishart, coaches the District 7 champions from Beacon Hill.
“The closest thing in hockey is the Quebec Winter Carnival and that’s not even close.”
That can lead to a lot being put on young shoulders. Shaw also coaches rep hockey at Racquet Club and high-level soccer and field hockey but said baseball is unique in that regard.
“Baseball brings the most pressure than any of the other sports I coach,” said Shaw.
“More than in hockey, kids need emotional resilience in baseball. These are nice life skills to learn. Baseball unfolds like a novel. I don’t care what Tom Hanks said in the movie, there is more crying in baseball than any other sport and there is a lot of consoling that goes on at this age.”
The provincial tournament begins today. Beacon Hill, however, gets its bye day early and doesn’t open until Sunday at 2 p.m. against Highlands from North Vancouver.
Having no mid-week bye day puts incredible pressure on the Beacon Hill pitching.
“We have to get creative and find ways that we’ve not tried before to work around that,” said Shaw.
Getting the start for Beacon Hill in the opener Sunday will be Graeme Glynn, who will be part of a battery that includes catcher Jasper Calder.
Beacon Hill plays North Vancouver Central on Monday at 5:30 p.m., Whalley on Tuesday at 4 p.m., Trail on Wednesday at 2 p.m., New Westminster on Thursday at 11 a.m. before closing out the round-robin against Kerrisdale on Friday at 2 p.m. The semifinals are next Saturday with No. 1 playing No. 4 and No. 2 meeting No. 3. The championship final is next Sunday at 1 p.m.
The provincial champion will advance to the Canadian championship, which is being hosted this year by B.C. at PNE Hastings Park in Vancouver. The winner there will represent Canada in the 2016 Little League World Series next month in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
There are nine 12-year-olds and five 11-year-olds on the Beacon Hill squad. The latter five will return when Beacon Hill hosts the 2017 B.C. Little League championship next year at Hollywood Park in Fairfield.
Beacon Hill advanced to the 2016 provincials with a walk-off three-run homer by Sam Shaw last weekend in the 6-3 victory over Layritz in the District 7 final.
The 9-10 Little League District 7-champion Layritz team, meanwhile, finished 1-5 at the B.C. championship in Whalley.
Meanwhile, the Canadian championship for Little League softball major girls’ 11- and 12year-olds is taking place this weekend at Hollywood Park with Beacon Hill and Hampton playing a best-of-three series for the right to advance to the World Series next month in Portland.
The first two games are today at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. A third game, if needed, will be played on Sunday at 3 p.m.