On the road to nationals
Sydney Sooners hope to surprise at Canadian Little League Championship in Calgary
SYDNEY — A week after winning the provincial title, Parker Spencer still can’t believe his summer will include playing for a national championship.
The Howie Centre product and the Sydney Major Sooners captured the Nova Scotia title on July 25 when they defeated the Glace Bay McDonald’s Colonels 9-1 in the final at Cameron Bowel in Glace Bay.
Because there were no entries from New Brunswick this year, the victory secured the Sooners a spot in the Canadian Little League Championship that opens today in Calgary.
The tournament will mark the first experience of playing in a national championship for Spencer and the majority of his teammates. The event was cancelled in both 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re going into this tournament not knowing what to expect, but we’re proud to be the representatives for Atlantic Canada,” said Spencer, a 12-year-old right-fielder. “We’re going to enjoy the moment and hopefully come back home as national champions, but we know we have to play our game and we’ll see what happens — we don’t want to look too far ahead right now.”
Over the two-weekend provincial tournament, Sydney posted a 6-1 record. The club’s only loss came during the first weekend when they were edged 4-3 by Glace Bay.
“It was a pretty cool feeling to win the championship in Glace Bay,” said Spencer, a Toronto Blue Jays fan. “We have a pretty good team and I think we can get a few wins at the nationals and hopefully reach a semifinal or championship.”
Sooners head coach Kenny Long, who 20 years ago in 2002 played in a national championship in the same division with the then-Sydney All-Stars in Lethbridge, Alta., is pleased with where his team’s at going into the tournament.
“The big thing is letting them go out there and enjoy it,” said Long. “I don’t think there’s any need to feel pressure, the hard part was done and that was winning in Glace Bay and now you go and enjoy it and see what happens — they’re a bunch of kids, anything can happen.”
Long believes his team is balanced both offensively and defensively.
“I think our hitting is one of our biggest strengths — we’re well-balanced one to 13,” said Long. “I can put anyone up there and I can feel that I can get a good at bat with them.
“Our defence, we make our mistakes at times, but our infield is very strong. I think we have one of the best centre-fielders and I believe our catcher is going to be one of the best in the tournament, so I think that’s pretty good overall.”
The Sooners were expected to fly to Calgary on Tuesday. The team won’t play on the opening day of the tournament today and will be forced to play six games in six days, beginning on Friday.
Long admitted the schedule wasn’t ideal for the club, noting they would have liked to play on Thursday to spread out the off day.
“It is what it is and we’ll be prepared for whatever we have to do,” said Long. “It throws a wrinkle into things with pitchers, but we’ll come up with a plan and we should be OK.”
Sydney will open the tournament (all times Atlantic) on Friday against the Prairies at 10 p.m. They will continue the tournament on Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m. with games against Ontario and British Columbia, respectively.
The Sooners will continue the weeklong tournament on Aug. 8 when they face Quebec at 10 p.m. They will also play Alberta on Aug. 9 at 10 p.m. and host Calgary on Aug. 10 at 3 p.m.
The semifinals are scheduled for Aug. 11 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. The bronze-medal and championship games will be played on Aug. 12 at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.
The games will be broadcasted live online by CBC. The winner of the Canadian championship will advance to the Little League World Series, scheduled for Aug. 17 to 28 in Williamsport, Pa.
As for Spencer, he said winning the national championship would be a dream come true for him.
“It would mean the world to me,” he said. “To be able to go to the World Series, that would be something I’d never forget.”