Hat junior AAA team wins big in opener

Whether it’s down the road or on the other side of the country, nationals are nationals.

Sure, Medicine Hat Little League didn’t have to travel too far to represent their province at this year’s Junior Little League Canadian Championship, bypassing plane rides for a twohour drive down Highway 3 to Lethbridge.

But whether it’s in their Alberta back yard or down on the east coast, it’s still a nationals debut more for most of the Little League roster and on Day 1 of play Thursday afternoon at Spitz Stadium, the Alberta representatives got off to a winning start with an 18-2 win over the Sydney Sooners of the Maritimes.

“I think there was a lot of nervousness and excitement to start this,” said Hat head coach Dean Harrison. “We’ve been sitting back in Medicine Hat for a week-and-a-half or two weeks waiting and practising and then it gets here. There are four kids who were here last year, but (for) the majority of our boys, this is still new to them. Playing in a national championship, even if it’s only an hour-and-a-half from home, is still big. They come here and see the field and the all tents set up and it’s exciting.

“I think there was some nervousness from the start, our first inning wasn’t great and then we got rolling and it was good.”

Among those returning players from last year is catcher Felix Miller.

“Last year was one of the most fun times of my life,” said the 15-year-old catcher who batted 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI. “We were great as a team and we didn’t have a weak link.”

Medicine Hat started the game with three runs in the first inning and added eight more runs in the third and six in the fourth to secure the win in five innings.

They’ll look to make it 2-0 when they face B.C. today at noon.

“You can play all the tournaments you want, but nothing is going to get them to this calibre of an event. We play lots of tournaments in the summer and we get to some finals and hopefully that will prepare the for this. But they’re still 14-year-old boys and when they walk across that line, there’s a lot going on their minds. I expected us to be a little nerouvs, but being prepared is part of the mental game of baseball. I think our boys handled it well.”

No matter what the event or the calibre, Miller’s approach remains simple.

“It’s still baseball, you play baseball and you win baseball.”

Heyden Harrison had the other mulit-hit game for Medicine Hat, batting 2-for-4 with two runs scored as the Alberta champs scattered 14 hits.

Hitting leadoff for the Sooners, Daniel MacGillivary was 1-for-2 with one run scored. Casey Jacobs added an RBI for the Maritimes.