With a day off on opening day of the 2015 sa国际传媒 Little League Championship, Beacon Hill manager Thor Wishart knows the trip to South Vancouver will be a grind for his 11-12-year-olds.
Beacon Hill will be making its fourth straight appearance at provincials with eight players back from last year鈥檚 event, in which the locals reached the semifinals.
Sitting out opening day play today means the District 7 champions will compete in six games in six straight days, starting Sunday at 3 p.m. against Trail, then back on Joan and Phil Lake Diamond at Memorial Park South on Monday at 3 p.m. against Lynn Valley.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a bit of a tough schedule for us so we鈥檙e targeting those two games,鈥� said Wishart, who was an assistant coach with last year鈥檚 team.
鈥淵ou never know in boys baseball, but we would be in a bit of trouble if we lost those first two.
鈥淭hose are two games we need to win and after that, it鈥檚 one day at a time. We鈥檒l see where our pitching is. You have to roll more pitching here than we did at districts.鈥�
Rounding out the field for the tournament are Little Mountain, New Westminster, White Rock and defending champion South Vancouver, which is also the host. Beacon Hill faces the defending champs (who they lost to in the 2014 semis) on Friday at 6 p.m.
鈥淓very game we play is going to be like our district final,鈥� said Wishart, referring to a tightly played 6-5 win over Layritz.
Wishart has eight players who competed last year and should be able to lead the others.
鈥淚t鈥檚 good that guys have been in these pressure situations before,鈥� said Wishart, whose son Soren, District 7 championship final hero James McGhie, Luke Anderson, Jack Walmsley, Quinton Horvath and Jasper Rye all have that experience.
Semifinals are slated for a week from today at 3 and 6 p.m. with No. 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3, respectively. The championship final follows on July 26 at 2 p.m.
The victor will attend nationals, Aug. 5-16 at East Nepean Little League near Ottawa.
South Vancouver won the nationals last year and represented sa国际传媒 at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. This year鈥檚 Little League World Series is Aug. 20-30.
