听
Little League baseball holds such a peculiar place in the public鈥檚 imagination that CBC has entered into a four-year deal to broadcast the semifinals and final of the Canadian championships, beginning this year in Medicine Hat through to the 2020 national tournament at Layritz Park in Saanich.
There aren鈥檛 many children鈥檚 sports, if any others, that get that type of media treatment.
White Rock beat host Beacon Hill 6-1 and New Westminster outscored Highlands from the North Shore 9-7 in the semifinals Saturday at Hollywood Park in Fairfield and will meet today at noon in the sa国际传媒 Little League championship game. The winner from White Rock and New Westminster will advance to Medicine Hat for the national tournament from Aug. 3 to 12.
If historical form holds, the winner today will have taken a big step toward playing in front of 40,000 fans at the ABC/ESPN televised 2017 Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, from Aug. 17 to 27.
Teams from sa国际传媒 have represented sa国际传媒 25 times at Williamsport, including Hastings last year. sa国际传媒 teams have won the Canadian championship every year since 2005, except for 2013, when East Nepean from Ottawa was the national champion.
鈥渟a国际传媒 has a great baseball culture and our weather is more advantageous for ball, and we can get out earlier in the year,鈥� said Ryan Hefflick, coach of the undefeated White Rock team.
鈥渟a国际传媒 has produced a lot of major-league players and minor pros and college players, and that filters down to the grassroots.鈥�
Michael Saunders (Gordon Head, 1999), Adam Loewen (Surrey-Kennedy, 1996) and Jason Bay (Trail, 1990) are major-league players from sa国际传媒 who played in the Little League World Series.
Beacon Hill was looking to become the first Island team to play in the Little League World Series since Gordon Head in 1999, which included Saunders. The first Island team to make it to Williamsport was Esquimalt-Vic West in 1974.
It was not to be for Beacon Hill, however, despite a valiant effort by Sam Shaw on the mound Saturday for the host team.
鈥淚t was a fun run and the kids tried their best,鈥� said Beacon Hill head coach Tak Niketas, who will retire after 19 years of coaching with the organization.
鈥淚t was a great crowd out today.鈥�
White Rock has been the class act of the tournament. The athletic genes, particularly from the moms, don鈥檛 hurt. The White Rock starting pitcher Saturday was Chase Marshall, son of softball Olympian Carrie Flemmer, catcher for sa国际传媒 at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games. White Rock third-baseman Robert Orr is the son of former sa国际传媒-champion Cowichan High basketball star Kim Poland, a standout point-guard and two-time national champion with the University of Victoria Vikes.
No Canadian team has won the Little League World Series. But for White Rock and New Westminster, the dream lives for another day.
