Imagine being 11 or 12 years old and playing in front of crowds of 40,000 and being broadcast on ABC/ESPN. The road to Williamsport begins at the most basic of levels, however 鈥� the local neighbourhood Little League Park. It reached the District 7 Greater Victoria championship final stage on Sunday at Hollywood Park where host Beacon Hill defeated Layritz 6-3 on a walk-off, three-run homer by Sam Shaw in the bottom of the sixth and final inning. Layritz had tied it 3-3 on a two-run single by Spencer Lockwood in the top of the sixth.
Beacon Hill advances to its fifth consecutive sa国际传媒 Little League championship tournament beginning next weekend in North Vancouver. The provincial winner advances to the ensuing Canadian championship, which is being hosted by this province at Hastings Park in Vancouver. The Canadian champion goes to Williamsport and the players will come home with stories that will last a lifetime.
Teams from sa国际传媒 have represented sa国际传媒 in Williamsport 24 times, including White Rock/South Surrey last year. Also in that total are Esquimalt-Vic West from 1974 and Gordon Head from 1999, the latter with a team that included current Toronto Blue Jays left-fielder Michael Saunders.
鈥淓ven if very few players will get there, it鈥檚 something most Little Leaguers dream about,鈥� said Tak Niketas, vice-president of baseball for Beacon Hill Little League, and media liaison for District 7.
The sa国际传媒 champion has won the Canadian title and advanced to Willamsport every year since 2005.
No Canadian team has won the Little League World Series. Maybe that ground-breaking Canadian team is laying in wait. With a team consisting of mostly 11-year-olds, the sa国际传媒 championship this year will be the learning tool for when Beacon Hill hosts the provincial tournament next year with the expectation of making a deep run toward Williamsport when the core group will be 12 years old.
Meanwhile, the 13-year-old division of Little League has been successfully revived this year on the Island at the Central Saanich, Hampton and Beacon Hill (Hollywood) parks after a hiatus of several years. The combined District 7 Greater Victoria team defeated the Fraser Valley in the sa国际传媒 final at Langley to advance to the Canadian 13-14 year-old Little League championship beginning this week in Calgary. The Canadian champion advances to the Little League 13-14 World Series, also known as the Junior League World Series, next month in Taylor, Michigan.
There are plenty of options to continue playing after age 12 in this province, including in sa国际传媒 Baseball.
鈥淏ut this keeps the players at their home parks a little longer with their own friends,鈥� said Morley Wittman, Central Saanich Little League president, and manager/head coach of the 13-year-old District 7 team.
鈥淚t鈥檚 all about keeping the kids excited about playing baseball. Hopefully, we can continue growing [Little League] and we are getting stronger and expanding into 14-year-olds next year, as well.鈥�
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