The Hastings Little League All-Stars team didn’t have to look far to see what winning the provincial championship meant to their association.

Vito Bordignon, who suited up for Hastings as a youngster and is in his 25^th year of coaching, admitted he was a little teary-eyed after his club beat White Rock-South Surrey 13 – 2 last Sunday at Coquitlam’s Mackin Park to capture the B.C. title for 11-12 year olds. He wasn’t alone.

“You saw a lot of grown men with tears in their eyes, and a lot of those guys had been with association before I was here,” said Bordignon, 43, before leaving for Val D’Or, Que., where his team, beginning Saturday, will play for the Canadian title and a berth in the Little League World Series at Williamsport, Penn.

Hastings is the first team in 30 years from District 6 (Vancouver East Side) to claim the 11-12 crown. Victoria Drive won it all in 1979.

District 3 (Fraser Valley) has been the dominant loop. Prior to Sunday, they had won 17 of the last 26 championships. White Rock-South Surrey had captured the last two titles and three of the past six.

“We knocked off quite a giant” said Bordignon. “It doesn’t happen a lot for our district. Sometimes, you don’t think it’s ever going to happen. For whatever reason, this team got it together and played its best at the right time and really shone.”

Hastings opens up the Canadian tournament on Saturday against the Maritimes champion.

• Hastings Little League will represent B.C. at the Canadian Little League Championship in Val D’Or, Que., Aug. 7-15, after beating White Rock-South Surrey 13-3* Sunday in the B.C. final at Coquitlam’s Mackin Park. The winner of the Canadians will advance to the Little League World Series Aug. 21-30 in Williamsport, Pa.

The victory capped a successful week for Hastings, whose 9-and-10-year-old all-star team last week won the first provincial title in Hastings’ 56-year history.

VAL D’ OR, Que. — Vancouver’s Hastings Little League team is still perfect at the Canadian Little League Championship, with four wins in four starts, the most recent a 12-6 victory Tuesday over the Prairie team from North Regina.

Matteo Vincelli hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning to put the B.C. representatives in front. Taz Burman also drove in two runs.

But Ryan Matsuda’s perfect run at the plate ended at 13 when he was retired for the first time in the tournament in the fourth inning.

B.C. plays its last game of the round robin today against the host team, Val d’Or.

Four years ago, the Hastings Community Little League gathered together a promising group of eight-year-old players — and their parents — and told them they had the makings of a champion.

Ryan Matsuda bats for Hastings of Vancouver, which defeated North Regina 12-6 Tuesday to run its record to 4-0 in the preliminary round of the Canadian Little League Championship in Val-d’Or, Que.

It was easier said than done, of course. Families move. Injuries happen. Kids discover other sports and other interests. But this group stuck together and is now reaping the rewards at the Canadian Little League championships in Val-d’Or, Que.

Hastings, which shocked two time defending champion White Rock 13-2 to win the B.C. title, is running roughshod over the competition from across Canada. The Vancouver east-side squad won its fourth straight Tuesday, thumping Prairie representative North Regina 12-6. It was their closest game so far.

In their first three outings, they trounced Nova Scotia 11-3, Ontario 19-2 and Valleyfield, Que., 23-2.

With one game remaining in the round-robin, today against host Val-d’Or, they have already clinched first place and a berth in Friday’s semi-finals. They have out-scored their opponents 55-13.

The final goes Saturday with the victors getting an all-expenses paid trip to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

“This was a long time coming,” Hastings head coach Jeff Matsuda explained Tuesday from Val-d’Or. “As eight-year-olds, the kids won our district handily and were, like, mercy-ing everybody. I mean, they were just mopping up teams. So our president at the time called all the parents together after that season and said: ‘Look, I see something special here and if you guys take this seriously, this team can go far.’

“We’ve been knocking on the door ever since. We finished third in the provincials with this group for the last three years. So it’s been a four-year wait.”

B.C. has produced the last four Canadian Little League champions with Whalley capturing the title in 2005 and ’06, followed by White Rock in ’07 and ’08. Whalley and White Rock are both from District 3. Hastings is the first B.C. champ from District 6 in 30 years.

“ I think the kids are pretty confident but this is still new territory for us,” said Matsuda, whose son Ryan is one of his ace pitchers. “We’d heard rumours that once you win the B.C. provincials, it gets easier but we can’t feel over-confident. Anybody can beat anybody on any given day, right? You still have to play the games.”

Today’s round-robin finale means nothing to their seeding so Matsuda can save his top arms for the playoff round. Thursday is a day off.

“We are set up well for the playoffs,” conceded the Hastings coach. “We have a really good schedule.”

In Tuesday’s game against North Regina, Hastings fell behind 4-0 in the first before breaking the game open in the final two innings. Matteo Vincelli stroked a two-run homer for Hastings while Taz Burman added two RBIs.

VAL D’OR, Quebec – The Hastings Community All Stars completed round-robin play at the Canadian Little League Championships with a perfect 5 – 0 record Wednesday as they crushed host Val D’Or 17 – 2. Nicholas Carusi stroked a grand slam homer in the third inning to lead the Hastings offense while Anthony Cusati added four RBIs. The Vancouver east-side squad outscored its opponents 82 – 15 in the round robin. Semifinal play begins Friday. Hastings will meet Nova Scotia at 1 p.m. in one semifinal, with Ontario and North Regina meeting in the other.

Hastings advances to Canadian Little League final

Vancouver Sun August 14, 2009

Starting pitcher Matteo Vincelli went five and two-third innings for the Hastings Community all-stars in Friday's semifinal win at the Canadian Little League championships.

Photograph by: Hastings Little League, Vancouver Sun files

Ian Creamore and Ryan Matsuda hit solo home runs Friday to power the Hastings Community all-stars to a 4-2 victory over Nova Scotia in semifinal action at the Canadian Little League championships in Val D'Or, Que.

Matteo Vincelli started for Hastings and went five and two-third innings with Antony Cusati picking up the save.

Hastings, which had reached double digits in all five of its round-robin wins, was held in check by the strong pitching of Nova Scotia starter Logan Aker.

Hastings will meet the winner of the other semifinal between Ontario and North Regina in Saturday's championship final. The Canadian champ will then travel to Williamsport, Pa., for the Little League World Series.

Vancouver's Hastings All Stars claim Little League crown, head to World Series

By David Karp, Vancouver Sun August 15, 2009

The Hastings Community All Stars are crowned Canadian Little League champions.

Photograph by: Little League Canada, Little League Canada

It was their first time on the Canadian stage, and next weekend, they'll debut on the world stage.

The Hastings Community Little League all-stars are headed to the Little League World Series after steamrolling over the competition at the Canadian Little League Championships in Val d'Or, Que. It was Hastings' first trip to the national tournament for 11- and 12-year-olds.

"It was totally electric. Everyone's over the moon right now," said coach Jeff Matsuda, on the phone Friday evening from Val-d'Or where the team was celebrating with a pizza party.

Hastings, from Vancouver, scored nine straight runs to erase a 2-0 deficit against the LaSalle Turtle Club from Ontario, winning 9-2 in the championship game on Saturday afternoon.

After Turtle Club scored two runs to take an early lead, Ian Creamore hit a three-run homer for Hastings in the third inning to put his team on top.

From there, Hastings didn't look back. Creamore added an RBI in the fifth inning and another in the sixth, and Antony Cusati had a three-run homer of his own in the sixth inning. He also had an RBI off a double.

In total, Hastings scored five runs in the sixth and final inning. Unlike major league baseball, which has nine innings, Little League baseball has six innings.

"Anybody on this team can hit a home run. We're confident with our bats," said Matsuda. "We just tried to stay patient and stay focused."

Hastings starting pitcher Ryan Matsuda threw more than five full innings for Hastings before being pulled part way through the sixth after throwing the maximum number of pitches allowed in Little League baseball.

Hastings was undefeated throughout the competition, obliterating its opponents by a combined score of 82-15 over five round robin games. They dispatched of the Ramblers, from Sydney Mines, N.S. by a score of 4-2 in Friday's semi-final.

LaSalle, meanwhile, went 4-1 during the round robin competition, with their only loss coming at the hands of Hastings.

Hastings' victory marks the fifth-straight Canadian Little League title for a B.C. team. White Rock-South Surrey won the competition in 2006 and 2007, and Whalley won it in 2004 and 2005.

Hastings doesn't get much rest after its win. The team boards a bus for Williamsport, Pa. at 9 a.m. on Saturday for the Little League World Series, which opens Aug. 21. Hastings' first game will be on Aug. 22 against Mexico and will be televised on ESPN.

No Canadian team has every won the tournament.

"The Canadian championships was the big goal, no question about it. Williamsport is the cherry on top," Matsuda said.

dkarp@vancouversun.com