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Hastings
Little Leaguers on hallowed ground
They've taken the
big stage now as Team Canada
By Terry Bell, The ProvinceAugust
21, 2009
Williamsport has some famous alumni, including Jason Bay (pictured with
the Bosox), former NFLer Brian Sipe, Gary Sheffield and former NHLer Ray
Ferraro.
Photograph by: Lucy Nicholson file, Reuters
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Like thousands of kids who've gone before them, the Hastings Community
all-stars are finding Williamsport, Pa., a jaw-dropping experience.
The Hastings team, which powered its way to the Canadian championship
last week in Val d'Or, Que., faces Mexico in its 2009 Little League World
Series opener Saturday (8 a.m., TSN2).
And so far the trip to baseball's version of Disneyland has been a blast.
"This is a dream come true for all of these kids," team manager Vito
Bordignon said in a telephone interview Thursday morning.
"They're having the time of their lives meeting a bunch of kids from
different parts of the world.
"When they first got here you could see that they were just a little
overwhelmed. They were in awe. The stadium is magnificent," he said of
10,000-seat Howard J. Lamade Stadium.
"It was breathtaking, watching these kids and seeing the looks on their
faces as they looked around."
The Canadian champs were one of the first teams to arrive in
Williamsport. They arrived on Sunday after outscoring opponents 82-15 en
route to earning B.C. a fifth consecutive national championship. They beat
Windsor, Ont., 9-2 in the final.
Now they hope they won't be one of the first teams to leave.
The competition will be stiff. Canada has never won this tournament and
Mexico made it all the way to the final last year before losing to a team
from Hawaii in the championship game.
But the 11-, 12- and 13-year-old battlers from Hastings are a pretty
impressive group. They have four quality starting pitchers, including ace
Ryan Matsuda, who won the championship games at provincials and nationals.
His dad, Jeff Matsuda, is head coach of the team.
They also have a number of power bats, one of which belongs to first
baseman/outfielder Katie Reyes, one of just a handful of girls ever to play
in the tournament.
"Hitting has been a big asset of our game and our pitching has been very
good, too," said Bordignon, who is in his 25th season running the Hastings
team.
"The only thing we weren't sure of was our defence, but through these
tournaments (District, B.C. and Canadians), our defence has been rock
solid."
This is Bordignon's first trip to Williamsport. The 2009 Canadian title
is a first for Hastings, which has been knocking on the door for the past
few seasons.
"It's been a long time coming," said Dave Jenkins, who's in his first
year as the Hastings Community Little League president.
"To see them there is incredible. The real test now comes when you're
playing the best players from all over the world, but I honestly believe
that they're up for it and they're looking forward to the challenge."
The Hastings zone is north of Lougheed Highway, starting at Main St. and
running west to Sperling in Burnaby. The kids' home park is on Hastings,
just across from the PNE.
The Hastings Community league has almost 400 kids from ages 4 to 12. The
area is home to a wide number of income groups.
Some of the players require help from Kidsport for registration fees and
equipment.
Most parents have made the trip to Val d'Or and Williamsport and the HCLL
is trying to raise some money to help with the costs.
Anyone interested in helping can check their website at hcll.ca
Canadian 'girl that
delivers' takes on the World Series
Katie
Reyes listens as baseball Hall of Famer Jim Rice talks about hitting and
sportsmanship Friday, August 21, 2009 in Williamsport, Pa. Reyes plays first
base and center field for Hastings Community Little League representing
Canada in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.
AP
Matthew Sekeres
VANCOUVER — From
Saturday's Globe and Mail
Last updated on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009
02:51PM EDT
This
morning at a ballpark in northern Pennsylvania, east Vancouver's Katie Reyes
will revel in a rare field of dreams as she takes on the boys in the Little
League World Series.
Katie is
one of just 15 girls in history to advance to the global baseball showcase
for players 11 to 13 years old. Both Katie, as a girl in a game dominated by
young boys of summer, and her Canadian championship team are decided
underdogs at the Williamsport, Pa., tournament.
Rachel
Reyes, who immigrated to Canada from the Philippines in 1986, says her
daughter is no ordinary girl, and coaches say she isn't afraid to put the
boys in their place.
"She's
pretty confident in what she does," Ms. Reyes said. "At one time, I thought
she would be left out. As a mother of a girl, you think that way, because
girls are underdogs. But in her case, the boys and coaches, the way they
treat her, she's not the girl to put on the sidelines.
"She's
the girl that delivers." Refreshing in seconds
Indeed,
Katie and the Hastings Community Little League team went undefeated at the
Canadian championships in Val-d'Or, Que.
They
earned a berth to the 63rd Little League World Series this week. Canada
begins play against Mexico at Howard J. Lamade Stadium today, and is in an
international pool with teams from Germany and Chinese Taipei.
Only one
Canadian team, a 1965 squad from Stoney Creek, Ont., has advanced out of the
international bracket and into the tournament final against the U.S.
champions.
"I want
to keep going into the semis and if we're lucky, maybe the finals," Katie
said yesterday. "I'm speechless, to tell you the truth. This has been
amazing and it has been very entertaining."
Katie is
a right-handed-hitting first basewoman and, at 5 feet 6 inches and 138
pounds., one of the sturdiest kids on the 12-player team. She is fast enough
to bunt for a base hit and powerful enough that she belted a game-winning
home run at the B.C. provincial championships in Coquitlam earlier this
month.
She began
playing baseball about six years ago, after watching her younger brother,
Matthew, in Vancouver's Little Mountain league. When the family moved in
2007, Katie was encouraged by a friend to join the Hastings league, where
she fit right in with a blossoming group of all-star players who had been
winning since they were 7 and 8 years old in rookie ball.
"You
could see her potential and the athleticism right away," Hastings coach
Frank Cusati said. "No one has a bigger heart, and she's one of the toughest
kids on the team."
Though
baseball doesn't run in the family, resiliency does.
Rachel
and Hercules Reyes were college sweethearts in Tarlac City, in the northern
Philippines. After school, he became a marine engineer and she voyaged to
Canada, where she spent her first two years as a nanny before launching a
career working with disabled children.
They
reunited after 16 years when his ship pulled into Vancouver's port and were
married six months later, in April, 1993. They spent two more years apart as
his immigration papers were processed, then began their family.
Hercules
Reyes is now an industrial mechanic, while his wife works with the Vancouver
School Board. They live near the Hastings Park diamond where the team plays,
roughly four kilometres from the epicentre of Vancouver's notorious Downtown
Eastside.
The
diamond is the only field in the district, and services 20 teams that play
only eight home games a season. They play another 12 road games against
neighbouring districts thanks to an interlocking schedule, and must practice
on gravel diamonds at area schools.
"We take
care of our main diamond because that's all we got," league president Dave
Jenkins said. "[And] without the interlock, there wouldn't be much playing
time."
This
week, the league has organized online donations to cover more than $60,000
in unexpected expenses for a travelling party of about 60 family members and
friends. Ultimately, it will bid for the 2016 Canadian championships in
hopes of landing government funding for a new $200,000 park.
Though
the league shares a name with Hastings Street, a handle loaded with grim
images, parents scoff at the perception that their children are dodging
syringes in the outfield, and say team families are mostly middle class.
"We'll
manage," Ms. Reyes said. "When you're away from work, every dollar counts,
but what can you do? We have to see her play."
Ms. Reyes
said that Katie seemed to play baseball "naturally," and had no trouble
competing against boys and moving up the ranks.
So close for
Hastings kids
Lose 2-1 to Mexico
in extra innings
By Terry Bell, The Province; With
file from Stuart HunterAugust 23, 2009
Canada's team, the Hastings Community all-stars,
couldn't quite pull it off Saturday in its opener against Mexico at the
Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.
But they gave it one heckuva try.
Canada lost a 2-1 heartbreaker to Mexico in extra innings in its
tournament opener. It was a superbly played game by both sides.
Stellar defensively through the regulation six innings, the gloves
finally double-crossed Canada in the seventh. It was the only sign of
trouble all day.
Mexico's Oscar Noguera led off by reaching first base on an infield
error. He advanced on a wild pitch and eventually scored from third when
pitcher Anthony Cusati's throw to first on Mario Cardenas's bunt sailed into
right field. No one was covering first base.
"The guys played the game of their life and then to allow three errors in
the last inning ... we've never allowed three errors in a game this year,"
Hastings manager Vito Bordignon said by phone.
"It's a tough way to lose. We had chances to win that game in six innings
and couldn't capitalize. But they had chances too. Mexico's a good team.
"They'll bounce back," Bordignon said of his crew, which plays Taiwan
today (TSN2, noon).
Hastings, which is making its first ever LLWS appearance, finishes its
Pool D play on Tuesday against Europe (TSN2, 11 a.m.), a team from the
Ramstein U.S. military base in Germany. The top two teams from the pool
advance to the next round so Canada needs to beat Taiwan, a 16-0 winner in
its opener against Germany.
"They [Taiwan] are perennial favourites but our guys will come out and
battle. You never know when you might catch a team on a bad day," said
Bordignon.
"But these are the best teams in the world so there aren't many easy
games."
Saturday's seventh-inning breakdown ended a tense, well-played game that
both teams had chances to win.
Cusati's towering 275-foot home run in the second inning gave Canada a
1-0 lead. That lead held until the fourth when Mexico -- which lost to
Hawaii in the LLWS final last year -- scored a run on Jorge Caldonado's RBI
double off Canadian starter Ryan Matsuda. Matsuda allowed nine hits, walked
just one and struck out four in five innings of work before giving the ball
to Cusati.
Both teams had their chances to score before the seventh.
In the first inning Hastings leadoff hitter Ian Creamore reached third
with none out but his mates couldn't get him to home plate. The battlers
from Hastings, who out-scored opponents 82-12 at Canadian championships two
weeks ago in Quebec, loaded the bases in the fifth but couldn't score.
The Reynoso, Mexico squad had a big opportunity in the sixth but Canada's
defence, which had been remarkable all game, preserved it for extra innings.
With the bases loaded and one out, Cusati dove for a pop-up in the
infield, made the catch, fell and then got to his feet and fired a strike to
second baseman Christian Cullen to double the runner off second.
Cullen had pulled off a double play in the second inning, tagging the
base runner Maldonado on an infield chopper and then throwing to first to
get Marcelo Martinez.
"This is the first game we've played here and we played hard and sound
defensively," said Bordignon. "We have to rebound from this.
"There were a lot of nervous kids to start the game, you could tell. The
game got tighter and tighter. If we had been able to open up and get two or
three runs I think we would have just coasted. But the other team is strong
too."
Hastings dominated nationals Val d'Or, Que. But Williamsport is a
different world. Canada has never won this tournament.
So what do you tell a bunch of 11, 12 and 13-year-olds who've just lost a
heartbreaker? Bordignon had no trouble answering that one.
"You just tell them they played a great game," he said. "One of
commentators here said it was the best best defensive played game eve on the
Williamsport field. I thought it as quite an honour to hear him say that."
Canada drops Little League
opener
Vancouver right fielder Taz Burman makes a diving catch on a fly ball hit by
Reynosa, Mexico's Raul Rojas during the first inning of Little League World
Series baseball pool play.
AP
Mexico beats Canada 2-1 in 7 innings at Little League World Series
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT,
Pa. — The Associated Press
Last updated on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009
11:00PM EDT
Oscar
Noguera scored from third on a throwing error, and Mexico beat Canada 2-1 in
seven innings Saturday at the Little League World Series.
With
runners on second and third and one out, Mario Cardenas bunted back to
pitcher Anthony Cusati, who fielded the ball cleanly but threw to first with
nobody covering. The throw bounced into foul territory, allowing Noguera to
score easily and sending Reynosa, Mexico's fans into hysterics.
The game
went to extra innings after Canada escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth
with a double play.
Cusati's
homer to centre gave Canada a 1-0 lead in the second, and Jorge Maldonado
spoiled Ryan Matsuda's shutout bid with an RBI double in the fourth to tie
the game at one.
Canada
was represented by the Hastings Community all-stars from Vancouver's east
side.
Hastings
beat Ontario's Lasalle Turtle Club in the national championship to earn a
spot at the international tournament for kids aged 11-12.
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