Whalley and Little Mountain each moved one step closer to the heady heights of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
Whalley defeated Lynn Valley 12-0 in the semifinals of the B.C. Little League championships taking place at Ambassador Park in Saanich, while Little Mountain blanked Hastings 6-0.
Whalley and Little Mountain meet in the final today at noon with the winner advancing to the Canadian championship tournament from July 29 to Aug. 8 at historic Cricket Field in Kingston, Ont.. The national champion will represent Canada at the 2024 Little League World Series from Aug. 14 to 25 in Williamsport in front of crowds of up to 40,000 and a broadcast audience on ESPN and TSN.
Today’s winning team should like its chances in Kingston as B.C. teams have represented Canada in the Little League World Series 28 times and have won the Canadian championship every year but two since 2005. The only exceptions were in 2013 when East Nepean of Ottawa was the national champion and last year when host North Regina upset Little Mountain 4-3 in the national final.
But once in Williamsport, the hopes tend to dwindle. The only Canadian team to reach the final was Stoney Creek, Ont., in 1965. That doesn’t mean dreams weren’t launched.
Major-leaguers from B.C. to have played in the Little League World Series include Michael Saunders from Gordon Head in 1999, Adam Loewen of Kennedy-Surrey in 1996 and Jason Bay of Trail in 1990.
Two Island teams have won nationals and gone onto represent Canada in Williamsport — Esquimalt-Vic West in 1974 and Gordon Head in 1999, the latter with Saunders.
The next chance comes next year when Layritz Little League, with bleachers added, will host the 2025 Canadian championship with an automatic berth into the national tournament.
Group play in the 2024 B.C. championship tournament at Ambassador Park concluded with Whalley and Hastings finishing tied atop the table at 5-1.
Little Mountain was the third semifinalist at 4-2 and Lynn Valley the fourth at 3-3. Missing the playoff round were Trail at 2-4 and Beacon Hill and Lakehill, both at 1-5.
