White Rock Little Leaguers get celebratory welcome home
Posted August 28, 2017 4:44 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – They set a new precedent in Canadian Little League baseball, which sent them all the way to the World Series, but today, their journey came to an end.
To cheering, waving signs and lots of hugs, the 12- and 13-year-old boys of the Canadian White Rock-South Surrey team were welcomed home at YVR Airport following the World Series at Williamsport’s Lamade Stadium, in Pennsylvania.
“A once in a lifetime (experience),” catcher Matteo Manzi, 13, said. “I’ll never forget it, and it just made it even better being with these boys. They’re like family to us because we’ve been with them for so long now.”
Undefeated throughout their Canadian season, they went on to win against Europe-Africa and Latin America at the World Series before falling to Japan, 10-0, and then Mexico 6-2, to end the year with a 10-2 record and the deepest run by a Canadian team in almost two decades.
“This is the best record Canada’s had in a long time, so we’re pretty happy that we got that. Even with getting knocked out against Mexico and Japan, that was amazing,” first basemen Chase Marshall said.
Team manager Ryan Hefflick couldn’t have been prouder of the team’s performance.
“We were right there with the very best of the teams in the world with the exception of Japan who practices 12 hours a day,” Hefflick said. “But for a team from White Rock to be able to compete on the international stage, we couldn’t be more pleased.”
After being treated like rock stars on the road, and living in dorm-style accommodations, the team was treated to a Blue Jay’s game in Toronto on their return journey home. Players got to mingle with their Major League counterparts and be honoured at the game.
After nearly three months on the road in a season that took them across Canada, many of the players say they are happy to be going home. Their parents agree, as several of them took more than a month’s vacation, and paid thousands of dollars, to travel with their sons.
“I forget what my house looks like actually. It’s been six weeks,” Chase’s father, Rob, said with a laugh. “I’m looking forward to space, doors and some privacy.”
While many of the players say they hope to keep up the sport, they also have other demands on their time. Several of the players, fresh off the plane, took off their baseball cleats, only to strap on their skates and hit the hockey rink in the afternoon.
