Canadian champions

By Ryan McCracken on August 14, 2017.

rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com @MHNMcCracken

The White Rock All Stars earned a new moniker on Saturday at Lovell McDonnell Field: Team Canada.

White Rock held on for a perfect run through the Canadian Little League Championship with Saturday’s 12-5 final victory over Quebec’s Mirabel Diamond Academy and will move on to represent the Great White North at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Penn. later this month.

“It’s everything. It means we’re one of the world’s best and that’s a great feeling,” said White Rock second baseman Ty Fluet. “It’s been a dream for quite a while for this team.”

All Stars infielder and closing pitcher Reid Hefflick added it’s been a very long time coming for the B.C.-based squad, which has been competing together and building chemistry for the better part of six years. Even after watching the final out go into the glove of first baseman Chase Marshall, Hefflick says the feeling is still hard to put into words.

“It’s a dream come true,” said Hefflick. “We’re all brothers. We come out and practice every day. This is what we’ve been waiting for since we were six years old.”

Quebec came out swinging to put the All Stars in an early 3-0 hole on a leadoff home run from Christophe Lepage Mancini and an RBI single from Joel Ouellette, but White Rock’s red-hot offence could only be held at bay for so long.

“It seems like we need an inning to wake up, but we’ve pulled it out every time, which is awesome,” said White Rock coachEmmanuel Factor. “Being undefeated through the whole post-season, it’s just excellent.”

Fluet put his team on the board with his own lead-off homer in the second inning, then his squad exploded for six more runs in the third. First Hefflick cashed a pair on an RBI single, then Fluet repeated the feat to bring two more across before Daniel Orfaly and Matleo Manzi scored on a pair of gaffes at the plate to run up a four-run lead while chasing Diamond starter Raphael Bourdeau — who settled for the loss after allowing six runs on seven hits through 2 and 1/3 — from the mound.

“I really got a good swing on the ball today,” said Fluet, who finished 2-for-4 with 3 RBI. “Me and coach Ryan (Hefflick) were just working on my swing before the game. Ithink that really helped me.”

Hefflick struck again with another single in the fifth for his third RBI of the game. The contact hitter went 4-for-4 on the day, to finish the tournament with an .808 batting average, while also closing out the game on the mound with a two-run sixth.

“He is so mature for his age,” said Factor. “For a guy to stand up there, even though he’s down two strikes, he just pulls it out of the hat. He’s a great kid and he knows how to play ball.”

“You just see it and swing at it. It just turned out really well for me, added Hefflick. “It was one of my best tournaments, definitely.”

While Diamond got to White Rock starter Reece Usselman early with three runs in the opening frame, the All Stars arm settled into his role and refused to budge until he was removed following five strong innings. Usselman collected the victory after holding Quebec to just three hits.

“He struck out a lot of our players,”said Diamond head coach Benoit Blais, adding his own pitchers couldn’t handle White Rock’s potent offence. “We have a lot of work to do with pitchers. I think my team is the best hitting team there is, but not pitching.”

Usselman added he never felt too pressured on the mound. Even after allowing three runs to start the game, the White Rock lefty says he knew they would get them back and more.

“I wasn’t too scared because I knew my team could pick me up,” said Usselman. “That six-run inning, that helped.”

White Rock left nothing to chance in the sixth and final inning. While they entered the frame holding a somewhat-comfortable 8-3 lead, they tacked on with four more to all but put an end to any hope for a Quebec comeback.

Fluet dropped a bunt to score Chase Marshall, then Kyle Chyzowski drove a three-run shot over the left field fence to put the game away.

“It really helped to get that big of a lead,” said Hefflick. “Anything can happen in baseball, so you never know.”

Bourdeau added a two-run home run for Diamond in the home half of the sixth, but Hefflick responded by inducing a ground ball to seal the championship.

“I never thought this was going to happen but it turned out,” said Hefflick. “We did it.”

White Rock will open the Little League World Series in Williamsport as Team Canada on Aug. 17.

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