Hastings Little League steamrolled the best baseball teams B.C. had to offer and now the East Side all-stars are in Edmonton, Alta., cleaning up at the Canadian championships.
Undefeated after five round-robin games, Hastings advanced to the playoffs Wednesday afternoon at John Fry Park. With a decisive 15-0 win, they mercied the Prairies representative, the fourth-place Lethbridge Southwest All Stars.
The win can be attributed to aggressive base running by the Vancouver team coupled with strong batting that forced Lethbridge errors. Hastings had 18 hits and one error.
The East Side all-stars meets the Atlantic representative Glace Bay Little League from Nova Scotia on Friday at 3 p.m. in the first playoff game. Glace Bay finished fourth after the round robin, winning two games and losing three.
The winner of advances to the final of the Canadian Little League Championship and the winner will represent Canada at the World Series in Williamsport, Pa. Aug. 16 to 26.
Hastings played its closest game Aug. 4 in a 3-0 win over the High Park Braves, the Little League team from Ontario who managed three hits but scored no runs.
Ataru Yamaguchi got the start for Hastings. He allowed two hits, registered three strike-outs and was relieved in the third inning. Cortez DAlessandro came in and pitched for 2.2 innings before Steven Moretto closed out the game.
Hastings average nearly 15 runs in each of its five games, scoring 73 times and allowing only a single run. They have shut out the competition, bettering the incredible standard they set at the B.C. championship tournament in which they lost one game and allowed 14 runs in seven games.
Twitter: @MHStewart
