Midget and Junior Championships begin Thursday
OTTAWA-Two National Championship tournaments are set to begin Thursday as Windsor, ON hosts the Junior event while Regina, SK will welcome some of the top Midget players in the country to compete for a National Championship.
Windsor has an extensive hosting background which includes Provincial, National and World Championships being held in the baseball hot-bed located in Southern Ontario.
A familiar face will be at Cullen and Soulliere Fields in Windsor, as Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer, Bernie Soulliere takes his familiar role as the Tournament Chairman.
Mr. Soulliere knows what it takes to organize a quality baseball event and expects that this championship will be no different.
“With ten teams in the fold, we are looking forward to a highly competitive event on the field,” said Soulliere.
Soulliere also noted that folks attending the event can expect some great food at affordable prices in addition to watching baseball on the finest fields that Windsor has to offer.
The ten-team championship includes three clubs from Ontario (host Windsor, Mississauga and St. Thomas), one club each from BC, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia while select teams from Québec and Manitoba round-out the field.
Last year, Manitoba won the Gold Medal with a 6-4 victory over the host club from Trois-Riviéres, QC.
Over in Regina, the Midget National Championship will be played at Optimist Park and Currie Field.
This event will also feature ten teams that will be split into two pools of five where round-robin play will determine medal round and placement games.
In addition to host Regina teams from BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland will vie for the title.
Cas Pielak (Baseball Canada’s President from 1974 to 1986) is the Tournament’s Chair and says that the Host Committee is anticipating a great week of baseball which will officially kick-off with the Opening Ceremonies on August 18th.
“We hope the tournament is a great success on the field,” offered Pielak. “The Opening Ceremonies will see members of the RCMP on horseback who will lead the teams onto the field.”
Afterwards, RCMP members and horses will be made available for pictures with the participating teams and fans in attendance.
At last year’s event in London, a team from Tecumseh, ON representing Ontario defeated Québec in the Gold Medal game.
Rosters, schedules and access to LIVE scoring from Pointstreak can be found by visiting the following websites: http://www.baseball.ca/midget/ and http://www.baseball.ca/junior/
