OTTAWA – After a very successful Baseball Canada Cup last week in Saskatoon, National Championship season kicks in to high gear starting tomorrow with not one, not two, not three, but four tournaments scheduled to kick off tomorrow morning. Get ready for some baseball, Canada!
Senior Women Invitational
The Senior Women Invitational begins tomorrow in Surrey, BC with an eight-team field competing for the gold medal. The eight teams represent the highest number of teams participating since the events inception back in 2006 that saw Québec win the title. In fact, Québec with three titles and Ontario with five, are the only two provinces to capture a gold medal at the event. Ontario will be looking for a three-peat in Surrey, while Québec, host BC, Alberta and Nova Scotia will be looking to knock them off. BC, Ontario and Québec will be sending two teams to the event to round out the eight-team field. Opening ceremonies will take place tonight at Nat Bailey Stadium in Vancouver as teams will be introduced on-field at the Vancouver Canadians game. As in previous years, the Senior Women Invitational will be used by Women’s National Team staff to select the team that will compete at the IBAF Women’s Baseball World Cup in Miyazaki, Japan from September 1-7. The main venue at the Senior Women Invitational, Whalley Athletic Park, will have a live stream of all games (link provided below). For more information, please visit baseball.ca/seniorwomen.
13U National Western
Some of the top 13U teams from Western Canada will converge in Altona, Manitoba beginning tomorrow for the 13U National Western Championship. In addition to the host club, South Central Minor Baseball, the host province will also feature teams from North Winnipeg and Pembina Hills. British Columbia, the four-time defending champions, will be represented by Cloverdale, while Alberta’s representatives will be Okotoks and Calgary. Saskatchewan will send a club from Saskatoon to round out the eight-team field. Players, coaches and staff will be welcomed by the organizing committee tonight with a meal followed by a skills competition with events that include fastest runner, accuracy throw for infielders, throw to home for outfielders, throw to second for catchers and a home run derby. For more information, please visit baseball.ca/13uwest.
18U
Eleven teams will travel to Magog, Québec for the Baseball Canada 18U National Championships that will take place at three different venues over four days. The defending champion, London Badgers will be back representing Ontario, while representatives from each province along with the host club rounding out the field. All three parks that will be used (Amédée Roy Stadium-Sherbrooke, Julien-Morin Park-Coaticook and Parc de l’est in Magog) were venues for the Canada Summer Games in 2013. A welcome BBQ will take place at Parc de l’est in Magog this evening before the tournament gets underway tomorrow morning with three games beginning at 8:30am EDT. For more information, please visit baseball.ca/18u.
21U
For the second consecutive year, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia will play host to the Baseball Canada 21U National Championship at Beazley and Mainland Commons ballparks where ten teams will compete for the gold medal. In addition to some great tournament baseball, there are some other events planned at the park that fans will not want to miss! This evening, participants will be treated to a welcome social with a home run derby scheduled to take place following with proceeds going to breast cancer research. On Saturday, August 16th at 9:30am local time, players from three different associations (Pictou County, Hammonds Plains, Antigonish) will participate in a Challenger Baseball game in the outfield at Beazley Field. The Challenger Baseball game will be streamed live along with all tournament games (link provided below) via Bell Aliant. For more information, please visit baseball.ca/21u.
Stay up-to-date: Live scoring for all ten Baseball Canada National Championships will be available via Pointstreak!
Live streaming for both the 21U and Senior Women Invitational will be available by clicking on the following links:
Live Stream: 21U Live Stream: Senior Women Invitational
If you’re at any of the National Championship tournaments, please take pictures to enter in our photo contest.
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