Whalley's run is done at the 2024 Little League World Series, but the 12 Surrey boys made lifelong memories in Williamsport, Penn.
Repping Canada at the famous baseball tournament, the 11/12 Major Allstars were eliminated Sunday (Aug. 18) following an 8-0 loss to Team Mexico at Volunteer Stadium.
A tournament highlight for Whalley was a massive 12-5 win over Team Puerto Rico on Saturday when 12 runs were scored in the second inning and every Whalley player crossed home plate.
Saturday's win led to Sunday's next-round game against Mexico in the International division of the tournament.
"Thank you to the coaches and players for allowing us to follow your inspirational journey with all the ups and downs," raved a post on Whalley Little League's Facebook page. "You represented your country, province, district and our organization with professionalism and we’re all beaming with pride!"
Later Sunday, the Whalley players had front-row seats for the Yankees-Tigers MLB game played in Williamsport, and cameras caught their reaction when they witnessed Juan Soto at bat.
Last Wednesday, Aug. 14, the Whalley boys lost to Team Asia-Pacific in their opening game of the tournament, to which the Surrey-based club returned for the first time since 2018 and seventh time in history.
The day before, manager Stephen Young said the players were having a great time.
"Before the big tournament starts, today is the parade," Young told the Now-Leader on Aug. 13.
"Williamsport gets packed with, like, 20,000 people or more in the streets, and each of the teams get put on floats and they're paraded through the city," Young added. "There's people everywhere and the boys sign autographs. It's beyond star treatment, I can't even explain it. The boys are getting treated like superstars. ESPN is doing all these interviews with them, all of this stuff, because it's one of the biggest sporting events of the year for them."
In Canada, Little League World Series games are shown on TSN.
This year marked the 11th time a team from Surrey earned a spot in the Little League World Series, according to a post on littleleague.org. This is also the 27th time Canada has been represented by British Columbia at the tournament, the most of any province in the country’s 64 appearances.
On Aug. 8, it was a jubilant but rain-soaked celebration for Whalley when they clinched the 2024 Canadian Little League Championship in Kingston, Ont., where they beat Team Alberta 10-1 in the final. Two days later, the team loaded up for a five-hour bus trip to Williamsport.
"We got here midday Saturday, settled in our dorm, and from there it's been a whirlwind," coach Young said. "Adidas fitted us with uniforms and shirts and shoes, all that, and with Raleigh they call it Christmas in August, so they all got bats and helmets and backpacks and all this swag, get them all decked out for tournament.
"Then we had a session with ESPN doing all these interviews and they get treated like superstars," he added. "They're trying to find story lines with the boys, right. One of the cool things was, one of our coaches, Eric Kluth, he told the boys that if we won Districts and kept winning that he'd shave his head. So yesterday, they rolled in with cameras and a pair of clippers, so half of Eric's head is shaved and half his hair is still there, straight down the middle. The deal is, tomorrow he'll come out for the anthem and they'll highlight that for a bit. It's hilarious."
Whalley's roster includes Xavier Cabalfin, Ronan Bobiles, Ben Wegwitz, Eric Popovich, Blake Anderson, Marek Kluth, Kayden Krestanovich, Jozef Young, Joshua Hernstedt, Riley Suvilai, Ray Dhasi and Rye Precioso. Coaches are Stephen Young along with Eric Kluth and Jason Wegwitz.
Young is a parent-coach of the team, which includes his son Jozef on the roster.
"We walked out today (Aug. 13) and stared at the field from the top of the hill and it's pretty amazing, a little emotional, you know. I dreamed about this as a kid, I'm now 48, and I feel like a kid right now. I grew up playing in Whalley and my dad coached there, same thing, so my family's been at Whalley for a long time.
"I came back to coach in my early 20s for a handful of years before I had kids, and once Joey was of age he played Whalley too," Young added. "I never got the opportunity to do this as a kid but saw my friends go, and in 2006 I was part of the planning team when they went, and then I knew a lot of the players on the 2018 team and buddies of mine coached them. And now here I am with my son, and it's a dream come true for both of us."
