The Langley All-Stars have made their comeback in the Little League World Series, winning 5-3 to Chinese Taipei, representing Asia Pacific, yesterday in Williamsport, Pa.
The team of 11 and 12-year-olds, representing Canada, are now sitting 2-1 in the tournament, after a 6-5 win on Friday in their first game to Saudi Arabia and an 8-0 defeat on Sunday by Venezuela.
All-Stars manager Dean Cantelon says Sunday’s game was the first time the boys have lost a game all season without any runs.
But as Monday proved, the boys have still got it in them to win.
“A win always makes a person feel good,” Cantelon said. “The coaches, staff and players are taking it in and enjoying it.”
This is the first time in Little League history that a Canadian team has beaten the Chinese Taipei team at the World Series.
“It was a close game, it was a good game,” Cantelon said.
Things looked good in the bottom of the first inning, when Canada scored two runs from Nick Atkinson and Yi-Fan Pan.
This continued into the second as Canada scored another run from Trevor Alcos, with Asia-Pacific still sitting at 0.
But, similar to their past two games, the All-Stars began to fall apart in the third.
They let in three runs from Asia-Pacific, tying the game 3-3.
“It seems we’ve had a bad inning in our three games now,” Cantelon said. “It’s out of character for this team. I don’t know what I can place my finger on. Maybe they start looking around and seeing everyone around, I’m not sure. But with this team, when we fall behind with runs, we never panic. Look at the past, we can always come back to win.”
Luckily, unlike their last game against Latin America, the All-Stars pulled themselves together in the top of the fourth.
Connor McCreath scored a run to bring the Canadians back into the lead.
Then finally at the top of the sixth, Yi-An Pan scored to win the game.
“We left a lot of runners stranded on bases. The game could have probably been more in our favour,” Cantelon said. “But you know, (Chinese Taipei) is a powerhouse team, we beat them 5-3 and we’re happy with that.”
The All-Stars boys spent the afternoon on Monday celebrating the win with their parents, but after that it was right back to work.
“One thing with these boys, they always look at things one game at a time, that’s our little cliché. Win or lose, we do things one game at a time, then put it away and focus on the next one,” Cantelon said.
With all of the hard work and attention the boys have gained, Cantelon says so far their trip has been very surreal for the players.
“They’re treated like little stars here. As soon as they come out of the dormitory, they have adults wanting their autographs. It’s pretty cool. We want the boys to enjoy it as much as possible, but then focus when they are on the field,” he said.
Canada plays their next game Aug. 23. Find game updates at www.langleytimes.com.
