Calgary players making their mark in Series

World series notebook

BANGOR – The road map leading Calgary, Alberta’s Centennial Little League all-stars to their appearance in the 2003 Senior League Baseball World Series is quite different from those of their American counterparts.

“There is no high school baseball in Calgary,” said Calgary manager Gary Southwood. “They play it in southern Alberta in Lethbridge and Medicine Hat, but there is no high school baseball in Calgary at all.

“There’s Little League, Babe Ruth league and some ABA ball, which is provincial ball, and the kids at this age level are split among those three.”

So instead of teenage players in central and northern Alberta starting their seasons on high school teams and then joining youth league programs in the summer, the season begins with local youth league play, followed by provincial and national tournaments that lead to the crowning of the Canadian champion.

“Our season’s not very long,” said Southwood after his team’s 8-1 loss to Hilo, Hawaii, on Wednesday. “We normally start in April, whenever we can get on the field. But this year we played in a lot of tournaments out of town. We played 58 games, and for us that’s usually two seasons. We were looking for win No. 50 today, but we didn’t get it.”

Though Calgary lost three of its four Pool A games and won’t qualify for Friday’s semifinals, Southwood said his team will take good memories away from its World Series appearance.

“Overall, take the games out of play and the experience has been fantastic,” he said. “The kids have really enjoyed it. The people of Bangor have been very good to us. The hospitality, the food at the dorms, the dorms themselves, the park overall, everything has been great. It’s well hosted, well run, and we’re just very happy to be here.”

Off with the crack of the bat

Hilo, Hawaii’s Sheldon Otsuka had a unique experience during his pinch-hitting appearance in the sixth inning of Wednesday’s 8-1 win over Calgary, Alberta.

He broke his aluminum bat.

Otsuka swung at a pitch from Calgary reliever Sean Verrier, and the sound of the bat making contact with the ball told the story.

“It sounded weird, but I just took off running,” said Otsuka, a relief pitcher who earned a win against Moscow, Russia, earlier in the tournament. “I’ve never had one break on me before.”

The ball went for a flyout to left field, and the cap and body of the bat split and went in slightly different directions outside the batter’s box.

Like the difference in sound between a wooden bat and an aluminum bat, there’s also a difference in how the bats feel in the batter’s hands as they are breaking.

The stinging sensation of splintering wood was missing.

“I didn’t feel anything at all,” Otsuka said. “It was kind of a high, outside pitch and I just swung at it and the ball went out and the top of the bat came off.”

And, for the record, when the bat broke, there was no cork to be found.

An anthem for the ages

Most people stand politely at attention with eyes squarely on the American flag during the singing of the national anthem, but it was hard not to take a peek at the Mansfield Stadium press box as the anthem was being sung before Wednesday evening’s game between Orono-Veazie and Moscow, Russia.

The reason? The singer was 5-year-old Conor Kenny of Winterport, who stood on a chair to reach the microphone and belted out a spirited version of the Star Spangled Banner that drew extended applause from the estimated 1,250 in attendance at Mansfield Stadium.