Wearing helps British Columbia stars gain berth

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BANGOR – Eleven of the 12 players representing the Whalley Little League of Surrey, British Columbia, in this year’s Senior League World Series were veterans of the experience, either here in the 2007 SLWS or at last year’s Junior League World Series in Taylor, Mich.

The lone exception – lefthander Brian Wearing.

Yet Wearing didn’t let that lack of World Series experience bother him Thursday, as he scattered six hits over 5 2/3 innings to propel the Chiefs to a 2-1 Pool A victory over Pearl City, Hawaii, and Canada’s first semifinal berth since the SLWS first came to Bangor in 2002.

Chris Brien and Justin Atkinson had RBI singles for Whalley, which finished second in Pool A at 3-1 after losing to pool champion Boynton Beach, Fla., 3-2 earlier in the day.

Whalley will face Pool B champ Upper Deerfield, N.J., in a 2:30 p.m. semifinal Friday.

Pool A champion Boynton Beach, Fla., will play in the 11:30 a.m. semifinal against Pool B runnerup Curacao, the Latin American champ. Curacao, Bryan National West and New Philadelphia, Ohio all finished 2-2 in Pool B play behind 4-0 U.S. East winner Upper Deerfield, N.J. Curacao won the tiebreaker based on fewest runs allowed per innings.

“The work is not done,” said Canada first baseman Chris Brien, one of three veterans back from last year’s SLWS team that finished 2-2 in pool play. “It’s a thrill though.”

Wearing struck out four and walked four before giving way to Carsen Nylund, who retired all four batters he faced to earn the save.

Three of Wearing’s four walks came in the second inning, when Hawaii left the bases loaded.

“At first I just couldn’t really find the strike zone and I was just walking guys,” he said. “Normally what I do is just bear down, focus and throw strikes and get people out.”

Pearl City, the U.S. West champion, stranded seven baserunners overall in the first three innings, five in scoring position.

“We were extremely lucky, because one hit and they score two runs,” said Whalley manager Jim Parker.

While Wearing was living on the edge early, Pearl City righthander Kahana Neal was dominant.

He struck out eight of the first 10 batters he faced, but Whalley had just enough success against Neal the second time around the batting order to scratch out single runs in the fourth and fifth innings.

Atkinson opened the Whalley fourth by chopping a single up the middle, and No. 3 hitter Adam Quan followed with a sacrifice. Nick Rohla singled Atkinson to third, and Brien line the next pitch for an opposite-field single to give the Chiefs a 1-0 lead.

“I just started doing that this year,” said Brien. “Usually I’m a big power pull hitter down the line but I started this year to find my swing to the opposite field and I’ve been driving the ball there a lot.”

Nic Buse hit a one-out double in the fifth, and pinch-runner Connor Nishimura went to third on a wild pitch before Atkinson went the opposite way for a two-out single to right to give Wearing a 2-0 cushion.

That would prove crucial, because Pearl City scored in the top of the sixth by capitalizing on Whalley’s only two errors of the game. Keanu Sato led off with a single and reached third on an errant pickoff throw.

Kala Neal followed with a fly to shallow center, and when Sato took off for home, centerfielder Quan came up firing. The throw prompted Sato to stop halfway between third and home, but the ball was thrown away during the ensuing rundown, allowing Sato to score.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

990-8045

CANADA 2, U.S. WEST 1

Canada U.S. West

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Lankmayr, rf 3 0 0 0 Ramos, 2b 3 0 0

Atkinson, ss 3 1 2 1 Honda, ss 2 0 0

Quan, cf 2 0 1 0 Oshiro, ph-ss 2 0 0

Rohla, 3b 3 0 1 0 Neal, p 4 0 2 0

Fischer, lf 3 0 0 0 Perkins, lf 2 0 0

Morache, 2b 2 0 0 0 Sato, 3b 3 1 0

Wearing, p 2 0 0 0 Neal, 1b 3 0 0

Nylund, p 0 0 0 0 Milan, cf 1 0 0

Buse, c 2 0 1 0 Shim, rf 2 0 0

Nishimura, pr 0 1 0 0 Murai, c 3 0

Brien, 1b 3 0 1 1

Totals 23 2 6 2 Totals 25 1 6 0

Canada 000 001 0 – 2

U.S. West 000 110 0 – 1

E-Buse, Wearing; LOB-Canada 4; U.S. West 8; 2B-Buse; SB-Quan, Perkins

Canada IP H R ER BB SO

Wearing (W) 6 6 1 0 4 5

Nylund (S) 1 0 0 0 0 1

U.S. West IP H R ER BB SO

Neal 6 6 2 2 0 10

WP-Neal; PB-Buse; T-1:25; ATT-450