North Regina ready to represent Canada at Little League World Series

It’s a historic day for the Regina team representing Canada at this year’s Little League World Series.

For just the second time ever, a team from North Regina Little League is wearing Canada’s colours at the tournament in Williamsport, Pa.

Jackson Bilboe, a 12-year-old who plays left field and catcher, told Greg Morgan Morning Show guest host Kevin Martel what being at the tournament means.

“It was really hard to get it through my mind that, ‘I’m (on) Team Canada. I’m going to Williamsport,’ ” Bilboe said.

The Little League World Series is a 20-team tournament that includes 10 teams from countries around the world and 10 teams from the United States. This is the first time since 2002 that a team from Regina will set foot on the diamonds in Williamsport.

Last week, North Regina beat Vancouver’s Little Mountain Baseball 4-3 in a thrilling Canadian championship game in Regina.

Bilboe’s mom, Stefanie, agreed that it feels a little bit surreal.

“The texts, the calls, the Facebook messages, you name it – it’s been nonstop since these boys pulled off the victory,” she said. “It hasn’t even sunk in yet.”

Jackson said there will likely be some added pressure, but he’s still excited for the tournament.

“It’s just a unique experience, and it’s going to be really fun,” he said.

Cole Warken, Team Canada’s manager, told Gormley it will take a full team effort to win such a big a tournament.

Left-handed pitcher Jaxon Weir will be the starter for Canada’s first game Thursday, Warken said.

“Overall, he’s been really good this entire year,” said Warken. “Our defence has started to take form, and guys have been put in the right spots to succeed.”

Warken said he expects the tournament to come down to pitching and defence, and doesn’t expect to see many high-scoring games.

The manager said his team never gives up, no matter what the score is, and that’s a very good trait to have when it comes to any major tournament.

According to Stefanie, Jackson didn’t even start playing baseball until he was eight years old.

“He was wanting to try a different spring sport after the hockey season, and so we put him in baseball. He loved it,” she said. “Then we moved him over to Little League the year after he tried it, and he made AAA his first year there and then got asked to be on the all-star team, and that is when his true passion for baseball came into play.”

North Regina plays its first game at 3 p.m. against the Asia-Pacific Region.

— With files from 980 CJME’s Daniel Reech