A Windsor little league team representing Ontario’s District 5 is in Calgary to play in the Canadian championship with a chance to qualify for the Little League World Series.
Windsor's team, comprised of players aged 15-18 (and confusingly playing at the big league level of Little League), won the Ontario championship at Mic Mac Park after going undefeated against two Ottawa teams.
“I knew that we were the team to beat; I knew we had the talent to do it this year,” Windsor coach Ron Jewell says. “We did the last couple years too but we made too many errors. But defensively we were very strong this year.”
Windsor dominated in all three of its games, outscoring opponents 26-7 in the three-team tournament. In the championship, pitcher Dmitri Shinas tossed a two-hitter for Windsor to lock up the title.
The team flew to Calgary early yesterday morning and begins its run at the national title later today.
Winning the Canadian championship would send Windsor to Easley, South Carolina on July 26.
“(The Ontario runner-up) came up to all of us and they said, 'You guys have a nice, legit team to to win it all this year,'” Jewell says. “If you're asking me, do we have a shot at it, I'd say we have a very good shot of getting into the finals and that's anybody's game, right?”