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Whistler baseballers win league, championship

Whistler's little league team, 10-13-year-olds, won the Howe Sound Little League major division title last weekend.
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“It was really neat to watch the games and watch the kids develop their skills." Photo by Heidi MacPherson

For the second year in a row the Whistler team won the Howe Sound Little League Major Division title, and this year added the championship title after winning the final tournament against teams from Squamish.

Fielding baseball teams in Whistler has been a challenge in the past with eligible players already involved in so many sports as well as a steady turnover of coaches. However, parents and volunteer coaches have come together to resurrect little league baseball in recent years, with a lot of success.

“It was a really good year,” said coach and self-described water boy Bob MacPherson. “It was really neat to watch the games, and watch the kids develop their skills. A few times they were down to the last few outs and came back to win games. They had a lot of fun and I had a lot of fun.”

The major division is for kids aged 10 to 13 and is often the final stage for Whistler players, which is unfortunate according to MacPherson.

“That’s the real sad thing — some of those guys just played their last game of competitive baseball. In years prior some kids did go play at the next level in Squamish… but we don’t have enough players to do that here.”

Whistler was tied in the regular season standings with the Squamish Chasers, but won their last match up of the season 12-1 to take the league title. In the playoffs Whistler beat the Squamish Bears on Saturday, then played a tough rematch against the Chasers for the championship title, which they won 12-11 after scoring five runs in the bottom of the sixth and final inning.

The team includes Cody Wilson, Broderick Thompson, Grant Iles, Macoy Jackson, Keesun MacPherson, Joey Hutchison, Liam Rhode, Ralph Cravalho, Harrison Shrimpton, Max Ripper, Matt Bonin, and Cam Baker. The pitching duties were shared by MacPherson, Wilson, Baker, Ravalho and Ripper.

Rod Thompson was the head coach, and Bob MacPherson, Bob Baker and Shawn Wilson the assistant coaches.