Newmarket
August 23, 2008 10:57 PM
2008 national Peewee championships
By: Keely Grasser
It wasn’t difficult to figure out for whom Marie, Brian and Corry Milton and Carolyn and Jim Mayberry were cheering.
Decked out in Vaughan Vikings gear, the group was up bright and early at Concord Regional Park Thursday morning to cheer on Tyler Milton and his team during their first baseball game in the Canadian Peewee Championship.
Grandparents Marie and Brian, of Brampton, will be at the tournament all weekend to cheer for Tyler, who is the team’s pitcher, shortstop and second base and part-time catcher.
“We’re so proud of him,” said Mr. Milton, as he watched Tyler compete against PEI.
Though he and his wife travel all over to watch their grandson play, it’s nice to be able to watch him so close to home, he added.
Vaughan was awarded the national championship two years ago.
It’s the first time in 37 years the GTA Area has hosted these championships, tournament chairperson Frank Crudo said.
The tournament drew teams from Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, PEI, Quebec, Ontario and Saskatchewan.
Vaughan earned a berth as the host team. Planning for the tournament, which has more than 225 12 and 13-year-olds participating, has taken two years, Mr. Crudo said.
The tournament kicked off Thursday morning, but teams arrived Wednesday so they could see how the pros play.
They went to the Rogers Centre to watch the Jays play the New York Yankees, Mr. Crudo said.
The boys were also treated to a batting practice and a meet-and-greet with the Jays, which is sponsoring the tournament.
For New Brunswick’s Corey Kavangh, meeting Matt Stairs was a highlight.
Mr. Stairs, who stars for the Jays, also hails from New Brunswick.
Corey got to watch Vaughan play PEI Thursday before his team hit the field.
Competition seemed a little stiffer than back home, but he hopes his team does well, he said.
The Vikings’ Connor Gibson hopes being the home team gives them the advantage.
“The crowd’s rooting for us,” he said.
Connor may have been right. The Vikings won their opener against PEI 11-7. The team ended their first day with another win: 15 to 11 over New Brunswick’s team.
The team still had four more round robin games to play before this weekend’s playoffs.
The bronze medal game is scheduled for 3 p.m. with the gold medal game set for 6 p.m. Sunday.
As of press time, Vaughan is tied for first in Pool B with Quebec after beating New Brunswick 15-11.
For schedule, team rosters and results, go to
baseball.ca/peeweeboys