Loreto Siniscalchi doesn’t need earplugs or fancy headphones to cancel the noise.
Just give him some time with the ball before he hits the mound, and the weight of expectation is likely to melt away.
The 13-year-old starting pitcher will be leaned on heavily this week, as his Hastings Community Little League club begins its quest for national supremacy at the Little League Canadian Championship at Hastings Community Park.Â
Siniscalchi knows there will be thousands of eyes on him from coast to coast and he’s cognizant of the light at the end of the tunnel: a berth to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Penn.
While pitching can be a solitary pursuit, he’s cool as a cucumber.
“I just try and limit the noise in the crowd and just focus on me and the catcher,” he said. “Before the game starts I like to find my preferred spot on the ball and hold on to it until it feels most comfortable.”
Comfort may be in short supply at the tournament. Games are played daily to determine seeding and play-for-keeps, elimination games follow shortly thereafter.
For a team that was formed just over a month and half ago, the gel needs to set quickly.
“It’s going to be tough because it may come down to just one or two games,” said team manager Vito Bordignon. “You have to keep them loose so that they understand they’re playing baseball not only because of the love for the game, but you have to have fun doing it. If they play light and loose with aggressiveness, we will be OK.”
Kicking off on Thursday, Aug. 4, the tournament features the best 11-, 12- and 13-year-old old players in Canada. Outside of the host club, the other entries include Team B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada. The Hastings club’s catchment area stretches from east of Main Street in Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»to Sperling Avenue in Burnaby.
As the club’s ace, Siniscalchi boasts a cutter, change-up and remarkably deceptive 75 mile-per-hour fastball.
Not bad for a kid who isn’t even in high school yet.
“If we do well, he’ll have to do well for us,” said Bordignon, who skippered the club to the Little League World Series in 2009 and 2012. “But it will take every child playing at their best. At this level, because it’s such a short tournament and happens so fast, if the kids are on and don’t let the atmosphere overcome them, they have a very good chance of celebrating at the end of the tournament.”
That the event is being hosted in East Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»is reason enough to celebrate. The association was formed in 1953 and only now has its first opportunity to host an event of this magnitude.
That’s where Richard Saunders comes in.
A LASTING LEGACY
Saunders has volunteered in local baseball circles for more than 30 years, and the vast majority of that time has been with the Hastings league.
He’s now the tournament chair and was pivotal in securing the tournament, raising the necessary funds and putting together a crew of volunteers to pull the whole thing off.
“It’s a lot more work than we thought it was going to be,” he said. “It’s massive and it is for good reason — the team that wins goes to Williamsport to the World Series. That’s a big deal.”
The Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»Park Board thinks Saunders is a pretty big deal, too. The 67-year-old was feted at a recent board meeting, where commissioners unanimously voted to name of the one of diamonds at Hastings Park after him.
“Being a year and a half into being a public servant, it is humbling to see somebody that has dedicated 30 years consistently,” park board chair Sarah Kirby-Yung said at the July 25 meeting. “I think that’s what is really remarkable about this — this is not a moment in time or a contribution to an initiative, this is a sustained, ongoing commitment to being part of the community and giving back.”
That recent distinction goes alongside Saunders’ Sport BC Community Sport Hero award and a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. But you’d never know it by asking him.
“It’s not the reason that volunteers volunteer for sports organizations — you don’t get in this to get accolades,” Saunders said. “You want to see kids having a good time, that everything is fair and that everyone is enjoying themselves, the volunteers included. But it’s certainly very humbling.”
Saunders’ love for the game took a circuitous route; he excelled at soccer and track and field while in high school and only played baseball for a short time.
It was through his sons’ involvement in baseball that the intricacies of the game grew on him. Now he’s at the odd Mariners game in Seattle and plans to travel to every ballpark in the U.S. when he retires next year.
As for the matter at hand, Saunders says the team needs to focus on what’s between the ears rather than what’s in front of them to have success.
“This is a tough tournament. You play every day for about seven or eight days and if the heat keeps up, it puts a lot of stress on you,” he said. “You just have to go out and play the game the way you know how to play it. That’s why they were selected, because each individual has skills. You can’t get too crazy in the head or those skills won’t work very well. You have to be as calm as possible.”
The 2016 Little League Canadian Championship kicks off Thursday, Aug. 4 and runs until Aug. 13. The Hastings team opens up play Thursday at 6 p.m. against Team Atlantic. Tournament information is available online at 2016llcc.ca.
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