By Farrah Philpot
Two Ottawa teams had the hometown advantage during the Little League Ontario intermediate baseball championships on Friday, but it was the host Ottawa West Twins completing an undefeated five-game run at the July 8-11 tournament with their 9-4 victory over the Orleans Red Sox.
“Feels good, especially because we got our own field, Pinecrest,” signalled Ottawa West lead-off batter Nam Kuske, whose team had edged the Red Sox 9-7 and blasted them 10-0 earlier in the event players aged 11-13.
Kuske got the team’s first run, the start of many. By the top of the third inning, the Twins were up 7-0 against the Red Sox.
The early leg up also had a lot to do with the starting pitcher, Nico Milks. In the first inning, he struck out all three Orleans batters.
“When we got their top three batters out, it pumped us up,” recounted Nico Milks.
This first inning was all the motivation the Twins needed to keep their home field their own. Milks’ main thought while he was pitching was: “Just keep the lead.”
Getting to win on their home diamond and in front of home fans and family means a lot, added head coach Greg Milks.
“All the parents of the kids, they bring the kids to practice, they bring the kids to games, and it helps out,” indicated coach Milks.
Fans were not lacking at the Pinecrest Jr Diamond on the hot afternoon, many having to take breaks from the 30°C weather to run to a corner store to get a slushy or ice cream. But they could be seen and heard running back to make sure they didn’t miss too much of the big game.
The Red Sox, who’d beaten Oakville twice to reach the final of the three-team tournament, turned on the jets despite their large early deficit. After falling behind 7-0, their first two batters, Tanner Thompson and Aidan Davis, crossed home plate to gain some life. But this successful inning for the Red Sox didn’t faze the Twins.
“We knew Nico would go out there and throw well, so he wasn’t going to let up that many runs, so we knew that we’d be good,” said Kuske, putting his whole trust in Milks to bring them home.
The Twins maintained a safe advantage en route to a 9-4 victory. With the win, Ottawa West booked a slightly farther trip to the Little League Canada Championships, but still relatively close to home in Kingston. Starting Tuesday, they’ll face be playing against teams from all over Canada, including host Kingston, Sydney Mines (Atlantic division), and Diamond (Quebec).
Twins fans are staying confident in their team’s abilities, some parents in the crowd already planning the trip to California for the Little League World Series if they win the Canadian Championships.
The players and coaches, however, will stick to their training and knowledge that they can always be better.
“We need to work on [stealing bases] a bit more,” indicated Kuske. “We miss a lot of slides, and we don’t slide as much as the coach wants us to.”
The team has been preparing for this since January, playing indoors twice a week. Once it was nice enough to be outside, they were practicing six days a week.
“One day rest for the families, to keep them happy,” chuckled coach Milks.
But the training for the players to get here goes back farther than January in their minds.
“Back in 2021 or 2022, I wasn’t that good, but I continued to work, like winter ball, and just to grow. It’s gone a long way,” highlighted Kuske, proud of how far he and his team have come.