The road to Williamsport will first go through Walnut Grove.
Seven teams from across the province are all fighting for the chance to represent B.C. at the Canadian national Little League championships in Valleyfield, Que. from Aug. 1 to 10. The winner of that tournament will represent Canada at the famed Little League International World Series in Williamsport, Pa.
And last year saw Ottawa’s East Nepean break B.C.’s eight-year reign as the Canadian representative at the World Series.
The Majors (ages 11 and 12) tournament, which kicks off on Saturday (July 19) and goes through until July 27, features North Langley, Little Mountain, South Vancouver, Forest Hills, Beacon Hill, White Rock and Trail.
North Langley automatically qualified as the host team, while White Rock — which plays in the same district — won the district championship with a 1-0 victory on Sunday over Whalley as North Langley had also hosted the district 8 championships.
The Langley All-Stars fell in the semifinals to Whalley.
The seven teams will play a round-robin schedule with the top four advancing to the semifinals on July 26, at noon and 3 p.m. The championship final will be played at noon the following day.
The opening ceremonies are set for noon on Saturday, with North Langley to play their first game at 2:30 p.m. The players will also attend a banquet on the Sunday at the Langley Events Centre at 6 p.m.
The tournament is being chaired by Mike Fredo and he said there is a team of 50 to 60 volunteers set to serve over the duration of the event.