Baseball player Kirkland Chalus of Carlyle has had a stellar season: one which took him from Saskatchewan's provincial championships to Canadian nationals in Quebec, culminating in the opportunity to play for Canada in the Senior League Baseball World Series in Bangor, Maine; which is Little League Baseball's World Series for teams with players ages 13 to 16. This year's top North American teams came from Canada, Maine, Hawaii, Indiana, Michigan, Texas and Virginia; with teams representing the Asia-Pacific region, Latin America, and Europe-Africa rounding out the roster.
The 16-year-old starting pitcher and left-fielder says, "Winning provincials with the Moose Mountain Mavericks was really cool," he says. "Going to Victoriaville, Quebec as part of Team Saskatchewan and winning the national tournament was unbelievable. Going on to international competition, the experience was amazing. It's nothing I could have ever imagined. It was really exciting to be there."
Chalus's journey to international competition began when he was scouted by Regina Angels coach, Todd Davis, when Chalus was playing with the Mavericks.
"Halfway through the season, when [the Moose Mountain Mavericks] were playing just outside of Regina, he called me in," said Chalus. "The team is actually the Kiwanis Nationals out of Regina. But we're referred to as Team Saskatchewan and in Bangor, as Team Canada. Most of the team is from Regina, but me and three other guys got involved."
Both competitions took place within a two-week period of intense competition, beginning on July
29 when Team Saskatchewan boarded a flight to Montreal. "When we went to Quebec, we only practiced the night before we left Regina," he says. "We flew into Montreal and then we took a bus to Victoriaville."
Team Saskatchewan captured the Junior Little League Canadian Championship title in a final against a team from Whalley, B.C. "They were a good team," says Chalus. "We beat the Whalley team 6-5 in the bottom of the seventh inning; it was a walk-off single."
"It was very intense, probably the most intense game I've been a part of."
However, the intensity didn't stop there, says Chalus. "We hopped on a bus to Bangor and went right from Canada to the States where we played eight or nine games in 10 days."
"It was a little hard after playing all that ball in Victoriaville going right into another competition," says Chalus. "Our team wasn't mentally or physically ready to play. We went for an experience, but we wanted to win, too."
Chalus says that playing against baseball's top 10 teams from across the US and from around the world gave him "great experience."
"It was definitely new," he says. "Every team had so much skill. And everybody had their own way of going at a game."
"The Latin American team, the way they played, the way they threw the ball through the infield...It's like nothing I've ever seen coming from a 16-year-old. And the Asia-Pacific team, what they did to get there..."
Although Team Canada didn't win their pool, Chalus says they still managed to set a record in Bangor. "We set a record for the longest game. We played for four hours and 12 minutes in a game that went 13 innings against the Asia-Pacific team."
Chalus says that he is grateful for both the experience and the support of his family. "Going to the World's was definitely different, he says. "It's a completely different level of ball. You're competing against the best players in the world in that league. My mom and dad [Kerry and Debbie Chalus] have always been behind me 100 per cent. Having my parents and my brother Jacob there to watch me compete in Canada and Maine was really nice."
The Grade 11 student says that he will continue to play baseball, even though he'll be "too old" to compete in this category again. "I'll be training in the off-season during winter with Blaine Kovach of the Mavericks and I'm planning on going to a couple of training centres."
"With school, playing other sports (volleyball and badminton) and having a part-time job (at Home Hardware in Carlyle), it's a little difficult finding the time. But it's what I love to do."
"Just winning the national tournament; it was incredible that we did. And going from the Canadian to the Worlds---that's a pretty big jump, too!"
