North Regina Little League will represent Canada at Little League World Series

North Regina Little League defeated Vancouver's Little Mountain Baseball 4-3 on Thursday to earn the Canadian title and book their ticket to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA.

“My heart just started racing. It didn’t feel real,” said pitcher Nickson Hjelsing – describing the moment of the final out.

It was a hard fought battle for the team as they went 0-3 in the first three games of the tournament and had to win their way back in – all the way to the final.

“We had a team meeting on the field when we lost [the third game] and then everybody said ‘Let’s go boys. We’re going to win this boys’,” Hjelsing said.

“We just kept grinding, winning one game at a time, one pitch at a time,” shared Hjelsing’s teammate – Braeden McQueen.

“At the end of the round robin, into the finals, we didn’t have a doubt on the bench. We knew that no matter the score, no matter the situation, the boys wouldn’t stop fighting,” said Cole Warken, manager and coach.

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But they knew Thursday’s final would be a tough battle facing the only undefeated team of the tournament and last year’s champions.

“Just play hard, leave it all on the field,” McQueen said – on what the message was heading into Thursday’s matchup.

“It feels really good [to beat them],” he added.

North Regina went down 1-0 in the second inning but answered back in the fourth taking a 4-1 lead.

In the sixth inning Vancouver would prove they were still in the fight – bringing the score to within one with two outs. But McQueen would seal the deal for the third and final out of the game.

“The ground ball was hit to me and I just touched my bag and that was it, that was the game,” he said.

“[I was] really happy to win and to [know we get to] go to Williamsport.”

This is only the second time a Saskatchewan team will represent Canada at the Little League World Series.

The team will fly to Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Games begin on August 16th and run until the 27th.