Eric Bryce threw a one-hitter as North Regina Little League became the first Saskatchewan league ever to win the Canadian championship with a 5-0 victory over Gloucester Little League (Ottawa, Ontario) at Canola Harvest Field in Lethbridge, Alberta.

Bryce allowed an infield single to Athletics catcher Cody Cowick with one out in the bottom of the first inning, but right fielder Shawn Wilyman converted the next batter's fly ball into an inning-ending unassisted double play. Bryce didn't allow another baserunner until the sixth inning. By that time, North Regina had built a 5-0 lead that propelled the Prairie Province champions into the Little League World Series.

Amazingly, Bryce wasn't considered one of North Regina's main pitching options prior to the region tournament. His only mound appearance at the Prairie Provinces tournament in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, came as North Regina's second relief pitcher during an all-hands-on-deck rally against defending Canadian champion Calgary West Little League in the championship game. Bryce pitched 3-2/3 innings of two-hit relief as North Regina rallied from a 5-1 deficit to defeat Calgary West 12-9 and advance to the region tournament.

By the time North Regina reached the Canadian championship game, manager Barry Richardson had learned his lesson: he handed Bryce the ball. Gloucester hit only one ball out of the infield in the championship game, as Bryce struck out six batters and recorded eleven ground ball outs. For the tournament, Bryce struck out 23 and did not allow a run in 13-1/3 innings spanning three appearances.

"(Bryce) was great," said Gloucester manager Dwayne Cowick after the game. "Hats off to him. Against a guy like that you need to have some men on base to start something and we just couldn't get anybody on base today."

North Regina was able to start something in the top of the first inning when its first three batters all reached base. The quick start paid off three batters later when Matthew Struby delivered a two-run single that scored Jeremy Strass and Scott Wolbaum. The Prairie Province champions extended the lead in the third when Bryce's sacrifice fly scored Strass, and added two more in the fifth when Wolbaum and Ryan Stevenson both doubled and eventually scored on groundouts by Bryce and Kyle Richardson.

North Regina reached the championship game by winning four of their five round-robin games, and then defeating Sydney (Nova Scotia) 6-4 in the semifinal round. Kyle Richardson scattered five hits in five-plus innings of work, and Stevenson snapped a 2-2 tie with a three-run homer in the bottom of the second inning. Sydney trimmed North Regina's lead to 6-4 on Brandon Morrison's leadoff home run in the sixth, but Barry Richardson brought Bryce to the mound as part of a four-way defensive shift. The right-hander recorded a pair of strikeouts and a popup to Struby at shortstop to lift North Regina into the championship game.

Gloucester advanced in the other semifinal round game, but not before an unusual August hailstorm forced postponement of the game and the scheduling of a doubleheader on the tournament's final day. The Athletics won the morning game, defeating perennial British Columbia contender Whalley Little League 5-0, before falling to North Regina that same afternoon.

Pitcher Adrian Brochu was in command against Whalley. The Gloucester ace retired the first six batters he faced, and struck out nine in a complete game effort. By the time Whalley managed its first baserunners, Gloucester had built a 3-0 lead thanks to a second inning rally. Two runs scored when Julian Arcand reached on an error, and Arcand came around on Felix Guimond's RBI single later in the inning. In the third, Edgardo Montes laced a single to right field that scored Andrew Fiore and Patrick Jolicoeur to give the Ontario club its final margin of victory.

North Regina opened the tournament with a 6-1 win over host Lethbridge Southwest. Lethbridge left the bases loaded in the top of the first inning, and North Regina responded with four runs in the bottom of the frame. Stubey started the rally with a two-run double, Kyle Richardson added an RBI single, and Stevenson delivered a run-producing sacrifice fly. Bryce added a solo home run in the third -- he'd hit the first three homers of his Little League career in the Prairie Provinces championship game -- and Kyle Richardson kept the Lethbridge bats in check with a two-hit, eight strikeout performance.

The next day, Gloucester handed North Regina its only loss of the tournament when Brochu threw a four-hitter in the Athletics' 3-1 win. The game was tied 1-1 in the fourth inning when a pair of infield hits and two bases-loaded walks helped Gloucester score two runs. Brochu struck out nine and did not allow a walk in his complete game effort for the Athletics.

North Regina downed Sydney 9-3 in their third pool game, as the Maritime team opened the tournament with losses to Gloucester, Whalley, and North Regina before rebounding with a pair of wins to reach the semifinal round. North Regina rapped out twelve hits and scored nine runs in a three inning span to overcome an early 3-0 deficit. Kyle Richardson had three hits, while second baseman Brett Barth delivered a three-run double in the third inning to pace the winners.

North Regina then turned on the power in a 10-2 win over Valleyfield (Quebec). Wolbaum became the second Saskatchewan player in five games to hit his first three career homers all in the same game, drilling a two-run shot in the first, a two-run homer in the fourth, and a leadoff homer in the fifth. Bryce pitched four shutout innings and contributed a homer at the plate, and North Regina clinched a semifinal round berth with the win.

With Whalley, Gloucester, and North Regina all clustered at the top of the standings, Barry Richardson wanted his North Regina team to finish round-robin play with a win over Whalley, and avoid a tougher semifinal round matchup.

"(This) sets up a big game for us tomorrow," said Barry Richardson. "We can finish either first or third, so we'll bring our best against Whalley and see what happens."

What happened was a dream start. After Wilyman retired the side in the top of the first inning, the first six North Regina batters in the bottom of the inning all reached base, and the Prairie champions batted around while racing to a 6-0 lead. Strass started the rally with a walk, before Wolbaum doubled and Stevenson walked to fill the bases. Kyle Richardson singled to right to score a pair of runs, and Bryce ripped a three-run homer to center field to give his team a 5-0 lead five batters into the game. Wilyman threw a complete game, and Bryce drove in six runs with his homer and a pair of run-producing singles. Bryce's 3-for-3 performance gave him eight hits and a walk in nine plate appearances over three games, and raised his batting average at the region tournament to .765 (13-for-17).

North Regina's championship game win gave the Prairie Provinces their second consecutive Canadian champion. At the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, North Regina dropped a 3-2 decision in extra innings to Arabian American Little League (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia) in their opening round game. The Canadian champions then completed pool play by falling 9-3 to Los Leones Little League (Valencia, Carabobo, Venezuela) and losing 12-7 on a late rally by Central Guam Little League (Hagatna, Guam).

Linescores:

Semifinal Round	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	H	E
Sydney	1	1	0	1	0	1		4	5	1
North Regina	1	4	1	0	0	x		6	11	2
Semifinal Round
Whalley	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	3	1
Gloucester	0	2	3	0	0	x		5	5	0
Championship Game
North Regina	2	0	1	0	2	0		5	8	0
Gloucester	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	1	0

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