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Ladner baseball player shines at World Series in Baltimore

A Ladner baseball player was recognized for his outstanding play at the Cal Ripken (Babe Ruth) World Series in Baltimore, MD last week. Marc Ashford received the Gold Glove Award for his stellar work at shortstop throughout the tournament.

A Ladner baseball player was recognized for his outstanding play at the Cal Ripken (Babe Ruth) World Series in Baltimore, MD last week.

Marc Ashford received the Gold Glove Award for his stellar work at shortstop throughout the tournament. He was the lone Canadian honoured and one of just 12 of the 240 international players eligible for the award. Ashford also enjoyed a productive tournament at the plate, batting .417 over the five games. This led to him earning back-to-back player-of-the-game awards against Mexico and Korea. It was the first time in tournament history a Canadian player has received the award in consecutive games.

Ashford was invited to join an all-star team from White Rock that had earned the opportunity to represent Canada at the World Series.

Team Canada faced five of the best 12-and-13-yearold teams in the world - Japan, Korea, Mexico, Dominican Republic and Australia. The six teams formed the International Pool of the 16-team tournament.

It proved to be a rough ride for Canada after being mercied in four innings by eventual winner Japan and Dominican Republic. White Rock did manage to complete all six innings in other losses to Mexico, Korea and Australia.

Ashford was hoping to conclude the 2011 season at the renowned Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA.

His White Rock team of 11-and-12-year-olds enjoyed a dominant campaign and was favoured to win the regional qualifier which provided only one berth for the B.C. championships in Victoria.

White Rock rolled through the playdowns with an unbeaten record and had a 4-1 lead over Langley in the sixth and final inning.

Langley, which had lost to White Rock earlier in the tournament, roared back with four unanswered runs to stun the hosts 5-4.

Langley went on to win the provincial and Canadian championships before turning in a solid showing this week in Williamsport.