My sons summer travel team from NY will be attending The Can/Am Classic International Elite Wood Bat Tournament July11-13. Can anyone give me info on this tournament We have never attended before

Hi CA

This tournament is good. The kids have some very close games, and there is a mix of Canadian and American teams. They have the U16 and the U18 playing thier own tournament. It is held in the Hamilton area about 25 minutes from the boarder. The teams that come are usually very competitive and generally made up of elite players. The Bernie Arbour Stadium is a nice stadium. A little windy at times in the stands. The area is populated by about 500,000 people, so it is built up and lots to do. Last year My son's U18 team won the championship game 2-1.

Thanks for the input. I am looking forward to the tournament

It is a small tournament usually hosted by The Cnadian Thunderbirds in Hamilton Ontario. I have been to a few of them and there are usually just a couple US teams. The South Troy Dodgers are usually one of them.

Last year there were a few more teams from the US, and I don't remember seeing the South Troy team there. Ryan VanSpronsen pitched the semi-final game getting the Canadian Thunderbirds into the championship game against the Diamond Devils of Charleston South Carolina. Thunderbirds won the game 3-2 with the work of a very crafty left hand pitcher at the helm named Devin Karlsen who went the distance. I also understood Devin Karlsen was the pitcher that helped get the Canadian Thunderbirds into the Championship game at the Mid-west Pastime Tournament in the Wright State University Showcase. There Ryan Vanspronsen pitch the championship game winning it 5-2. Seems these 2 pitchers worked well together last season.

This tournament has declined in recent years, aside from Bernie Arbour Stadium you are playing on sub par diamonds, for example one diamond is called elite diamond 2 this is a horrible field. In the past it cost us $650 us and a dozen baseballs which was way over priced, the only teams you see now coming to this tournament are the ones who don't know better, or are looking for a favor in return.

Thank you for the info. I have heard the same thing that the only reason some of the U.S. teams were going was to repay the favor to the canadian teams for attending some of our tournaments.