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Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports 25 | Friday, July 24, 2015 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "Connected to your Community" Oakville Little League hosting 12U provincials next week at Cornwall Seven of the top 12-under baseball teams in the province will be in Oakville next week for the Ontario Little League Major championships. Participants will include district champions High Park Braves, Port Arthur Nationals, Timmins Lynx, Windsor West and South Ottawa Blues, the host Oakville Whitecaps and a yet-to-be-announced representative from District 7. Ontario Little League features 37 local leagues that are spread across seven districts, which are divided geographically and represent communities from Ottawa to Windsor, Stoney Creek to Timmins and Thunder Bay. Oakville competes in District 1, along with High Park (Etobicoke), Erindale (Mississauga), Dundas, Ancaster and Stoney Creek. High Park defeated the Whitecaps in this year's District 1 final, but the Whitecaps were already guaranteed a berth in provincials as host. The Major provincials will take place from Monday, July 26 to Saturday, Aug. 1 at Cornwall Park. The winner of the tournament will represent Ontario in the national championship tournament next month in Ottawa, where six teams will play for the right to represent Canada in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. Members of the Whitecaps team that will compete in provincials are Trevor Smith, Riley Johnson, Evan Smyth, Cole Watson, Andre Wojtarowicz, Nabil Haider, Matthew Brown, Sam Armstrong, Marshall Williams, Stephen Kong, Aidan Fishwick, Michael Bowman, Ross MacKay and Braeden Makowich. The team is coached by Rocky Iori, Geoff Hospital and Denis Boivin. Oakville's first game of the tournament will be Monday at 5 p.m. against Timmins. The winner of that game will play Tuesday at 4 p.m. versus the winner of the Port Arthur/Windsor first-round matchup. Oakville Little League will utilize more than 150 volunteers who will assist with concessions, barbecue, field grooming, spectator parking, team logistics and other roles critical to providing a positive experience for players, coaches, parents and spectators. Corbett's Source for Sports is the title sponsor of the provincial championships, Ford Motor Company of Canada is sponsoring the banquet, and Samuel, Son & Co., Ltd. is the hospitality sponsor. More information can be found on the tournament's website, www.2015ontariolittleleagueprovin cials.ca. Hunter Mahan hits a shot during the first round of the RBC Canadian Open yesterday (Thursday) at Glen Abbey Golf Club. The 33-year-old Texan returns to Oakville this week for the first time since withdrawing from the 2013 Canadian Open after two rounds -- despite holding a two-stroke lead -- to fly home for the birth of his first child. | photo by Graham Paine -- Oakville Beaver -- @Halton_Photog Mahan back to finish what he started Golfer returns to Glen Abbey for first time since withdrawing from '13 Open with the lead by Adam Johnston Special To The Beaver History will not be repeating itself for Hunter Mahan this weekend at the 2015 RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club. It's not only that his opening-round, 4-under 68 was one stroke behind the first-round 67 he carded in 2013, the last time the Open was held in Oakville. Mahan also won't be withdrawing with the lead in the middle of the tournament this year. "We can confirm that," said Mahan, when asked to verify that he was not expecting another child this weekend, the reason behind his headline-generating departure in 2013. Mahan, 33, held a two-stroke lead through two rounds of the 2013 Canadian Open before withdrawing to return to his home in Dallas to be with his wife, who was in labour with their first child. However, the 12-year pro isn't looking at this weekend as an opportunity to show people "what might have been" had he stayed in the tournament two years ago. "No, this is just the 2015 (edition of the) RBC Canadian It was quite a story. He was playing such good golf. Open, and I'm going to try to win this one," said Mahan. Matt Kuchar played with Mahan in 2013 en route to a second-place finish, and found himself in Mahan's group again during the first round yesterday (Thursday). He said the two reminisced about the circumstances surrounding his colleague's prior withdrawal. "We talked about that a little bit today," said Kuchar, who is the 17th-ranked player in the world. "It was quite a story. He was playing such good golf... so it's good to see him playing well again here and I hope it continues." Both Mahan and Kuchar (3-under 69 after one round) finished yesterday within striking distance of the top of the leaderboard. For his part, Mahan feels confident at Glen Abbey and hopes to see this year's tournament through to a victory. "This is a place, luckily, where I have found some success, so I feel confident playing on this golf course," said Mahan. "I feel like I know where to hit it on each shot, and it's Matt Kuchar PGA Tour player kind of comforting to know where to hit it. It sounds kind of silly, but you can get on a golf course and be not committed to a lot of shots and that's not going to make you play great. I feel comfortable out here though and I feel like I can play well and win this week."