The Cardale Cougars were a dominant group that experienced a lot of success from 1971 until 1975. In 1971, the Cougars won the provincial championship, earning them the opportunity to represent Manitoba in the Western Canada Championships, where they finished with a silver medal. Two years later, in 1973, led by coach Graeme Shaw, the Cardale midget team won the provincial championship again. Cardale then represented Manitoba at the Canadian National Baseball Championships in 1973, where they earned another silver medal. The core group kept the excellence heading into the 1975 season, which saw the Cardale Cougars capture their third provincial championship in 5 seasons.

The Elmwood Giants juniors were a major force in Manitoba Junior baseball during the years from 2002 through 2007.  They continued a strong Elmwood tradition.  They represented the province in all six years, either at the Western Canadian or Canadian Championships.  Four times (in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007) they were both Manitoba Junior League and Provincial champions.  In those years they attended the National Championship tournament.  Their best performance came 2006, when they were unbeaten in round robin play but lost two close games to finish fourth.  In the other two years (in 2002 and 2004) they hosted the Western Canadian Championship tournament at Koskie Field.  They placed third in both years.

In 1991, the Portage Athletics dominated midget baseball in Manitoba. They would go on to easily win the Provincial Championships, earning the right to represent Manitoba at the 1991 Canadian National Championships. Portage quickly realized that if they wanted to compete at the National level that they would need to gather up some top talent midget players from Brandon. The Portage Athletics were determined to lead Manitoba to a National Championship and thats just what they did. Beating Team BC in the championship game by a score of 11-3.

Kalam Paull was born in LaSalle, Manitoba on May 11, 1973. Paull had a myriad of achievements in his baseball career, and he was an all-round fantastic player. He was a provincial title winner with his Elmwood Giants midget team, and a bronze medal winner with the 1989 Manitoba Youth team. In 1990 he was a member of Team Canada 18U. Paull was also a Manitoba Junior Baseball League (MJBL) champion in 1990, while receiving an MJBL all-star award and the Top Right-Handed Pitcher award. In this same year, he also won Manitoba Senior Player of the Year. Paull’s Manitoba baseball career was impressive enough that he was able to attend Itasca Community College from 1991-92. Here, he was named Junior College Athletic Association All-Region XIII Pitcher, and he set the school record for lowest earned run average. Paull went on to attend the National Baseball Institute in Vancouver, BC in 1993. After a brief stint in Saskatchewan, Paull went on to play in Division 1 at Illinois State University in 1994. In 1996, he was All-Conference Pitcher for Valley City State University. Paull later came back to Canada to play in the Northern League, and he was a member of the 2000 Senior Team Canada.

Morris Mott was born in Creelman, Saskatchewan on May 25, 1946. Mott started his baseball career playing for his hometown from little leagues up until senior. For his tremendous skill throughout his career with Creelman, Mott was inducted into the Saskatchewan baseball Hall of Fame in 2002 as a player. Following his time with Creelman, Mott moved to Winnipeg and played with the Elmwood Giants in 1980. In 1991, he began to coach his children’s minor baseball teams. A few years later, in 1995, Mott was involved in the establishment of the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame. He was heavily involved in many of the induction banquets since the establishment of the Hall, and for well over 25 years he made the souvenir programs for the Banquet. Mott was chairman of the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame board of directors in 2013, and then continued to lead the board for many years afterwards.

John Kroeker was born in Stonewall, Manitoba on September 3, 1948. Kroeker was highly involved in baseball for decades, and filled many positions in coaching and administration. He coached minor baseball in Manitoba from 1987-1993. Following this, he took a break from coaching to lead and organize the construction of Diamond #1 at Quarry Park in Stonewall. This project was completed in 1995. Kroeker was chairman for for the western Canadian bantam championship in 1992, and he was Baseball Manitoba’s Volunteer of the Year in 1994. He was chairman for the Manitoba senior AA provincials in Stonewall in 1995, and also chairman for the national midget championship in the same year. Kroeker was a volunteer for Quarry Park ball diamond maintenance from 2017-18. He was also a committee member for a western Canadian senior championship.

 

 

Andrew Halpenny was born in Selkirk, Manitoba on February 4, 1972. Halpenny began his baseball career in his hometown of Selkirk, where he played minor ball. His talent was revealed early, and he later played with Team Manitoba in 1989 at the National Youth Select tournament where his team earned bronze. At this tournament, Halpenny was selected as the all-star catcher. In the same year, Halpenny represented Canada at the World Junior Championship in Trois Rivers. Because of his performance at these two events, he was named Manitoba Baseball Player of the Year in 1989, Interlake Athlete of the Year in ’89, and he was a finalist for the Manitoba Athlete of the Year award in ’89 as well. In 1990, Halpenny was on Team Manitoba and placed third. He then represented Canada at the World Juniors where he again placed third. Following this, he received a baseball scholarship to the National Baseball Institute in Vancouver, BC. In 1994 Halpenny signed with the Winnipeg Goldeyes, where he played three years with the team. He also opened Western Canada’s first indoor baseball and softball teaching facility.

 

Blaine Fortin was born in Lundar, Manitoba on August 1, 1977. Fortin started his baseball career in Lundar, where he played minor baseball. He later moved on to play for the Interlake Orioles, Legion 141, and the Teulon Cardinals. He was drafted in the 6th round by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1995. Fortin played minor league baseball for the Blue Jays’ affiliates in Dunedin, St. Catherine’s and in Medicine Hat, where he picked up a solid .329 batting average. Fortin also played for both Team Manitoba and Team Canada, he was the Manitoba Baseball Association (MBA) Youth Player of the Year in 1994, the Canadian Player of the Year in 1994, and the Manitoba Youth Athlete of the Year in 1995. Fortin also played on Team Canada in the 1994 World Youth Championships held in Brandon, where he put up a .346 batting average. In 1997, Fortin played with the Winnipeg Goldeyes. He served as president of the Interlake Minor Baseball Association for four years and was a member of the Baseball Manitoba Grassroots and Competition Committee. His career fielding percentage was .993 as a catcher.

Les Charles was born in Didsbury, Alberta on January 15, 1963. From a young age, Charles was a leader and standout player within the Souris Minor Baseball program. He then became an infielder and pitcher for the Souris Cardinals in 1981 and 1983-87. Over the following years, Charles played for Riverside on-and-off, and he was named a Manitoba Senior Baseball League (MSBL) 1st all-star in 1989. In ’85, ’86, ’87, ’89, and ’90 Charles was named a MSBL 2nd all star. Charles’ career batting average was .300 and he pitched 411 career innings, including 384 strikeouts. Charles was also an exceptional hockey player.