Special Team Category – 1966 Hamiota Royals Juveniles

 

The Hamiota Royals Juveniles of 1966 were Western Canadian champions. This was as far as they could go because no national championship even existed. The players on the team were almost all from Hamiota. A couple of Oak River boys were also on the roster. Once the team won the province two key players were added. They were Lou Morrison of Hartney and Mark Fischer of Riverside.

Hamiota edged out the South End Sioux 1-0 to win the championship of Manitoba. They went on to Western Canadians at Mount Pleasant Park in Regina. In the first two games they beat the Red Deer Ramblers and lost to the Regina Maroons. Then they played Red Deer in the semi-final and won 9-5 behind Mark Fischer on the mound. This meant that Hamiota would meet Regina in the final. Hamiota won handily, 13-2. Lou Morrison struck out 14 batters. Meanwhile, Mel Smith, Dennis Sparling, Rick Robinson, Mark Fischer, Don Coombs, and Dick Coombs led the team at the plate.

• Born in 1969, from Hamiota, Manitoba and passed away in 2019.
• During his career with Hamiota, Todd attended eight provincial championships, nine Western Canadian baseball championships, and five National championships.
• In 1989, he was on Team Manitoba and participated in the Canada Summer Games.
• He played in the Manitoba Senior Baseball League for six seasons split between Hamiota and Virden and made five all-star teams.
• In the 1991 season, Todd won the batting title with a .442 batting average.
• In 1993, he joined the University of North Dakota Fight Sioux baseball team and attended the NCAA Division 2 National championship.
• For the 1994 season, he played professional baseball with the Chillicothe Paints of the Frontier Baseball League.
• In 1995 and 1996, he was a member of the Weyburn Beavers and won the Canadian Senior A championship in the latter year.

• Born February 11, 1939, from Warren, Manitoba.
• Began playing baseball at the age of thirteen.
• At age sixteen, he played for the Warren Juveniles as well as the Warren Seniors.
• In 1957 the Warren Juveniles won the Juvenile championship in a 17-inning marathon. Laurie had five hits and stole third base five times.
• He then played a couple years with the Warren Juniors in the Winnipeg Junior League and two years in the Parochial League.
• Next, Laurie played for the Balmoral Orioles in the Winnipeg Senior League.
• In 1967, he was the league batting champion and MVP with a .419 batting average and 25 stolen bases.
• Laurie also played with Stonewall in the Winnipeg Senior League and with Warren in the Interlake League.
• Played organized baseball into his 40’s and continued to find success on the field in the Senior League’s.

• Born October 12, 1908, in Mather, Manitoba and passed away on July 5, 1982, in Winnipeg.
• Played sports until age twenty-one until he had to have one of his legs partially amputated.
• Moved to Steinbach in 1946 and advocated for organized youth sport in a community that was not convinced organized sport was good for their youth.
• In Steinbach, he organized the construction of a hockey rink, now known as the T.G. Smith Arena.
• In the mid 1950’s, Thomas organized little league baseball and in 1955 the league had three teams. By 1966, the league had double the number of teams and was continuing to grow.
• Thomas coached, organized fundraisers, drove to tournaments and out of town games, and constantly reinforced the values of sportsmanship.
• By 1968, when he retired from baseball, Steinbach’s little league program was thriving and some of his former players were members of successful teams within Manitoba.
• The reputation and legacy that Thomas left in Steinbach continues to this day and is evident within the community.

• Born August 20, 1947, from Holland, Manitoba.
• She moved throughout Manitoba and the United States while pursuing her interests including alpine skiing and free lance artistry.
• Patti’s passion for baseball is evident by examining her contributions to the sport, most notably in the Pembina Hills region including Holland and Treherne.
• She has coached numerous teams including 11U, 13U, 15U, and 18U teams in Holland.
• In 2002, she was instrumental in the amalgamation of the Turtle Mountain and Tiger Hills Baseball League into the Pembina Hills Minor Baseball League.
• Since 2002, she has held numerous executive positions in the Pembina Hills Minor Baseball League including treasurer, secretary, and registrar.
• She has been a member of the Baseball Manitoba’s Girls Committee for over twelve years.
• Without her effort in developing girls’ baseball in Manitoba, it is possible that there would be no girls’ baseball in the province.
• In 2011, she was selected as Baseball Manitoba’s Volunteer of the Year and Sport Manitoba’s Volunteer of the Year.
• In 2017, she was inducted into Baseball Manitoba’s Honour Society.