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.

• Born April 21, 1970, from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
• Played with the Canadian Polish Athletic Club until 1985 as a pitcher and infielder.
• Played for the Legion 141 midget and junior AAA teams.
• In midget, he won league all-star for both years and was Baseball Manitoba’s Minor Player of the Year in 1987.
• In midget, he went to the Western Canadian baseball championship as a member of Interlake and Winnipeg South.
• In junior, he was a regular starting pitcher and played all four infield positions.
• Was named a league all-star in 1989, 1990, and 1991, and went to a Western Canadian baseball championship for the Elmwood Giants in 1989.
• Keith pitched for Team Manitoba at the 1989 Canada Summer Games.
• From 1989-1990, Keith attended Victor Valley College of the California Foothills Junior College Conference on a baseball scholarship.
• During the 1990 college season, he led the team in wins, ERA, and strikeouts.
• From 1991-1998 Keith played senior baseball with Legion 141 of the Red Boine Baseball League and then played with the Elmwood Giants of the Winnipeg Senior Baseball League from 1999-2004.
• With Elmwood, he brought home two gold medals and one silver medal from the Western Canadian baseball championship.
• He was a perennial all-star in both senior leagues and won league MVP in 2000 for Elmwood.
• Since 2010, he has helped coach his children in the North Winnipeg Minor Baseball Association.

• Born August 11, 1971, from Boissevain, Manitoba.
• Most of his career was spent with the Boissevain Centennials, however he did play one season with the Killarney Lakers and won Rookie of the Year.
• During his time with the Centennials from 1988-2017, his team won the league championship nine times.
• With the Centennials, he also won four senior AA provincial championships.
• At the 1996 championship, he was named the tournament MVP.
• Junior was named the top pitcher in his league on four different occasions and claimed the batting title in two seasons.
• With the Centennials, Junior often led the team in games pitched, innings pitched, and batters faced.
• The Baldur Regals picked Junior up for the Western Canadian baseball championship in 2009 and 2015 and claimed top spot both times.
• During the 2009 Western Canadian championship, he was selected as the top pitcher of the tournament.
• Since 2017, he has been a member of the Centennials coaching staff and coaches the Southwest Baseball League all-star team at provincials.

• Born February 1, 1965, from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
• Played for St. Boniface and attended National Championships in 1979 and 1981. Also went to a Western Canadian Championship in 1982.
• Joined the St. Boniface Legionnaires of the Manitoba Junior Baseball League in 1984 and won all-star honours for three seasons.
• In 1985, Jeff had an outstanding season. He won league MVP in the Manitoba Junior Baseball League, won the Baseball Manitoba Senior Player of the Year with the St. Boniface Native Sons, and attended the Canada Summer Games where he hit .450 and captured a silver medal.
• He was a part of St. Boniface Native Sons Senior baseball club which won the Red Boine Senior Baseball League from 1989-1993, and again in 1995. Also won multiple Provincial Senior Championships during this time.
• In 2007, the St. Boniface Native Sons were inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame and Jeff was a member of that team.
• Began his coaching career in 2000 and has coached multiple U13, U15, and U18 teams including the Bonivital Black Sox, Team Manitoba, and the Winnipeg South Chiefs.
• In 2015 and 2021 Jeff won Baseball Manitoba High Performance Coach of the Year award.
• As a coach, he continues to find success and has led teams to multiple National and Western Canadian Baseball Championships.

• Born March 2, 1977, from Boissevain, Manitoba.
• Began his career in Boissevain for the local team.
• From 1993-1995 he was chosen to be a member of Manitoba’s Youth Team.
• Began playing for the Boissevain Centennials in the Southwest Baseball League when he was just seventeen years old.
• During his time playing for Boissevain, his lifetime batting average was .388, and he was selected fourteen times to the Southwest Baseball League all-star team.
• Also played in the Manitoba Senior Baseball League with the Neepawa Farmers and the Birtle Blue Jays.
• In 27 out of 28 baseball seasons from 1990-2017, Corey played in at least one of the following championship tournaments including Provincials, Western Canadian Championships, or a Canadian National Championship.
• Corey was a member of three teams which have previously been inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame. These include the Boissevain Centennials, Neepawa Farmers, and the Birtle Blue Jays.
• Following his playing career, Corey became the manager of the Boissevain Centennials who continue to be a dominate team in the Southwest Baseball League and senior baseball within Manitoba.