The Hamiota Royals Juveniles of 1966 were western Canadian champions. At the time, this was the biggest success they could achieve, because no national championship event existed. The players on the team were almost all from Hamiota, although there were also a few boys from Oak River on the roster. Once the team won the Provincials, they picked up two key players. These players were Lou Morrison of Hartney and Mark Fischer of Riverside.

Hamiota edged out the South End Sioux of Winnipeg 1-0 to win the Provincial Championships. They then went on to the Western Canada Championships at Mount Pleasant Park in Regina. In the first two games, they beat the Red Deer Ramblers and lost to the Regina Maroons. They then played Red Deer again in the semi-finals and won 9-5 behind Mark Fischer on the mound. This meant Hamiota would face Regina in the final. Hamiota won handily, 13-2. Lew 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.

The Reston Rockets became a force in Manitoba Senior AA baseball in the early 2000s. In 2007, the team decided to join the Manitoba Senior Baseball League (MSBL) and see what they could do at AAA level. By 2009, the Rockets were one of the better teams in the league. From 2009 to 2013, they won two pennants (2010, 2011) and two league championships (2011 and 2013). They also represented Manitoba at two Canadian Championships (the 2011 team went in 2012, and the 2013 team went in 2014).

During the five years between 2009 and 2013, Reston won the MSBL batting title every year. Ross Tycoles was named MSBL Coach of the Year four times during the eight years Reston spent in the MSBL. Mitch Olson of the Rockets was Senior AAA Player of the Year in 2011 and 2013. Teammate Roy Tycoles won the same award in 2012. Reston’s players frequently appeared on the all-star teams of the time, and many former Rockets went on to be influential leaders and coaches in baseball across the province.

The Minnedosa Mavericks were the most notable team in the Santa Clara Baseball League for many years. The Mavericks won ten straight championships between 2006 and 2015, and over those years the team put up an impressive record of 124-14-3 in regular season play and 201-35-7 overall. From June, 2008 to June, 2012, they never lost a regular season game. At the Provincial Championships, they lost in the finals three times and in the semi-finals four times.

The team of mostly local players was coached by Orville Madill until 2012, and then by Jay Klym. Many players, such as John Hutton, Andrew Richards, Brad Roth, Nick Krutkewich, Brad Roth, Devin Foord, John Lawrence, Colton Spraggs, and Dayton Heino were recognized with league awards for MVP, Top Pitcher, or Top Rookie. In 2012, John Hutton was Senior Player of the Year. Over the course of their ten years of dominance, four players were on the all-star team every time (Kevin Sandstorm, John Hutton, Devin Foord, and Andrew Richards).

The Norwood Community Club juvenile team of 1953 won all of their exhibition and league games in Winnipeg, and they defeated the West End Memorials in game 7 for the city championship. Following this, they won the provincial final series against the Neepawa Cubs, and in doing so, they also captured the Free Press Trophy.

By 1955, the juveniles were juniors, and they won the Greater Winnipeg and District Championships, defeating the Elmwood Giants Juniors in the finals. In 1956, the Norwood Juniors had 11 returning players from the 1955 team, and they again defeated Elmwood for the city and district championship.

On all three teams, the manager was Max Maunder, the coach was Dick Roche, and the assistant coach was Babe Warren. The team was fortunate to have Vic Buffet, Marc Rajotte, and Jim Mattson, who were all outstanding pitchers. They also had many powerful and dangerous hitters, including but not limited to Ab Hansford, Gerry Kendall, Ron Baert, and George Pratt.

Todd Smith was born in Hamiota, Manitoba on December 23, 1969. During his career with Hamiota, Smith attended eight Provincial Championships, nine Western Canadian Baseball Championships, and five National Championships. In 1989, he was on Team Manitoba in the Canada Summer Games. Smith played in the Manitoba Senior Baseball League (MSBL) for six seasons, split between Hamiota and Virden. He was on five all-star teams throughout his MSBL career. In the 1991 season, he won the batting title with a .442 batting average. In 1993, Smith went on to join the University of North Dakota Fight Sioux baseball team, and he attended the NCAA Division 2 National Championship with them that year. For the 1994 season, Smith played professional baseball with the Chillicothe Paints of the Frontier Baseball League. The next two years, in 1995 and ’96, he was a member of the Weyburn Beavers, and he won the Canadian Senior A Championship in the latter year.

Laurie Langrell was born in Warren, Manitoba on February 11, 1939. Langrell began playing baseball at the age of 13, and by 16 he was playing for both the juvenile and senior Warren teams. In 1957, Warren won a juvenile championship in a 17 inning marathon. During this stretch, Langrell had five hits and stole third base five times. He then went on to play a couple years with Warren in the Winnipeg Junior League and two years in the Parochial League. Following this, he played for the Balmoral Orioles in the Winnipeg Senior League, where he found major success. In 1967, he was the league batting champion and MVP with a .419 batting average and 25 stolen bases. Langrell also played with Stonewall in the Winnipeg senior League and with Warren in the Interlake League.

Thomas Smith was born in Mather, Manitoba on October 12, 1908. Smith played sports until the age of 21, when he had to have one of his legs partially amputated. He moved to Steinbach in 1946, and proceeded to advocate for organized youth sports. At the time, the Steinbach community was not convinced that organized sports were 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 1950s, Smith organized little league baseball, and by 1955 the league had three teams. By 1966 that number had doubled and was continuing to grow. Throughout his life, Smith coached, organized fundraisers, drove to tournaments, and constantly reinforced the value 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 Smith left in Steinbach has only grown, and is evident within the community.

Patti Hacault was born in Holland, Manitoba on August 20, 1947. Hacault moved throughout Manitoba and America while perusing her interests, including alpine skiing and freelance artistry. Hacault coached numerous teams at multiple levels while in Holland, including U11, U13, U15, and U18. 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 then, she has held many executive positions in the Pembina Hills Minor Baseball League, including treasurer, secretary, and registrar. She has also been a member of Baseball Manitoba’s Girls Committee for over twelve years. In 2011, Hacault was selected as Baseball Manitoba’s Volunteer of the Year and Sport Manitoba’s Volunteer of the Year, and in 2017 she was inducted into Baseball Manitoba’s Honour Society.

Keith Carriere was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on April 21, 1971. Carriere was heavily involved in baseball from a young age, playing for the Legion 141 midget and junior AAA teams, as well as with the Canadian Polish Athletic Club as a pitcher and infielder for much of his teenage years. Carriere was on the league all-star team for two of his years in midget, and went to the Western Canadian Baseball Championship as a member of Interlake and Winnipeg South. He was also Baseball Manitoba’s Minor Player of the Year in 1987. In Junior, Carriere was a regular starting pitcher and played all four infield positions. He was named a league all-star in 1989, 1990, and 1991, and he went to a Western Canadian Baseball Championship for the Elmwood Giants in 1989. Carriere went on to pitch for Team Manitoba in the 1989 Canada Summer Games, and also played senior baseball with Legion 141 of the Redboine Baseball League, as well as 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. Carriere was a perennial all-star in both senior leagues and won league MVP in 2000 for Elmwood. After 2010, he helped coach his children in the North Winnipeg Minor Baseball Association.

Junior Brake was born in Boissevain, Manitoba on August 11, 1971. Brake spent most of his career with the Boissevain Centennials, however he did play one season with the Killarney Lakers in which he won Rookie of the Year. During his time with the Centennials between 1988 and 2017, his team won the league championship nine times and four senior AA provincial championships. At the 1996 championship, he was named tournament MVP. Brake was named top pitcher in his league on four different occasions, and claimed the batting title in two season as well. He often led his team in many different pitching categories, including games pitched, innings pitched, and batters faced. The Baldur Regals picked up Brake for the Western Canadian baseball championship in 2009 and 2015, in which they placed well both times. In the 2009 tournament, Brake even won the top pitcher award. Since 2017 Brake has taken on a coaching role, and has been a member of the Centennials coaching staff, as well as a coach of the Southwest Baseball League all-star team at provincials.