BIRTLE, MANITOBA, TOURNAMENT
(July 1) Jack Day's grand slam homer in the fifth inning was the key blow Thursday to lift Virden Oilers to a 7-2 victory over Riverside Canucks in the final of the annual Manitoba Senior Baseball League tournament at Birtle.
Oilers banged out 17 hits to back the complete game hurling of Ted Bridgett who allowed nine hits. Home runs by Cliff Seafoot and Grant Everard accounted for the Riverside scoring.
Virden 7 Riverside 2
Bridgett (W) and Hemstad
Kaplar (L), Lilley (2), Hunter (6) and Seafoot
Virden reached the final with an exciting 2-1, ten inning win over Rolla NoDaks in a semi-final as Larry Shepherd belted a homer in the extra frame for the victory. A single by Jack Day in the seventh and final inning of regulation play scored Mike Labossiere to tie the game. Jerry Araujo went all the way on the hill for the winners to best Tom Kurtti who yielded just five hits in taking the defeat.
Rolla 1 Virden 2
Kurtti (L) and Getzlaff
Araujo (W) and Hemstad
Riverside had an easier time advancing to the final with a 7-1 triumph over Dauphin. Canucks opened with three runs in the first inning and cruised to the win pounding out 12 hits while Grant Everard fired a five-hitter for Riverside.
Riverside 7 Dauphin 1
Everard (W) and Seafoot
Neufeld (L), Kutzan (3) and Fitzpatrick
In first round action, Virden rode the six-hit, shutout, pitching of Larry Shepherd to top Souris 5-0.
Souris 0 Virden 5
Graner (L), Read (3) and Dell
Shepperd (W) and Hemstad
Glennis Scott pitched a four-hitter for Hamiota but lost to Rolla as the NoDaks scored once in the second and twice in the third to take a 3-2 edge into the seventh inning. Jerry Trenbeth added an insurance run with a homer in the seventh.
Rolla 4 Hamiota 2
Enerson (W), Roberge (6), Kurtti (6) and Getzlaff
Scott (L) and Bob Caldwell, Wright (7)
Riverside plated two in the first and another in the second and held on for a 3-2 win over Brandon. Mark Fisher held the Cloverleafs to seven hits.
Brandon 2 Riverside 3
Andrews (L), Thompson (3), Funk (7) and Oakes
Fisher (W) and Seafoot
Dauphin came from behind with two runs in the bottom of the seventh and final stanza to edge Minot 5-4 with Gary Keating taking the mound decision of Jim Limke.
Minot 4 Dauphin 5
Limke (L) and Muratore
Keating (W) and Fitzpatrick
NORTH BATTLEFORD TOURNAMENT
(July 1) Garry Barker fired a two-hitter, with 11 strikeouts, to help North Battleford Beavers to top money at the North Battleford Tournament with a 2-1 victory over Kindersley in the final. The winning run scored on a sacrifice fly in the 4th inning. With the score tied 1-1, Jack Rowley doubled to lead off the 4th inning. Neil Lampitt moved him to third with a sacrifice and a fly ball brought in the eventual winning run for the Beavers. Randy Arthur allowed just five hits in taking the loss.
Barker (W) and xxx
Arthur (L) and xxx
Neilburg Monarchs claimed the consolation prize with a 9-8, 10 inning win over Unity Cardinals.
Lonnie Funk (W) and xxx
xxx, Gary Bock (L) and xxx
Cam Sternig rapped a homer and three singles to lead the Beavers to a 9-4 win over Neilburg in the first round. Tom Sallaway hurled a six-hitter. Losing pitcher Don McIntyre belted a homer for the Monarchs.
Sallaway (W) and xxx
Don McIntyre (L)
Kindersley Klippers shaded Unity in 14 innings. Les Ohrn picked up the win in relief while Larry Haylor went the distance for Unity. Haylor, who had seven hits in 11 trips to the plate in the tourney, went 4 for 6.
xxx, Ohrn (W) and xxx
Haylor (L) and xxx
BC BABE RUTH CHAMPIONSHIP
(July 11-17) Two-run clouts by Chris Vlanich and Bruce Ferguson and clutch pitching by Allan Pastro helped Trail (AKA the West Kootenay All-Stars) to a 6-1 victory Saturday over New Westminster to capture the BC Babe Ruth championship for 13-year-olds.
After Coach Dick Necker's Trail nine loaded the bases on a walk to Barry Zanier, a single to David Bay and another walk to Steve Tambellini, Vlanich cleared the sacks with a double. But, a protest cancelled out Tambellini's run when it was found he missed a base. New Westminster got a run in the third but the All-Stars replied with one in the fourth as Brian LeRose drove in Vlanich who had walked. New Westminster scored again in the fifth to trail 3-2 but the Interior nine broke loose for three in the bottom of the fifth, two on Ferguson's single,to put the game on ice. Pastro faced a bases-loaded, none-out, jam in the fourth frame but managed to wiggled out of trouble. Jeff Dirksen was out on a pop-up, runner Glen Garvie was thrown out at the plate on a fielder's choice and Mike Curley struck out. Trail went through the double-knockout tournament without a loss. Pastro won his second game of the tournament with a six-hitter and six strike outs. Bill Sebelin took the loss.
Sebelin (L) and xxx
Pastro (W) and
xxx
They advanced to the final Thursday by defeating Coquitlam 6-1. For the third straight game they fell behind in the first inning but, again, they came from behind to win behind Steve Tambellini's four-hit pitching. The losing pitcher, Graham Hogarth (who fired a no-hitter Sunday) accounted for Coquitlam's only marker with a long blast over the fence. The West Kooteny squad erupted for four runs, on just two hits, by Bruce Ferguson and Robert Volpatti,- in the third and coasted to decision. Manager Dick Necker of Trail said his team used a little psychogical warfare against Hogarth. "We drove him crazy with bunts and stolen bases," said Necker. Coquitlam committed four errors to go with eight walks issued by Hogarth and West Kootenay runners stole 10 bases. "Every time one of our guys got on first he stole second right away to get into scoring position," Necker explained.
New Westminster, which lost its opener, had to come up through the losers' bracket to make the final. Two victories on Friday accomplished the goal as New Westminster took advantage of shoddy field work by their opponents. North Vancouver made six errors to help New Westminster to a 4-3 victory then Coquitlam booted the ball eight times to hand New Westminster a 7-4 triumph.
In losers' bracket games Thursday, New Westminster topped Vancouver 5-4 and North Vancouver beat Campbell River 9-3
On Wednesday, Allan Pastro went the distance for West Kootenay in a 4-1 victory over Vancouver Inter-community. Again, they trailed early but rebounded in the fifth as Barry Zanier doubled in a pair. Robert Volpatti doubled in knocked in two more in the sixth. In a consolation game, Campbell River edged Saanich 5-4.
Trail gave Saanich a 1-0 lead in the first inning of their opener on Tuesday then roared back to win 6-1 behind the solid hurling of Steven Tambellini. The West Kootenay All-Stars took the lead in the second with a pair of runs. Robert Volpatti singled and scored on a two-bagger by Brian LeRose who then scooted home when Barry Zanier's ground ball was bobbled. Bruce Ferguson doubled in two runs in the third and Zanier and LeRose added singletons. Prince George was the first team to be eliminated at the provincial Babe Ruth championships at Blue Mountain Park losing 13-8 to New Westminster. A seven run explosion in the fourth inning put the game away for the lower mainland club. Len Spencer came in to pitch in the fourth inning and blanked the northern nine the rest of the way.
Coquitlam defeated North Vancouver 6-3 for their second straight win in the eight-team tournament.
Graham Hogarth pitched a no-hitter and drove in two runs Sunday as Coquitlam blanked Prince George 3-0 at the BC Babe Ruth baseball championship for 13-year-olds at Blue Mountain Park. Hogarth, who had two perfect games at the Little Leage level last year, struck out 19. Only three runnerss reached base, on two walks and an error.
Vancouver dumped Campbell River 6-1 and North Vancouver scored 11 runs in the fourth inning to erase a big deficit and went on to beat New Westminster 16-9.
KINDERSLEY TOURNAMENT
(July 17-18) Vince Ruboco tantalized the Saskatoon Commodores by loading the bases in the 9th inning on three straight singles then struck out the side to preserve Unity`s 3-0 victory in the final of the Kindersley Tournament. Rucobo had relieved starter Gary Bock in the 7th inning.
Bock (W), Ruboco (7) and xxx
Martinson (L) and xxx
Saskatoon advanced to the final with an 8-0 triumph over Minot Merchants in their first game Saturday and 2-1 win over the host Kindersley Klippers in the semi-final. Unity trounced Edmonton Tigers 7-0 in a semi-final after defeating Thompson, Manitoba 5-2 in their opener. Edmonton beat Eston Ramblers 3-0 and Kindersley downed Calgary Cubs 4-2 in first round action.
LACOMBE TOURNAMENT
(July 22) Edmonton Tigers and the Fargo, North Dakota, Idsos shared top money at the 22nd Annual Lacombe Tournament after the teams battled to a 6-6 draw in the final of the event. The game was called at the end of nine innings because of darkness. Trailing 6-1 after five innings, Ross Marion started the comeback for the Tigers with a homer in the seventh. In the bottom of the ninth, down 6-2, Edmonton rallied for four runs to earn a share of the top prize. Dave Sowinski singled to lead off the final frame and Don Stewart walked. A towering sac fly to right by Jesse Chavez brought in the first marker. Dave Kostenuk lifted a blooper down the first base line that fell in for a double and Ron Watamaniuk drew a free pass to load the bases with two out. Third baseman Fred Seyer lined a pitch into left field for a single and the ball got by outfielder Steve Furst and all three base runners came home to knot the count. Orv Franchuk was the third out and umpire Joe Arisman called the game.
Dick Marsden, Mark Munson (9), Steve Idso (9) and Madsen
Tim Brady, Ross Marion (5) and Waddle, Franchuk (8)
Edmonton advanced to the final by downing Unity 6-2 and Fargo won a slugfest with Kamloops, 11-10. In the Unity game, Edmonton got to Gary DeBenadetti for three runs in the first inning and led all the way. Both teams had seven hits with Ron Watamaniuk belting a four-bagger for the winners. Ed Anderson was the winning hurler.
Anderson (W) and Franchuk
DeBenadetti (L) and Tollefson
Fargo needed 12 innings to dispose of Kamloops in the other semi-final getting the winning run on John Tesser's disputed run in the bottom of the 12th. He was ruled safe on a close play at the plate. Furst, who made the costly error in the final, was the finning pitcher. Catcher Greg Gustafson and Wayne Dye had round-trippers for Kamloops while Paul Dobis cracked his second of the tournament for the Americans.
Plumber, Clarke (6), Bechtell (6) (L) and Gustafson
Marsden, Munson (6), Idso (8) (W) and T.Tesser
(July 21) Fargo, North Dakota, bombed North Battleford Beavers 9-1 on a 12-hit attack. Beavers didn`t help their cause making three errors. Kraft belted a homer for the winners. Steve Idso went the distance for the win.
Idso (W) and Tesser, Manson (8)
Barker (L), Sallaway (8) and Sette
Bob Bridges held Red Deer to five hits as Kamloops Okonots beat the Alberta club 7-1. Randy Rota had a homer for Kamloops,
Bridges (W) and Gustafson
Ballou (L), Changnon (7) and Grant
Vince Ruboco fired a two-hitter, setting down 14 via strikeouts, as Unity Cardinals downed Calgary Jimmies 2-0. Rococo also scored the winning run as he led of the 5th inning with a double to right centre and scored on Tim Young`s single. Young came around to score on a sacrifice fly. Unity, which won the Kindersley Tournament last weekend, has had their pitching staff go 36 consecutive tournament innings without allowing an earned run.
Rucobo (W) and Wandler
Stephens (L), Lynn (5), Wolfe (8) and Chamberlain
Edmonton topped the defending champion Jamestown Elks 6-3 behind the eight-hit pitching of Tim Brady.
Otto (L), Haas (6) and Jensen
Brady (W) and Franchuk
CALGARY TOURNAMENT
(July 24/25) Edmonton Tigers of the Alberta Major Baseball League edged Unity Cardinals of the Northern Saskatchewan League 8-7 in 10 innings to take top prize at the Calgary Baseball Tournament. Tigers, who were out hit 14-5, scored three runs on bases-loaded walks and five more through errors.
Cards took an early 2-0 lead with three hits in the first inning. Tigers responded with three in the 5th as Unity starter Gary Bock filled the bases on walks and manager Irl Flanagan put in the call for lefty ace Vince Rucobo who had just finished a nine-inning stint a few hours previous. Rucobo walked in three before he began throwing strikes and Edmonton had a 3-2 lead. Unity came back with a pair in the 6th to retake the lead, 4-3. In the top of the 9th, Rucobo had two out and a runner at second when an error on a routine grounder opened the floodgates and Edmonton followed with a walk, wild pitch and a Texas Leaguer to account for three runs and a 6-4 margin. Unity wasn't though just yet. In the bottom of the 9th they worked reliever Ross Marian for a double and a walk and Larry Balon ripped a pinch hit single off lefty Cliff Mein to narrow the margin to 6-5. Unity knotted the count at 6-6 when Mein walked Ed Ralston with the bases loaded. In the 10th, two Unity errors accounted for two more Tiger runs and the Cards responded with just one in their half of the inning as Tim Brady came on to halt the rally.
Mein, third of four Tiger pitchers, was credited with the win. Tom Sharpe, third Unity hurler took the loss.
Sharpe and Jim Shaw each had three hits. No Tiger had more than one.
Edmonton pitcher Tim Bradley was named the tournament's most valuable player. Unity's Sharpe was the top batter and Vince Rucobo the top pitcher.
Anderson, Marian (9), Mein (9) (W), Brady (10) and Franchuk
Bock, Rucobo (6), Sharpe (10) (L) and Wandler
In semi-final action, winning pitcher Tim Brady tripled to setup the deciding run in the 8th inning as the Tigers shaded the Calgary Cubs 2-1. Brady and Ed Anderson combined on a six-hitter.
Brady (W), Anderson (8) and Franchuk
Lynn (L), Baird (8) and Chamberlain
A five-run 3rd inning, in which Unity collected four of its five hits, carried the Cardinals to a 5-3 win over Walla, Walla. Vince Rucobo held the Americans to seven hits in going the distance for the win. Dick Rousseau was the tough luck loser.
Rousseau (L) and Olson, Gannon (4)
Rucobo (W) and Wandler
In opening round play, Calgary Cubs trounced Kamloops Okonots 12-2 in a game called after seven innings because of the 10-run rule. Chris McKinnie tossed a three-hitter for the win and helped at the plate with a homer. Marv Chamberlain also had a four-bagger for the Cubs.
McKinnie (W) and Chamberlain
Bridges (L), Plummer (4) and Gustafson
Edmonton Tigers scored three in the 8th and six in the 9th to down Minot Merchants 11-6. Minot out hit the Tigers 12-7. Fred Seyer homered for Edmonton, Don Werlinger had a homer for Minot. Lonnie Funk went the route for the win.
Funk (W) and Franchuk
Brules (L), Koering (9) and Werlinger
Tom Sharpe hurled a four-hitter and Unity had a four-run 3rd inning to down the defending champion Jamestown, North Dakota, Elks 5-3.
Haas (L), Otto (3) and Jensen
Sharpe (W) and Wandler
Down 4-2 in the 7th inning, Walla Walla, Washington, scored three runs to take a 5-4 decision over Regina Red Sox. The game was held up for 90 minutes because of a power failure.
Homme (L), Currie (8) and Logan
Conover (W), Walker (8) and Gannon
CANADIAN JUNIOR BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP, North Battleford
(July 18) Estevan Ace Mud Mets gained a berth in the 1971 Canadian Junior Baseball Championship defeating Saskatoon T'Birds 7-6 in the deciding game of a best-of-three Saskatchewan final. Mets, who won the first game 7-4 Friday and dropped the second 5-3 Saturday, scored what proved to be the winning run on Shorts Martin's squeeze bunt in the sixth inning. Wayne Schell went the distance scattering six hits for the win.
(July 18) Lethbridge Miners won their second straight Alberta junior title over the weekend romping over opposition from Edmonton and Red Deer. Miners clobbered the Edmonton Angels 23-6 Saturday and won the A Section final Sunday with a 19-5 triumph over Red Deer Moose. In the championship game, Miners dumped the Angels 13-1. Lethbridge ran up 48 hits in the three games. The Miners have picked up six players for the Canadian finals - Dwayne Bolkowy, Larry Carr, Dan MacDonald and Darrel Tomlinson, all of Red Deer, and Gord Gamble and Bill Berry of Edmonton.
(July 22) Andy Kambeitz tossed a three-hitter Thursday to help the North Battleford Junior Beavers to a 4-2 win over Saskatoon Junior Commodores to sweep the North Saskatchewan Baseball League championship. Beavers are one of two Saskatchewan clubs in the Canadian finals. Beavers tagged losing pitcher Ron Kehl for 11 hits, three by Blain Hoffman. Kenny Nelson and Hugh McIvor each had a pair. North Battleford held a 1-0 lead after six innings then rallied for three runs in the seventh to take a 4-0 lead. Commodores scored both their runs in the bottom of the ninth.
(July 30-August 2) Vancouver pounded out three home runs on opening day of the Canadian Junior Baseball championship but ended up on the short end of a 13-6 count as Montreal, the defending champions romped to an easy win. 11 teams are participating in the two-division, round-robin tournament.
Serge Thomas, Pierre Fontaine and Bernanrd Hencault each had three hits for Montreal. Michel de la Sablonnieire picked up the win in relief. Bob Sharp poked a pair of four-baggers for the western nine and Len Gamlin also had a home run.
Teams from Ontario and New Brunswick tied for the A-Pool lead with 1-0 records while Quebec and Nova Scotia started out 2-0 in the B-Pool Friday. In a second game, Montreal out-hit Estevan, Saskatchewan 17-5 in winning 14-5. Nova Scotia used four home runs, two apiece by Charlie Walker and Bill McNeil to down Carman, Manitoba 9-3 and then bounce Estevan 14-7 as Hugh Snow, the starting pitcher, clubbed a grand-slam homer and a three-run blast.
In the biggest scoring output of the day, North Battleford ripped Newfoundland 20-6 as the islanders committed 10 errors.
The tournament is being played at Beaver-Lions Park, a top notch facility but one with smaller dimensions to what most are most familiar. It is just 254 feet down the right field line, 297 to the left field fence and no more than 350 feet to straightway centre.
Sarnia, Ontario, the 1970 finalists, shaded Lethbridge 2-0 in the lone low scoring affair. Gary Duffy fired a four-hitter and struck out 14 in tossing the shutout. Randy Maxwell suffered the tough-luck loss, losing on errors after also pitching a four-hitter.
Chatham, New Brunswick, Ironmen downed Prince Edward Island Legionnaires 7-3 behind the strong relief hurling of Laurie Gregan who came on in the fourth inning and pitched shutout ball the rest of the way. Lethbridge rebounded to beat North Battleford 5-2 with Rod Taylor going the distance besting Neil Lampitt. Six key errors hurt the Saskatchewan nine.
The Newfoundland-Ontario match-up was called after four innings because of darkness with the eastern nine up 9-0.
Vancouver remained in contention for a semi-final berth following two weekend victories. BC broke through with five runs in the eighth inning to stop Carman Goldeyes 8-3 Sunday after crushing Nova Scotia 10-1 on Saturday. Quebec and Ontario, which finished one-two in last year's championship, have already assured themselves of a berth, each with 5-0 records. Manitoba whipped Estevan 15-13. Lethbridge trounced PEI 10-2.
Ontario managed just three hits on Sunday but got by Prince Edward Island 3-1 as the Islanders made three costly errors. The Sarnia squad also defeated New Brunswich 11-7 and topped North Battleford by that same score, 11-7. Quebec beat Nova Scotia 6-3 as Bill Henry, in left field, made a game saving catch in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Larry Edwards hit a lead-off homer in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday to give Alberta a 3-2 win over Newfoundland. The Lethbridge club then dropped a 3-2 decision to North Battleford.
In other games Saturday, North Battleford downed PEI 14-9 and New Brunswick topped Newfoundland 12-5. Sunday, PEI blanked Newfoundland 5-0, North Battleford beat New Brunswick 8-3 and Quebec managed to slip by Manitoba 17-16.
On Monday, Montreal erupted for seven runs in the third inning to dump Vancouver 10-1 to win its second consecutive Canadian Junior Baseball championship behind the 15 strikeout performance of Gilles Grindines. Vancouver killed its chances making six errors.
Montreal gained a berth in the final by blanking host North Battleford 9-0 in a semi-final while Vancouver pulled the upset of the tournament, edging Ontario 4-3 in the other semi-final. Ontario had gone undefeated in A Division play with five wins while Vancouver finished second to Quebec in the B Division.
Quebec was the only team to beat the West Coast nine scoring a 13-7 win in the first game for both clubs in the competition. Richard Milo was the big gun for the winners in the final slamming a homer in the eighth and adding a pair of singles. Gerard Henault had a two-run double and run-scoring single for Montreal while second sacker Russ Lombardo had three of Vancouver's seven hits with a triple and two singles.
Quebec 10 BC 1
Grondines (W) and Blanchard
Fellerdeau (L), Rentmeeseter (3) Evans (9) and Gamlin
First baseman Serge Thomas pounded out five of Quebec's 14 hits to pace the winners over the host Beavers in their semi-final. Savaria and Depres combined for the shutout.
North Battleford 0 Quebec 9
Arthur (L), Fawcett (1), Knisely (4), Lampitt (6), McDuff (7) and Lukowich
Savaria, Depres (W) (5) and Blanchard
The BC-Ontario semi-final was one of the tightest games of the tournament. The Lower Mainland squad almost blew a 4-1 lead when Ontario struck for single runs in each of the seventh and eighth innings and had the tying run on third in the eighth when Randy Mercer struck out to end the frame. Larry Mann who limited Ontario to four hits, saved his best for the ninth when he used just seven pitches, fanning the last two batters to end with a total of ten strikeouts. Gary Duffy, one of the top hurlers in the tournament, was particularly sharp in relief for Ontario as he retired 10 of the 11 batters he faced, eight on strikeouts.
Ontario 3 BC 4
Wagner (L), Duffy (5) and Thomson
Mann (W) and Gamlin
BC SENIOR BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Preliminary games - (August 6) Okanagan All-Stars 4 - Quesnel 2, (August 7) Victoria 4 - Vancouver Industrial League 1, Okanagan 5 - Burnaby Villas 3, Victoria 3 - Okanagan 1
Loser's Bracket : Kootenay All-Stars 11 - Quesnel 9, Burnaby eliminated Industrial League, Okanagan over Kootenay, Burnaby 9 - Okanagan 0
(August 6-8) The Victoria Senior Amateur League All-Stars scored an unearned run in the first inning Sunday, then hung on behind the strong pitching of Les Brice to retain the B. C. senior baseball championship with a 1 to 0 victory over the Burnaby Villas of the Pacific International Baseball League.
It was a crushing defeat for the highly-touted Burnaby team which came out of the loser’s bracket in the three-day double-knockout tournament to hand the Victorians their first loss, 4 to 0. Brice yielded six hits, had five strikeouts and was only in trouble in the seventh and final inning when he issued two consecutive walks. The Villas had chances to tie the game but couldn’t hit in the clutch, leaving eight runners stranded in the game.
The Capital City Crew plated the lone tally of the contest when Barry Harvey was safe on a two-out error and Mike Embury doubled him home. Right fielder Russ Holmes cut off a possible tying run in the sixth when Jim Jardine of Burnaby was nipped at the plate on a perfect throw. Jardine had been a threat all through the game, punching out two singles and a double.
Victoria, behind the pitching of Gerry Lister, advanced to the final round by downing the Okanagan League All-Stars 5 to 1 in a game that started Saturday night and was completed Sunday morning. Brice, later named the M.V.P. of the six-team tournament, blasted a home run in this tilt for Victoria.
Right hander Gordon White was the star of Burnaby’s 4 to 0 win which gave his team a shot at the title. He faced only 21 batters in pitching the seven-inning, no-hit win.
Teams representing the Quesnel Senior League, the West Kootenays and the Vancouver Industrial League also competed in the weekend tournament held at New Westminster’s Queen’s Park Stadium. The defending champions opened the successful defense of their title by tripping up a bolstered Merchants squad from Vancouver’s Industrial Baseball League 4 to 1 on Saturday. Bob Mabee held the Vancouverites hitless before giving way to Lonnie Miles because of wildness in the eighth inning. Miles allowed a ninth-inning single. Brice provided plate power for the winners by clouting a four-bagger.
MANITOBA SENIOR BASEBALL SINGLE-KNOCKOUT CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT
Binscarth Orioles
Brandon Cloverleafs
Neepawa Cubs
Ste. Agathe Bisons
Thompson Reds
Treesbank Tigers
(August 28-29) The Brandon Cloverleafs won the right to represent Manitoba at the Canadian senior baseball championships by taking an 8 to 3 victory over the Ste. Agathe Bisons in the final game of the six-team, single-knockout tournament.
The tourney final, played in Hamiota, was anything but a pitcher’s battle as the two teams, representing the eastern and western divisions of the Manitoba Senior Baseball League, banged out 30 base hits with Brandon garnering 16 of them. Glennis Scott, one of two pickups the Cloverleafs utilized from the Hamiota Red Sox, picked up the complete-game mound decision, striking out six and walking two along the way. Carl Watson, an addition to the Bisons’ roster from the Carman Goldeyes, started on the knoll for Ste. Agathe but was lifted in the second inning in favor of Paul Chartrand. Watson was charged with the defeat as the Leafs scored four runs off his slants prior to his early departure. The quartet of tallies came on doubles by Bob Wilson, Scott and Bill Chapple along with singles by Dave Bender and Maurice Oakes. The Saints responded with a singleton in the third before Brandon added a tally in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth stanzas. The Bisons staged a brief rally in the seventh spasm that netted them a brace of markers before the Wheat City nine stemmed the uprising. One more Cloverleaf counter in the ninth put the game on ice. Mel Smith, the other Hamiota player added to the Brandon tournament line-up, paced the victors’ attack with a 365-foot home run and a double. Bob Thompson also launched a dinger for the Leafs, a 310-foot shot down the right-field line, and added a single. Oakes and Roy McLachlan added three one-base raps each while Bender cuffed a couple of one-baggers. Brock McConachy and Ralph Gardiner led Ste. Agathe willow wielders. each stroking a double and a pair of singles. Clubmates Rick Cruise, added to the roster from the Carman Goldeyes, and Sonny Stephens added two singles apiece. A pair of double plays by the Brandon infield kept Scott from digging any deep holes from himself. Bolstering Scott and the Cloverleafs from behind the plate in the finale was veteran Riverside Canucks’ catcher Cliff Seafoot.
On the first day of the event, two games were staged at Brandon’s Kinsmen Stadium and saw Neepawa sideline Treesbank while Ste. Agathe ousted Binscarth. The Brandonites started off the round of second day tilts, all contested in Hamiota, by eliminating Thompson while Ste. Agathe disposed of Neepawa, setting the stage for the sudden-death showdown between the east and west MSBL standard bearers for all the marbles. Brandon will now carry the torch for Manitoba into the Canadian senior baseball championship tournament to be held in Lake Kenosee SK during the Labor Day weekend.
KAMLOOPS LABOUR DAY WEEKEND TOURNAMENT
(September 4-6) The Vancouver Longshoremen became $550 richer by virtue of a 10 to 8 victory over Wall & Redekop of the same city as the 25th annual Kamloops Labor Day weekend tournament concluded.
The Stevedores reached the final by edging the favored Kamloops Okonots 9 to 8 in a gruelling ten-inning, semi-final struggle. Displaying their staying power in the finale, the Dock Workers were forced to use four chuckers to stay afloat but persevere they did. With NHL’er Barry Wilkins leading the way, the Longshoremen came up with two big innings in the final which proved to be the margin of victory. Wilkins was the winning heaver in the showdown match. In the semi-final tussle, Wilkins recorded the final out with a strikeout of Kamloops’ Bob Bridges in a bases-loaded situation. Previous to that, Wilkins had scored the winning counter in a tough quarter-final clash against the Grande Prairie Eskimos.
The Wall & Redekop gang made it to the finals with a relatively easy 6 to 0 conquest of the unpolished Saskatoon T-Birds. That shutout came the morning after the Okonots won their way into the semi-final with a 12 to 1 bombing of the Vancouver C.Y.O. balltossers. Wall & Redekop opened the tourney with a 9 to 3 triumph over the highly-touted Greaves Movers aggregation from Victoria while the T-Birds were getting past last season’s tournament champions, the Vancouver Merchants, 5 to 4. Bryan Morgan started on the knoll for the Stevedores in the final but, by the time the victory had been secured, Nick Mitchell, Wilkins and Kerry Morris had all seen duty on the hill. The Wall & Redekop crew also had a steady parade of heavers to the slab as Steve Herbert, Larry Fellerdeau, Larry Mann and Jim Rentmeester each did some twirling. Despite losing, the W & R pastimers managed the game’s only two round-trippers. Cleanup batter Don Archer went yard with a two-run dinger in the opening canto while fellow flychaser Len Gamblin dialed long distance with a solo tater in the seventh.
CANADIAN SENIOR BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT
(September 4-6) The Brandon Cloverleafs, bolstered by a number of players from other clubs in Manitoba, won the 1971 Canadian senior baseball championship and will go on to represent Canada at the world championships to be held in Cuba in February. During a three-day tournament held in Lake Kenosee SK, 4,000 fans watched the Manitobans come from behind on three occasions to win four straight games in the five-team round-robin competition. They had no losses.
In the tourney final, the Wheat City squad defeated Ontario 9 to 6. Pickups from other teams sparked the Cloverleafs in their conquest. Brock McConachy (Ste. Agathe Bisons) belted a three-run homer in the fifth frame to provide the margin of victory. Rick Cruise (Carman Goldeyes) also slugged a four-bagger for the winners. Ted Bridgett (Virden Oilers) came on to relieve Grant Everard (Riverside Canucks) in the second inning and toiled on the knoll for the remainder of the contest in annexing the hillock decision. Alf Payne of the Ontario team, represented by the Orillia Majors, hit the only grand-slam home run of the tournament to give the vanquished nine a temporary 4 to 2 lead in the opening canto. Brian Murphy. in a relief role, suffered the hurling setback.
Ontario entered the finals by defeating Saskatchewan earlier by a 7 to 3 count. Chuck Beaudoin’s three-run homer in the seventh stanza sealed the deal in that tilt. In other games Monday, Saskatchewan took a 2 to 0 victory over Alberta as Andy Logan homered and Randy Monk drilled a run-scoring single. Saskatchewan finished the competition with two wins and two losses. Manitoba scored an unearned run in the second inning and went on the beat the host Kenosee Lake aggregation 1 to 0 and also whitewashed Alberta 4 to 0.
(September 10-12) Trail $1,000 weekend baseball tournament
Gonzaga University Bulldogs of Spokane WA won top money of $500 in the $1,000 Trail Labor Day weekend tournament by blanking the Trail-Rossland Selects in the tourney final. Earlier in the four-team tournament, Gonzaga had crushed the Slocan Valley Combines 11 to 0 and edged the Trail-Rossland entry 3 to 2 in the winner’s bracket final.
Trail-Rossland stopped the Nelson Indians 6 to 4 in the opening game of the event. Nelson bowed out in two straight games, falling 7 to 5 to Slocan Valley in the first elimination game. Trail-Rossland then needed an extra inning to bounce Slocan Valley from the tournament with a 4 to 3 decision, setting up their clash with Gonzaga in the final
PAN AMERICAN GAMES, Cali, Colombia
The Canadian National team finished with a 4-4 record in a tie for third place in the nine-team event but Colombia, also 4-4, was awarded the bronze medal because of a 7-6 win over Canada in the opening games of the tournament.
(Photo - Dale Stokke scores to make it 3-0 for Canada over Colombia. But the Colombians rebounded for a 7-6 victory)
Henri Corbeil was the starter and loser for Canada in that debut match. Bob Thompson relieved Corbeil in the sixth inning. Roy Rowley (left) belted a homer in a losing cause.
The following day, Fred Cardwell (right) pitched a gem, with 9th inning relief help from Larry Webster, to shade Mexico 2-1. The Canadians bunched four of their six hits in the fourth inning as the squad got consecutive safeties from Dale Stokke, Tom McKenzie, Norm Caig and Gord Clark.
The United States dumped the Canadian squad 7-1 in our third contest as American right-hander Paul Patterson pitched one-hit, shutout ball until the 8th inning. George Brice tossed a three-hit shutout as Canada evened its record at 2-2 with a 1-0 win over Venezuela.
Rick Houghton's homer proved to be the difference as Canada topped Puerto Rico 5-3. Glennis Scott (left) picked up the win in relief of starter Henri Corbeil.
Against the powerful Cubans, Canada jumped into a 2-0 lead in the first inning but could not hold on as the eventual gold medalists rebounded for a 7-4 victory with five Canadian errors prominent in the decision. Vincente Diaz and Augustin Marquetti belted homers for Cuba which had 11 hits off right-hander Fred Cardwell. Braudilio Vinent gave up 11 hits in chalking up the win. It was the fifth straight win for the Cubans, while Canada fell to 3-3. The Dominicans topped the US 5-4 and Venezuela blanked Colombia 1-0. Puerto Rico got three homers and beat Mexico 6-0.
Nicaragua blanked Canada 3-0 as George Brice took the loss. Fred Cardwell pitched shutout ball in relief.
In the team's final match, Canada topped the Dominican Republic 2-0 behind the combined efforts of Ross Stone, Bob Thompson and Cardwell. Cuba finished at 8-0, the USA picked up the silver medal for a 6-2 mark.
Canada's mound staff turned in an outstanding effort. Glennis Scott allowed no runs in his 8 innings of work. George Brice had an ERA of 1.17 for 15 and 1/3 innings, Ross Stone (left) 1.84 for 14 2/3s and Fred Cardwell 2.13 over 12 and 2/3s. Bob Thompson pitched 9 and 1/3 innings for a 4.82 ERA and Herni Corbeil was at 7.27 for 8 and 2/3s innings. Larry Webster blanked the opposition in his 2/3s of an inning.
Second baseman Allan Robertson led the Canadian hitters with a .400 average and catcher Bryan Bell had a mark of .294. Dale Stokke (right) led the team in hits, with nine.
WORLD AMATEUR BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP, Nicaragua
(November 27) Cuba and Nicaragua remained unbeaten at the 19th World Amateur Baseball Tournament. Cuba blanked Puerto Rico 7-0 for its fifth win and Nicaragua upset Mexico 3-0 for its fourth. Canada edged Italy 3-2 for its first victory after three loses.