1940 Vancouver, Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley
1940 BC Interior
1940 Vancouver Island
EAST KOOTENAYS
(May 24) Kimberley won a three-way Empire day tournament held in Cranbrook, defeating Fernie 8 to 0 in the afternoon and Cranbrook 11 to 6 in the evening game. Against Cranbrook, Kimberley scored six runs in the first two innings before being silenced by the smart pitching of Young who didn’t allow a hit the next five innings.
(June 23) The Cranbrook senior baseball team defeated Bonners Ferry ID 6 to 2 as winning pitcher Jack Mather recorded 13 strikeouts.
(July 1) The Trail senior baseball club won the Kimberley Sports Day tournament by defeating Kimberley 4 to 3 in the final game. Cranbrook and Kellogg, ID, teams also took part in the tournament. Cliff Bogstie pitched the Trail nine to victory while Georgie Kolburn, recently signed by the Dynamiters hockey club as a goaltender, was on the mound for Kimberley.
(July 11) Cranbrook pitcher Art Guthrie held the visiting Kimberley baseball team down on four hits as the Cranbrookers prevailed 3 to 2. Overcoming a first-inning 2 to 0 deficit, the hosts replied with a pair of runs in their half of the frame to knot matters and then, after nipping a Kimberley threat in the fourth with a double play, pushed across another run to take the game.
(July 14) The Cranbrook baseball team rallied after the sixth inning and chalked up an 8 to 4 victory over Libby, MT. A projected double play by the invading Montanans was declared incomplete in the bottom of the sixth after the teams were tied 4 – 4. Libby chucker Derster had held Cranbrook to four hits until the time of the disputed play. Jack Mather pitched for Cranbrook.
(August 26) Cranbrook and the Natal Buffaloes split a doubleheader played in Cranbrook. Natal won the first game 7 to 3 while the hosts took the second encounter 7 to 6. The Pass invaders led throughout the early tussle after racking up six runs in the second frame.
Krall (W), Weaver and xxx
Guthrie (L), Mather and xxx
Hurler Stan Young of the homesters persevered on the hill in the late joust as his mates rescued him from an eighth-inning 6 to 4 deficit to pull the game out of the fire.
Peters (L) and xxx
Young (W) and xxx
CARIBOO BASEBALL
With a wartime recruiting program underway, civilian baseball clubs in the Cariboo area of British Columbia found it challenging to maintain a stable of available players. Early in the season, the Quesnel team was forced to discontinue play altogether as four of their regular players jointly enlisted in the military. No league was ever formed and only a handful of exhibition matches took place.
Giscome : Dunn B. OF, Ekblad H. SS, Ekblad M. 1B, Farenhurst 2B, Gobi OF, Granley C, McLaren OF, McMillan OF/SS, Meadows 3B/P, Neff 1B, Neil OF, Scott C, Spurr 1B, Struthers P/OF
Prince George Merchants : Bracy C/OF, Buckle 2B, Cary C, Cleland Bob P, Duckworth Rocky P (also Quesnel), Fleming Bill 1B, Gabrielle SS, Goodwin OF, Meuka 3B, Moffatt OF, Peckham #1 OF, Peckham #2 OF, Swanky P, Wilson OF, Withiam Bert 3B/P
Quesnel : Chisholm Bob C, Duckworth Rocky 2B/P (also Prince George), Healy 1B, Howlett OF, Magnuson SS, Marsh John OF, Marsh R., Powell OF/P/2B, Tingley Rufus 3B, Woods P/OF
(June 9) A rousing seventh-inning rally gave the Prince George Merchants an 8 to 5 win over Quesnel in the opening inter-city game of the season. Prince George first baseman Bill Fleming was the hitting star of the game, bagging four hits including two doubles. Losing pitcher Woods had eleven strikeouts.
Woods (L), Powell, Duckworth and Chisholm
Cleland (W) and Bracy
(June 16) Giscome edged the Prince George Merchants 6 to 5 in a ten-inning thriller. Unfortunately for the hosting Merchants, wild pitches and errors at crucial moments in the overtime session cost them the game. Both teams had seven hits but fielding on both sides was loose. Meadows, the Giscome third baseman, was outstanding in both defensive play and baserunning. He also collected a pair of hits for the winners as did keystone sacker Farenhurst. Gabrielle, Bracy and Cary of Prince George each had a pair of safeties.
Struthers (W) and Scott
Cleland (L) and Cary
(June 30) The high-flying Giscome ball tossers and the Prince George Merchants split a sloppily-played double-bill in Prince George. The Merchants grabbed the afternoon contest 13 to 6 while the invaders took the nightcap 10 to 8. Despite allowing six runs, winning pitcher Rocky Duckworth gave up just one base hit in the early event. Only Giscome catcher Granley, with a sharp seventh-inning single, was able to dent the armour of Duckworth, picked up by the Merchants after the Quesnel team was ripped apart by military defections. Duckworth also did well with the hickory, belting a triple in the fifth frame which drove in a pair of runs. Teammates Bert Withiam, Cary and Peck each picked up two hits with one of Withiam’s being a towering double.
Struthers (L), Meadows and Granley
Duckworth (W) and Cary
Giscome jumped out of the gate with four runs to take an early lead in the late tussle. Prince George battled back and finally tied the score at 8 – 8 but a two-run error on a routine ground ball in the seventh opened the door for the visitors’ triumph. The Merchants beat themselves in this contest, booting the horsehide on seven occasions. Granley had a pair of hard-hit singles for the victors. Rocky Duckworth of Prince George, with a triple and double, took the batting honours for the night while teammate Bert Withiam drilled a double and single.
Meadows (W) and Granley
Swanky (L) and xxx
CROW'S NEST PASS
(June 19) The Michel-Natal Buffaloes, behind the four-hit pitching of Halko, chalked up their fourth straight win in the Crow’s Nest Pass Baseball League when they defeated the Coleman Pucksters 5 to 2. The win boosted the Buffaloes into first place while the Coleman loss dropped them into third place.