BIRTLE CANADA DAY TOURNAMENT
(July 1) Dauphin Redbirds, the last place team in the Manitoba Senior League, pulled an upset Thursday to win the annual Birtle Tournament. And, they did it with a no-hitter, albeit a five inning affair, by Bob Kutzan. Interrupted by occasional showers, most games were called after five innings.
Redbirds beat Brandon Cloverleafs 7-0 in the final to take home $325 of the $1,500 in prize money. Dauphin kicked off the event with an 18-2 romp over the Riverside Blues, edged Hamiota Red Sox 5-3, then blanked the Cloverleafs. Brandon, which drew a bye to the semi-final, shutout St. Lazare Athletics 4-0 to advance against Dauphin. Hamiota made the semis by dropping Souris Cardinals 8-7 and Athletics advanced with a 4-2 decision of Virden Oilers. Irv Chizek proved to be quite the utility man for the Redbirds as he pitched, caught and hit. He won the opener against the Blues, relieved and caught in the second game and was back of the dish in the third. Kutzan also picked up the win against Hamiota with relief help from Chizek and Pat Fitzpatrick.
CHEMAINUS INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT
(July 3-4) Victoria Transport Workers downed Chemainus Carlings 4-1 in a 17-inning thriller and then went on to top Victoria Greaves 9-3 to win the first annual Chemainus Invitational Tournament over the weekend.
Veteran Art Worth pitched and batted Transport to the big win over Chemainus. He hurled all 17 innings and knocked in the first run with a double. He had a single in the 17th setting up the winning run. In the final, Transport Workers combined ten hits with four Greaves errors for the 9-3 victory. John Yankoski went the distance holding Greaves to eight hits. Worth was named the most valuable player of the tournament.
Chemainus had opened the event be defeating I.A.A. of Victoria 6-3. Tom Nicholsen tossed a four-hitter for the pitching win. John Wilson cracked a homer for the winners. In other opening round action, George Brice pitched Greaves into the final with a 7-2 win over Cumberland and Norm Billsborough was in top form in hurled Transport Workers to a 3-1 victory over Courtenay.
BROOKS ANNUAL BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
(July 3-4) The Drumheller Miners swept the first annual Brooks’ Big Four baseball tournament over the weekend, defeating the host Brooks Lions 4 to 1 in the tourney final. The Miners had ousted the Calgary Royals by a 10 to 4 count in first-round action while Brooks had similarly disposed of the Medicine Hat Royals 13 to 5.
The finale was a close game until the ninth inning when Drumheller broke loose with a series of hits that brought them two runs. Jim Berlando’s two-run double was the back-breaker for the Lions. Don Pasutto allowed four hits and rang up seven punchouts in going the distance for the win. Losing heaver Neil Anderson also went the route, surrendering six hits while breezing seven. Bob Trembecky launched a solo dinger for the Miners in the opening panel.
VICTORIA INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT
(July 4-5) Powered by the bat of right fielder John Haar, the Vancouver OK’s clipped Haney-Hammond 9 to 8 in eleven innings to capture top prize in Victoria’s $1,000 invitational baseball tournament. Haar’s heroics lifted the highly-touted OK’s from behind in the exciting tournament finale. The OK’s reached the final earlier in the day when Jim Marshall drove in all of their runs in a 3 to 3 squeaker over Port Moody. Haney-Hammond won its berth, blanking Victoria Greaves 4 to 0.SASKATOON EXHIBITION TOURNAMENT
(July 19) Fulda fell behind 4-1 before rallying with five runs in the fifth inning on the way to a 7-5 triumph over Lanigan-Guernsey in the opening game of the Exhibition Tournament. With the exception of the fourth inning when the Combines scored four times, helped by a pair of errors, left-hander Roman Suer was in command yielding just seven hits overall with eight strikeouts. Ted Suer, with a double and single, was the only batter with more than one hit.
R.Suer (W) and Wempe
Groff, Herr (5), B.Guenther (5) and Plaster
(July 20) Cliff Shockey slugged a homer, two doubles and a single driving in three runs and scoring a pair in leading Delisle past the Allan T-Birds 5-1. Don Poindexter allowed nine hits in going the distance on the mound for the winners. Don Frolek tossed an eight-hitter in taking the loss.
Frolek (L) and Bogren
Poindexter (W) and McKnight
(July 20) Asquith advanced to the semi-final round winning a coin-toss after battling Neilburg-Manitou Braves to a 4-4 tie in a game called after eight innings because of darkness. The Braves jumped into a 3-0 lead in the first inning with Pat Gibbons' ground-rule double driving in a pair. Asquith got one back in the fourth and then scored three in the fifth for a 4-3 advantage when Cliff Mein walked five batters. In the sixth, Pete Prediger singled, stole second and made third on a bad throw then scored on Dennis Murray's infield hit to knot the count. Gene Graves registered the win with an eight-hit performance. He fanned nine.
Graves (W) and Brooks
Mein (L), Murray (5) and Freed
(July 21) Dinsmore Dynamos broke up a 1-1 tie with three runs in the eighth inning, helped by two errors, for a 4-1 victory over the North Central All-Stars. Lefty reliever Dave Banks sparkled for the winners firing one-hit ball with six strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings after replacing starter Ed Anderson. Shortstop Merle Byrnes punched out three hits and played brilliantly in the field. A play on Carl Strome's grounder in the sixth inning was the fielding gem of the night.
E.Anderson, Banks (W) (5) and Henry
Loeffler, J. Stroeder (L) (3), Fouhse (8) and
Strueby
(July 22) Ira McKnight drove in seven runs Thursday night to power Delisle to a 12-7 win over Fulda and a berth in the Exhibition tournament final. As a pinch-hitter in the third inning, the former Negro Leaguer, blasted a grand slam homer to erase a 3-1 Fulda lead. Later, McKnight added a second homer and a single. He also took a turn on the mound in relief of starter Bernie Sonntag. Delisle pounded out 15 hits with Bob Babki, Gord Johnson and Don Heit getting two apiece. Fulda had 12 hits including a home run and double by Dennis Hebig. Gary Bentley, son of Max Bentley, pulled off the field gem of the game in the third inning.
R.Suer (L) and A.Ermpe
Sonntag, McKnight (W) (4), Poindexter (8) and Johnson, McKnight
(July 23) Asquith scored two runs in the first inning and remained in command throughout in downing Dinsmore 9-5 to advance to the tournament final Saturday. Les Stack and Jimmy Chow with three hits apiece led a 12-hit attack for the winners. Larry Lazecki gave up eight hits in doing the distance for Asquith. Three of the safeties were triples by Roy Piper, Dave Banks and Ed Knudson. Elmer Walker and Jack(Jock) Cleghorn had three-baggers for Asquith.
Ellis, Banks (2), Anderson (8) and Knudson
Lazecki (W) and Brooks
Bill Cleghorn (left) manager of Asquith receives the J.F. Cairns Memorial Trophy for capturing the championship of the Saskatoon Exhibition Tournament. Tourney official Eddie Scissons makes the presentation.
(July 24) Asquith spotted Delisle a four run lead in the top of the first inning before roaring back to capture the Exhibition Tournament championship with a 14-10 victory Saturday. 12 hits, six for extra bases powered Asquith to the title and $575 in prize money.
The big blows for the winners came from Erwin Boehm, with a homer, Jack(Jock) Cleghorn, a triple and double, and two-baggers by Elmer Walker, Tony Keller and Les Bloomquist Walker knocked in four runs.
Home runs by Gordie Johnson and Cliff Shockey led a 10-hit attack for Delisle. Max Bentley added a triple and two singles. Gene Graves, in relief of starter Rod Campbell, picked up the win.
Shockey and Les Stack of Asquith shared the $25 prize for most hits, each with six. Graves took home $25 for the most strikeouts in a single game, nine.
Eddy, Poindexter (3), Babki (6) and McKnight
Campbell, Graves (4) and Brooks
LACOMBE TOURNAMENT
(July 29) North Battleford Beavers are the champions of the Lacombe Tournament. Beavers took home the $1,100 top prize Thursday with an easy 14-5 win over Edmonton Angels. Down 5-4 after five innings, Beavers plated four markers in the 6th on three hits, three errors and a walk. They followed up with a six-run 8th inning on seven hits and an error. Dave Hallis, Jack Rowley and John Ford each drove in four runs. Al Symington was the offense for Edmonton with a three-run double in the 2nd and the game's only homer in the 4th.
Don Frolek (W) and Larry Derksen
Dale Schultz, Dave Dinwoodie (L) (5), Al Hamilton (6), Ed Welch (6), Sandy Neilson (6) and xxx
Beavers made the final downing St. John, Washington, Indians 7-5. Dale Schultze's 10th inning homer gave Edmonton a 4-3 win over Kindersley.
(July 28) Rollie Miles, the long time Edmonton football star, led the Edmonton Blue Willow Angels to a 6-3 win over Kamloops Lelands in opening round action. Miles, the playing coach of the Angels, rapped an 8th inning single, his second hit of the game, to score the tying and winning runs. Kamloops had taken an early lead in a nightmare of a 5th inning for Edmonton as the Angels committed four errors.
Kindersley's Joe Ferguson, an 18-year-old import from San Jose, California, dropped behind the Viking Shamrocks 4-1 when his mates booted the ball four times in the third inning. Ferguson then bashed the day's only homer, a grand slam, off Ray Michaud as the Klippers won, 7-5.
Sherman Cottingham had the best pitching performance of the opening day, a one-hitter with 12 strikeouts, as North Battleford blanked the Central Alberta Red Sox 2-0. Owen Mailey's leadoff double in the second spoiled Cottingham's bid for a no-hitter. Gord Labossiere took the loss.
Tom Brown fired a three-hitter and was a star at the plate with three hits and two RBI as the St. John Indians of Washington topped the Vernon Luckies 6-0.
CANADIAN JUNIOR BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT (July 29-Aug 2)
(July 29) Al Herback and Murray Richardson stole the show Thursday as the Regina Red Sox nipped Newfoundland Terra Novas 8-7 in an 11-inning thriller to kick off the National Junior Baseball Championships at Winnipeg Stadium. Richardson stroked a double down the third base line to plate Herback with the winner. Herback was on his way to a steal of home when Richardson launched the blast. Moments earlier, Herback had cracked a triple into centre field to push Ernie Hicke across the dish for what should have been the winning marker. But, Hicke failed the touch third base.
Red Sox were down 5-2 in the top of the ninth before rallying for five runs and a 7-5 lead off Newfoundland ace Phonse Jesso. But, the east coasters rebounded in the bottom of the ninth on Jim Roche's two-run single to send the game to extra innings. Roche drove in six of the seven Newfoundland runs. Fred Cardwell, who worked seven innings in relief of Lorne Davis, picked up the win. He fanned ten, including three in the 11th.
(July 31-August 1) Manitoba capitalized on strong pitching and their opponent's miscues over the weekend to advance to the final of the National Junior Baseball Tournament. Sunday night, 19-year-old Claude Lambert hurled the club to a 5-3 win over highly-touted Quebec. On Saturday, Bobby Hunter held Prince Edward Island to two hits in a 2-1 Manitoba victory. Buzz Lamond stole home for the first run and Rick Simcoe knocked in Don Smith with the winner. Hunter racked up 16 strikeouts. The hard-luck loser Mike Kelly rang up 18 Ks.
(Right - Regina Red Sox pitcher Fred Cardwell busses the bat that won him and the Sox a victory over Newfoundland in the opener of the National Junior Baseball Championship at Winnipeg. The man holding the bat is Murray Richardson whose clutch double in the 11th inning provided the winning run. Winnipeg Free Press, July 30, 1965)
On Sunday, Quebec had the bases full in two innings but could not take advantage. Manitoba scored in the opening frame and added two-run outbursts in the sixth and eighth. A single by Don Smith in the opening frame put Manitoba into the early lead and Smith punched in two more in the sixth. Don Smith and Bryan Smith started the eighth with a walk and a single and they pulled off a double-steal for one run and an error allowed the other. Quebec finally got on the board in the ninth as Bob LaPage slammed a homer over the left centre field wall with Roger Bourgeois and Bruce Cornish aboard. Earlier Sunday, Alberta made the final as Don Maxwell launched a pair of homers and drove in seven runs in an 8-5 win over Saskatchewan. In a consolation semi-final, Nova Scotia dropped Newfoundland 4-1. Saturday, Alberta shaded Nova Scotia 3-2 and Quebec crushed New Brunswick 16-5.
(August 2) First baseman Ron Moffat drove in two runs Monday to give Alberta All-Stars a 3-2 win over Manitoba and the National Junior Baseball Championship. Alberta was trailing 2-1 in the fourth inning when Bryan Smith walked two consecutive batters and Moffat laced one into the left field corner for a double. Nearly 4,700 fans, one of the largest crowds in Winnipeg in recent years, watched the duel between the two western clubs. Wayne Davies was the winning hurler besting Smith. The Alberta Dodgers wiggled out of a first and third, none out, situation in the seventh to capture the trophy. Ellis Woods doubled for the Manitobans to open the seventh and Mel Smith laid down a bunt for a single. But Davies worked out of the jam nabbing a roller back to the mound, fanning Bryan Smith and retiring Don Smith with a sliding catch of his knock to the right of the mound. Dodgers were awarded the Frank "Shag" Shaughnessy Trophy as the event champions. In the consolation final, New Brunswick topped Nova Scota 7-0 as Rich Scammell had a two-run single in the first and a three-run homer in the seventh.
CANADIAN NATIONAL JUNIORS
(August 4) Eighteen players from eight provinces have been selected for Canada's national team to compete in the International Wolrd Championships at Mexico City in October. Members were chosen from teams playing in the national championships. Players had to be 18 years old or younger on September 30th to participate in the world meet.
Catchers : Barry Ellis of Prince Edward Island and Wayne Reily of Nova Scotia.
Pitchers : Mike Kelly and Bill Weatherbie of PEI, Julien Oullette of Quebec, Fred Cardwell of Saskatchewan and John Hegen of Nova Scotia.
Infielders : Wayne Janz of Manitoba, Scott Harvey of New Brunswick, Ray Colbourne of Newfoundland, Jacques-Pierre Lauzon of Quebec, Jim Paisley of Saskatchewan and Fred MacDonald of PEI.
Outfielders : Lyle Moffat and Gord Karch of Alberta, Mel Smith of Manitoba, Jacques Gagne of Quebec and Dave Crabbe of Nova Scotia.
WASHINGTON STATE NATIONAL BASEBALL CONGRESS TOURNAMENT
(August 6-9) The Bellingham Bells trounced the Vancouver Ramadas 10 to 1 in the 28th annual Washington State semi-pro baseball tournament at Pacific Stadium in Bellingham. Both teams, out of the Pacific International Baseball League, advanced to the finals in the four-day, eight-team double-knockout tourney. Vancouver had defeated the Everett WA Orioles in their first game. The victory for the Bells earned them a spot in the national championships to be held in Wichita KS in late August. Vancouver’s lone run in the closing game came in the fifth inning when Stan Osadczuk, an addition from Columbia of the PIL, came in on a single by Bill Jorgensen, a pick-up from Haney-Hammond.
KAMLOOPS LABOUR DAY INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT
(September 4-5-6) The South Burnaby Athletics of the Pacific International League won the eight-team single-knockout Kamloops Labor Day weekend baseball tournament. The Athletics won three straight games, defeating Coquitlam, the Kamloops Okonots and Vancouver Ramadas for the championship. Pitcher Dan Miscisco backed his winning effort with a three-run homer in a 5 to 4 victory over Kamloops. Glen Ford also nailed a three-run circuit-clout as he pitched the Athletics to a 7 to 1 win over Coquitlam. Frank Kozak Jr, a tourney addition from the Astoria Athletics of the Vancouver Industrial League, was the winner as he hurled South Burnaby to a 2 to 1 triumph over Vancouver in the tournament final.
COURTENAY INTIVATIONAL TOURNAMENT
(September 4-6) Greaves of Victoria and Vancouver split first place money at the Courtenay Invitational Tournament as the final was called on account of darkness with a tie score. Greaves won their first two games 3-2 and 8-6 over Chemainus and then lost of Vancouver 3-2. Sam McDowell of Vancouver was selected as the tourney's most valuable player, with George Brice, who did most of the hurling for Greaves, as the runner-up. Bob Lumley, catcher for Greaves, came through with a three-run triple to spark a comeback from a five-run deficit in the 8-6 victory.