It was fitting the North Battleford Beavers handed the ball to Tom Sallaway with the Northern Saskatchewan League final series tied at two games apiece.
Sallaway had already won a league high eight games during the regular season and two more in the playoffs as the workhorse of the staff. The right-hander from Vancouver Island proceeded to mow down the Unity Cardinals 5-3 and 10-0 as the Beavers won in six games to capture yet another championship. Sallaway finished the season with a 12-3 mark over-all
As with most leagues this season, the statistics were either incomplete or not available. Jim Shaw of Unity appears to have won the NSBL batting title with a .400 average, 11 points better than Hugh McIvor of North Battleford. Don McIntyre of the Beavers was credited with a league-leading ERA of 0.97.
Moose Jaw Devons rode the arm and bat of 17-year-old California schoolboy Paul Nelson to win the pennant but ran into a hot Regina team to lose in the first round of the playoffs. In turn, Regina got upended by Swift Current for the Southern League championship. Nelson, voted the most valuable player, went into pro ball for four seasons before returning to Moose Jaw and winning the batting crown in 1977. In 1972, the left-hander had a 10-3 record overall and was credited with a .325 average in incomplete batting statistics.
Another California lefty, Terry Buck (left) pitching for Yorkton, was the leading hurler during the regular season with a 10-4 won-lost record.
Tim Alcantar of Pepperdine University playing for Saskatoon edged out local product Don McLeod for the batting title, .380 to .375.
Calgary Jimmies were the class of Alberta edging the Calgary Giants for the pennant then downing Edmonton Tigers in three straight games to win the playoff final. Right-hander Bob Baird was a key factor in the Jimmies' triumph compiling a league best 8-1 record, along with a 1.56 earned run average. Rob Roy of Lethbridge was the batting champion finishing with a .377 average.
Binscarth Orioles finished with the best record (16-4) during the regular season and won the playoffs to claim the Manitoba Senior League championship. Veteran Cliff Seafoot (right) of Riverside won the batting title with a .394 percentage while Bob Thompson, named the league's most valuable player, was the top hurler with a 7-2 won-lost record.
Basin League - A nice run for Chamberlain's Bobby Cuellar (Texas). The right-hander had five strikeouts in a two inning relief role June 20th, then set a league strikeout mark June 22nd when he fanned 19 (giving up just an unearned run in a 1-0 loss). Then on the 27th, Cuellar tossed a three-hit shutout, with 13 strikeouts. In 20 innings of work over three games, Cuellar had 37 strikeouts.
On July 1st the Daily Plainsman (Huron, SD) reported Cuellar had an 0.90 ERA through his first 30 innings, Cuellar was the the Basin League's strikeout king and ERA champion in 1971.