MANITOBA SENIOR BASEBALL LEAGUE

After a one year absence from the circuit, the Neepawa Cubs re-joined the fray, expanding the number of entrants to 11 teams. Unlike previous seasons, however, the Cubs were placed in the South Division.

NORTH DIVISION
Angusville Cardinals
Binscarth Orioles
Dauphin Redbirds
Grandview Lakers
McAuley Blazers

SOUTH DIVISION
Brandon Cloverleafs
Hamiota Red Sox
Neepawa Cubs
Riverside Canucks
Souris Cardinals
Virden Oilers

(May 26)  After holding the San Diego Padres to one hit in two innings of a spring training encounter as member of the University of San Diego Toreros, collegiate left-hander Jim Deaver had no trouble in subduing the Brandon Cloverleafs on five hits, all singles, as the visiting Grandview Lakers prevailed 11 to 0 in the opener of the 1977 Manitoba Senior Baseball League. Entering his fourth year with the Lakers, Deaver struck out eight and walked just two in recording the easy complete-game shutout victory. The Cloverleafs used three chuckers with starter Brian Hodgson, whose lack of control was his chief downfall, being saddled with the loss. The game was scoreless until the sixth stanza when the Grandview Gang broke thorough for a six-spot, driving Hodgson to the showers. The victors had only seven safeties, including two each by Glenn Reiss and Randy Maxwell but were the recipients of ten bases-on-balls in addition to another free pass as a result of a hit batter. Dennis Wiebe was the only two-hit batter for the Wheat City nine, stroking a pair of singles.

Deaver (W) and G. Ortynski
Hodgson (L), Majcher (5), B. Thompson (7) and Harvey

(May 29)  McAuley Blazers’ late-season troubles in 1976 seem to have carried over to the start of the 1977 campaign. Playing on their home turf, the Blazers opened the new season by getting thrashed 12 to 4 by the Riverside Canucks. Catcher Bruce Gullett belted a pair of home runs and Ron Seafoot scattered ten hits as the Canucks erupted for an 8 – 0 lead after just three innings and coasted to the win. Losing tosser Ross Lynd was tagged for 11 of the 17 Riverside hits before giving way to Jon Langston in the fourth frame. Gullett slammed a two-run tater during a three-run second inning and added a solo dinger in the fifth, as the Riversiders scored their final four counters. Seafoot walked just two and struck out five Blazers. Craig Bell and Bob Williamson each had a four-ply clout and single for the winners while flychaser Greg Cameron, a .337 hitter last year with the Souris Cardinals, and Danny Cassils each chipped in with three singles. Gullett added a one-base hit to his brace of goners. Brian Rose, Ross Lynd and Graeme Lee led McAuley with two hits each.

R. Seafoot (W) and Gullett, Kettles (8)
R. Lynd (L), Langston (4) and D. Lowes

(May 29)  The Grandview Lakers won their second straight with an 11 to 6 triumph in Hamiota over the Red Sox. Jim Deaver started the game as Grandview’s Designated Hitter and drove in six runs before relieving starting pitcher Brian Bullas in the fifth inning and picking up his second win of the young season. Rookie Wes Coulson, who had control issues and left trailing 9 – 0 in the third, took the loss. Deaver had a two-run double in the opening canto, a three-run single in the second spasm and a sacrifice fly in the fifth to account for his six RBI’s. After ascending the bump, he stifled the Crimson Hose on three hits over the final 4-1/3 innings. Deaver, Bullas and Tony Kalechyn each had two hits for the Lakers, with Kalechyn driving in two runs. Jeff Sheardown batted in three tallies, with a pair of doubles, to pace the Hamiota hitting attack. Brent Montague contributed a single and a double.

Bullas, Deaver (W) (5) and G. Ortynski
Coulson (L), Mathison (3), Ramsey (8) and Labossiere

(May 29)  Rookie import pitcher Chuck Evans did the job with his arm and bat as the Souris Cardinals opened their 1977 schedule with a 7 to 4 victory over the hometown Virden Oilers. Evans, a North Dakotan, stymied the Oilers on six hits and highlighted two Souris rallies with key hits. His single in the second inning drove in two runs as the Cards jumped into a 3 – 0 lead and, in the seventh, he stroked a run-producing double when Souris plated their final two tallies. On the knoll, he rang up 14 punchouts and walked only four. Import Bill Armstrong of Virden whiffed 11 Cardinals in six innings of mound toil but gave up nine of the ten Souris hits and all seven runs. Tim Janz and Jerry Araujo were also two-hit batters for the winners while Rick Bohonis, with two singles, topped the Oiler willow wielders.

Evans (W) and Dwight Kirkup, Bertholet (8)
Armstrong (L), Ronan (7) and K. Buchy

(May 31)  18-year old right-hander Mike Majcher, playing his first season in the MSBL after a winter of college ball in Texas, fashioned a three-hit shutout at Kinsmen Stadium to lead the Brandon Cloverleafs to their first win of the season, a 6 to 0 whitewashing of the Souris Cardinals. The Brandon native highlighted his mound performance by going the route and racking up nine strikeouts. Loser Ken Vertz, another junior-aged player, breezed a dozen Cloverleafs but gave up seven hits including a two-run homer to Bob Thompson in the seventh. Shortstop Rick Cruise drove in the only runs Majcher really needed with a double in the second spasm that sent Rick McFadyen and Dennis Wiebe across the plate. Cruise finished with two hits as did Wiebe.

Vertz (L) and Bertholet
Majcher (W) and Harvey

(May 31)  The Binscarth Orioles were less than hospitable to the Neepawa Cubs, returning to the MSBL after a one-year absence, hammering out 19 hits to crush the hosting Bruins 15 to 2. The Birds erupted for nine runs in the third chapter, chasing Cubs’ starter and loser Don Schmall while opening up a 12 – 1 lead. Gerry Falk, who took over for Binscarth starter Ron Low to start the fourth frame, gained credit for the victory. He struck out ten in the final five innings of the eight-inning game, called due to darkness. Low and Falk each yielded two hits. Ed Beare pitched the final six stanzas for Neepawa, surrendering nine base raps. Low, Dale Gies and Bill Derlago each had three safeties for the Orioles while Rod Fallis and Chuck Lang belted back-to-back solo home runs in the fifth. Garth Jackman and Lang delivered two hits apiece. Neil Martin, with two singles, had half of the Neepawa safeties.

Low, Falk (W) (4) and Lang
Schmall (L), Beare (3) and Buchanan

(June 1)  20-year old Californian Greg Feder tossed a six-hitter and struck out ten in his MSBL pitching debut in leading the Dauphin Redbirds past the McAuley Blazers 5 to 4. John Balderama, the Redbirds’ other import, banged out three singles as the Blazers went down to their second straight defeat. It was a pair of sixth-stanza four-ply clouts, a two-run shot by outfielder John Morrison and a solo blast by southpaw-heaving Feder, which decided the issue. Ross Lynd was nicked for eight Dauphin safeties in taking the loss. Sig Sigurdson added a couple of one-base hits too the Redbird attack. Brian Rose led the Blazers offensively with a double and triple.

Feder (W) and Rideout
R. Lynd (L), Langston (9) and D. Lowes

(June 2)  The Riverside Canucks strung together 15 hits, while receiving an incredible 16 walks, in hammering the Hamiota Red Sox 16 to 7 in a wild-and-woolly MSBL tilt played at the Canucks’ home facility in Boissevain. Darkness prevented play beyond the eighth episode. Grant Everard went the distance on the knoll for the Riversiders, surrendering 13 hits and fanning five but not walking anyone. Hamiota starter and loser Ron Ramsey was rudely welcomed with an eight-hit, nine-run barrage in the 1-1/3 innings he toiled on the hillock. The Canucks’ big inning was the second when they sent 13 batters to the plate and scored seven times. Bob Williamson had three hits for the victors, including a double, while Wayne Keeler, Mark Fisher and Cliff Seafoot each banged out two. Seafoot launched a solo homer in the fifth. Doug McPhail led the way for the visitors with a single, double and solo home run. Wes Coulson and Russ Shaw also had three safeties for Hamiota with a triple included in Coulson’s sum of swats.

Ramsey (L), Montague (2) and Labossiere
Everard (W) and Gullett

(June 2)  Experiencing growing pains associated with their return to the MSBL, the youthful Neepawa Cubs dropped their second-straight one-sided game at Kinsmen Stadium, losing 10 to 1 to the Brandon Cloverleafs. With winning heaver Bob Thompson and reliever Rick Hlady stifling the less-experienced Cubs on just two singles, the game turned into a romp. Don Schall, the first of three Neepawa chuckers, suffered his second loss in a row by giving up four runs and six Brandon hits in 2-1/3 innings. Help is on the way for the Cubbies with the anticipated arrival of a pair of import tossers soon. The Leafs banged out 16 safe swats in their one-sided conquest, one of which was a long solo dinger by rookie outfielder Rick Hoydalo. Bill Chapple had three safeties, all singles while Bert Ready cracked a double and two singles. Rick McFadyen powered a triple and double while Hoydalo, who added a one-bagger to his tater, along with Mel Harvey and Thompson, who struck out ten, all finished with a brace of bingles.

Schmall (L), Beare (3), Davie (7) and Buchanan
B. Thompson (W), Hlady (7) and Harvey

(June 3)  The resurrected Binscarth Orioles struck for seven runs in the fifth inning to wallop newcomer Tim Ronan and the hosting Virden Oilers 15 to 3 in a darkness-shortened MSBL clash that lasted seven innings. Most of the seventh-stanza damage by the Birds was done by Chuck Lang’s two-run goner, a solo tater by Herb Andres and an inside-the-park four-ply blast by Gord Leduchowski. This turn of events made things rather easy for Garth Neville who picked up his first pitching win of the season by fanning ten and limiting the Oilers to five hits through six innings before handing the horsehide over to Rod Enerson to mop up. The O’s collected 17 base blows off Ronan and reliever Bill Armstrong, who took over in the sixth. Lang and Leduchowski added singles to their homers while Andres managed an additional two singles. Ron Low doubled twice. Randy Dittmer and Terry Good supplied almost all the punch for the Virdenites, Dittmer singled twice and doubled while Good rapped out three straight one-base knocks.

Neville (W), Enerson (7) and Lang
Ronan (L), Armstrong (6) and K. Buchy

(June 3)  The Hamiota Red Sox greeted new Dauphin import chucker John Balderama with a 13-hit attack in pummelling the visiting Redbirds 12 to 4 to earn their first win in the three games. The Crimson Hose struck for four runs in the opening inning and them salted things away in the eighth with a five-tally outburst. The beneficiary of these offensive outbursts was Hamiota chucker Doug Mathison who yielded ten-hits in a route-going performance. Balderama also went the distance, allowing 13 hits and fanning eight. Bryan Smith and Brent Montague posed the biggest problems for Balderama. Smith banged out four singles and drove in three runs while Montague rapped a double and a pair of one-baggers, also good for three RBI’s. Doug McPhail, with a two-bagger and single was the only other Hamiotan to garner more than one safety. Although Balderama experienced some difficulty on the knoll, he had no such trouble when he had a bat in his hands, cracking two singles and a double. Fellow import Greg Feder, along with Ron Rasmussen, also checked in with a brace of singles and a two-bagger.  

Balderama (L) and Rideout
Mathison (W) and Labossiere

(June 5)  The Grandview Lakers made their annual South Division swing, playing both Riverside and Souris in split-venue twin-bill action. Despite the fact that the Lakers played well in both encounters, each game resulted in a one-run loss. The matinée contest at Boissevain ended up 4 to 3 in favor of the hosting Canucks while, in the evening scuffle at Souris, Grandview lost another squeaker, 2 to 1, to the hometown Cardinals.
    
Import Brian Bullas did all he could for the Lakers in their opening match with Riverside, pitching a complete-game five-hitter while driving in all of Grandview’s runs with a pair of home runs. However, the Californian couldn’t prevent from hitting a solo round-tripper in the sixth spasm which gave the Canucks a 4 – 2 lead and stood up as the winner. The Riversiders struck for a trey in the third panel, giving winning tosser Rob Medoff a 3 – 2 lead. Medoff had nine punchouts and was nicked for just four safeties. Bob Williamson had a triple and double to lead the winners with the baton.

Bullas (L) and G. Ortynski
Medoff (W) and Gullett

Moving on to Souris for their final joust of the day, the Grandview Gang were met with the four-hit pitching of import Chuck Evans who earned his second win of the early campaign. Evans struck out eight and walked five. Tony Kalechyn, in his first start of the year for the Lakers, gave up six Cardinal safeties in taking the loss. Keith Kontzie led off the fourth frame for the Cards with a double and came around to score on a pair of ground outs, giving Souris a 2 – 0 lead. Kalechyn doubled in the eighth, moved to third on Brian Bullas’ infield single and scored on Jim Deaver’s ground out for Grandview’s lone counter. Kontzie and Steve Furman had two hits apiece for the Cardinals while Kalechyn had two of the four Laker safeties.
  
Kalechyn (L) and G. Ortynski
Evans (W) and Bertholet
                                                                                
(June 5)  Souris had earlier disposed of travelling Dauphin 7 to 6 as the Redbirds began a two-game set on the road. In this afternoon assignment, Ken Vertz of the Cards whiffed a season-high 17 batter while going the distance to grab the hurling decision from Dauphin rookie Mark Luther. Vertz gave up nine hits and walked six while Luther surrendered eight base knocks but got himself into trouble with nine bases-on-balls. Vertz benefited from a four-run Souris rally in the fourth frame, highlighted by Garry Davidson’s two-run single. Davidson finished the game with three hits, including a double while Keith Kontzie and Ron Bertholet both contributed two safeties. Kontzie had three RBI’s and drove in the winning marker in the seventh with a one-bagger. Flychaser John Morrison accounted for three of the Dauphin counters with his second and third circuit-clouts of the season, a solo shot in the fourth frame and a two-run blast in the fifth. 
    
Luther (L) and Rideout
Vertz (W) and Bertholet

(June 5)  Following their afternoon triumph over Grandview, the Riverside baseballers took the field once again as the road-weary Dauphin Redbirds moved in to provide the opposition at Boissevain. The teams battled through 11 innings without settling things, playing to a 1 – 1 draw when darkness prevented further play. John Morrison plated the Redbirds’ tally after reaching third on a three-base outfield error in the fourth inning and crossing home on Siggi Sigurdson’s single. The Canucks knotted the count in the seventh on Ron Seafoot’s run-producing single. Otherwise, import twirler Greg Feder of Dauphin and the Riverside pitching duo of Ron Seafoot and Grant Everard controlled things. The Riversiders had a marginal 10 to 8 advantage in base raps. Designated Hitter Cliff Seafoot and Wayne Keeler led the Canucks offensively with three singles apiece. Dave Rottman, Dale Rideout and Feder had two safeties each for the Redbirds. The game will be decided on June 26 when the teams tangle in Dauphin.

Feder and Rideout
R. Seafoot, Everard (7) and Kettles, Gullett

(June 5)  The travelling Hamiota Red Sox split the proceeds of their two-game swing against North Division opposition, falling to the Binscarth Orioles 5 to 1 in an afternoon clash before moving on to McAuley where it took them ten innings to hand the Blazers their third consecutive setback by a score of 9 to 8.
    
In their opening assignment of the day, the Red Sox fell prey to the fine heaving effort of Binscarth’s Gerry Falk who went the route in annexing his second consecutive win. The Hamiota pitching tandem of loser Wes Coulson and reliever Doug McPhail matched five-hitters with Falk but the Birds made better use of their safeties. Falk struck out 11, walked four and was touched for only an unearned run in the eighth episode while his mates were providing him with all the runs he needed with a three-run fourth frame. A two-run double by Glenn Hodgson was the most telling blow of that outburst. the only multi-hit batter in the contest was former-Oriole Russ Shaw who singled twice for the losers. 

Coulson (L). McPhail (7) and Sheardown, Labossiere (4)
Falk (W) and Lang

Things went better for the Scarlet Stockings in their second contest of the day as they eked out a narrow overtime victory. Bryan Smith belted a solo homer in Hamiota’s two-run ninth canto and then slugged another bases-empty shot in the tenth session when the Sox scored twice while the Blazers countered with a singleton on a homer by Barry Jamieson. Hot-hitting Brent Montague singled in Hamiota’s other tenth-inning tally. Winning twirler Ron Ramsey, combed for 14 base raps, had to pitch his way out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam after Jamieson had narrowed the McAuley deficit to one run. Losing slabster Jon Langston also went the distance, yielding 11 hits and striking out eight. Montague also slapped a double in addition to his timely blow in the bonus round of play. Teammate Jeff Sheardown came through with three singles while Doug McPhail drilled a solo four-bagger. Rookie Stan Jenson paced McAuley’s attack with a double and three singles while catcher Dale Lowes singled twice and doubled once. 

Ramsey (W) and Labossiere
Langston (L) and D. Lowes

(June 5)  Five Angusville errors helped the Neepawa Cubs break into the win column, downing the invading Cardinals 16 to 7. Both teams stung the sphere for nine base raps. The hosts took an 8 – 5 lead with a three-run fifth frame and then ruined the 1977 debut of the Cards with a five-run explosion in the fifth. Southpaw import Rick Sommers registered the pitching victory, punching out a dozen while issuing eight free passes. Taking the loss was Bob Chuchmuch, who yielded six of the nine Cub safeties and 13 runs before being yanked in the sixth stanza. Lawson Davie crushed a three-run homer in the fourth for Neepawa and also added a single. Rob Buchanan, Bob Mazur and Clint Pushka delivered two singles apiece while Sommers helped his cause with three RBI’s. 

B. Chuchmuch (L), Gallant (6) and Chipelski, Wowk (6)
Sommers (W) and Buchanan

(June 7)  After playing in just their second game of the young campaign, the Angusville Cardinals have yet to come close to winning. The Cards, still awaiting the arrival of their two import pitchers, went through five hurlers at Hamiota while the hosting Red Sox went through a great many more batters en route to scoring a massive 24 to 6 victory that included a 16-run sixth inning. The Scarlet Stockings erased a 2 – 0 deficit with three runs in the third inning, a singleton in the fourth, a four-spot in the fifth and then prompted the parade to the mound with 16 counters in the sixth panel when they sent 20 batters to the plate. Loser Marion Kotelniski lasted 4-2/3 innings on the bump and was succeeded by five others, at least two of which were position players trying to stop the bleeding. The last Angusville player to ascend the hillock was catcher Barry Wowk, who had played five different positions by the time the umpires decided to mercifully bring a halt to proceedings after 6-1/2 innings. Doug Mathison pitched into the sixth in procuring the easy win. Three Hamiota swatsmiths collected a triad of base knocks. Doug McPhail’s total included a three-run homer, Brent Montague doubled on three occasions in accumulating four RBI’s while Ron Ramsey’s output consisted of three singles. Mel Smith drew five of the 13 walks issued by Angusville’s pitchers.

Kotelniski (L), B. Flynn (5), Gallant (6), Mazur (6), Wowk (6) and Wowk, Reagh (5)
Mathison (W),  D. Anderson (6) and Labossiere

(June 7)  Slugging outfielder Bob Thompson belted three home runs and had seven RBI’s in pacing the invading Brandon Cloverleafs to an 18 to 8 romp over the winless Virden Oilers. Thompson lit up Virden starter Tom Stevenson for a two-run tater in the opening canto, added a three-run dinger off the slants of losing heaver Bill Armstrong in the fifth frame and then climaxed his performance with a two-run goner against Armstrong in the seventh spasm. Thompson’s output helped playing-manager Rick Hlady capture his first mound win of the year. Hlady took over from Brandon starter Brian Hodgson, who had let a 5 – 0 lead slip away. Hlady limited the hosts to one run over the final 5-2/3 innings. Dennis Wiebe collected three singles and a double as part of the Leafs’ 18-hit attack. Rick McFadyen singled twice and launched his first four-bagger of the campaign while Bert Ready, Bill Chapple and Mel Harvey banged out two hits apiece. Sizzling Terry Good, who is the hottest swat artist in the MSBL so far, had three singles for the Oilers. Armstrong doubled twice while Ted Bridgett delivered a double and single.

Hodgson, Hlady (W) (4) and Harvey
Stevenson, Armstrong (L) (3) and K. Buchy

(June 7)  The Dauphin Redbirds took advantage of some sloppy defensive play by the hometown Grandview Lakers to post a 6 to 3 triumph. Holding a 3 – 1 cushion entering the seventh, Dauphin put the game on ice when they added another trey as the Lakers melted down with four errors. Import chucker John Balderama preserved the Redbird win from that point. In squaring his record at 1 – 1, Balderama scattered six hits and rang up 12 punchouts. Jim Deaver was the hard-luck loser, giving up seven safeties while fanning a dozen. Greg Feder smacked a two-run circuit-jack for the visitors in the fourth frame to wipe out a 1 – 0 Grandview lead. Balderama was the only Dauphinite to garner more than one hit, banging out a pair of singles. Don Luhowy and Deaver both singled twice for the Lakers.
   
Balderama (W) and Rideout
Deaver (L) and G. Ortynski

(June 8)  The streaking Binscarth Orioles won their fourth consecutive MSBL game by scoring a 7 to 3 victory over the slump-ridden McAuley Blazers. The unbeaten Birds wiped out a 2 – 1 McAuley lead in the third inning when catcher Chuck Lang connected for a two-run round-tripper, this third dinger of the season. Two more counters in the fourth, and singles in the fifth and sixth, helped solidify things for winning heaver Rod Enerson, making his first appearance in the circuit. Enerson scattered the better part of eight Blazer hits during an eight-inning stint. Veteran Garth Neville moped up in the ninth. Taking the loss was Tom Rosati who was also making his MSBL debut. Rosati surrendered eight hit in going the distance and registered six strikeouts, one more than Enerson. Lang added a run-producing single in the opening inning while teammate Dale Gies managed a double and single. McAuley rookie Stan Jenson rapped out three singles and Rosati stroked a brace. 

Rosati (L) and D. Lowes
Enerson (W), Neville (9) and Lang

(June 9)  The Hamiota Red Sox rallied with three runs in the final two innings for a 5 to 4 conquest of the hosting Brandon Cloverleafs. Winning pitcher Dennis Anderson took over mound duties from Ron Ramsey to start the eighth episode and held the Cloverleafs hitless and scoreless over the final two frames. Brian Hodgson, tagged with the loss, gave up the tying and winning runs in the ninth after ascending the hill in the eighth when Mike Labossiere’s run-scoring single drove Brandon starter Mike Majcher to the showers. Doug McPhail singled in the ninth to drive in Ian Anderson with the equalizer. With runners at the corners, McPhail then took off for second base in a steal attempt while Leaf catcher Rick McFadyen’s throw sailed into centre field, allowing Wes Coulson to score easily from the hot corner with what turned out to be the deciding tally. McPhail and Labossiere banged out a pair of one-base hits each for the Red Sox while Rick Hlady, Dennis Wiebe, McFadyen and Bert Ready each had two safeties for the Brandonites.   

Ramsey, D. Anderson (W) (8) and Labossiere
Majcher, Hodgson (L) (8) and McFadyen

(June 9)  Import slab artist Rick Somers, whose MSBL career is but two games old, seems to have given the Neepawa Cubs instant respectability. The Cubbies stumbled through their first two games of the season but Somers has pitched Neepawa to two consecutive victories since his arrival. The second triumph saw Somers stymie the Grandview Lakers on three hits in a 3 to 2 decision. Somers struck out 11 Lakers to keep the Bruins close and Neepawa responded with the game-winning rally in the eighth panel when they plated all of their tallies. A two-run double by veteran Ed Beare capped the come-from-behind outburst. Losing flinger Brian Bullas also pitched well, limiting the hometown Cubs to five hits while whiffing seven. He also drove in the first Laker run. Beare, who also picked up a single, was the lone player in the game to collect more than one hit.

Bullas (L) and G. Ortynski
Somers (W) and Buchanan

(June 9)  The Angusville Cardinals edged the Virden Oilers 9 to 8 for their first win of the season. Back-to-back singles by Jim Flynn and Lorne Chipelski in the eighth inning preceded the game-winning blow, a sacrifice fly by Glen Katchin. That run gave the Cards a 9 – 7 advantage, giving winning flinger Bob Chuchmuch some room to work in the ninth. Chuchmuch was combed for a dozen Virden base raps but managed to go all the way. The loser was Tim Ronan who was raked for 12 of the 14 Angusville safeties before being ejected in the sixth stanza. Ted Bridgett finished up. Barry Wowk nailed two doubles and a single for the victors while Flynn added three singles. Chuchmuch helped his cause by driving in a pair of markers with two singles. Terry Good, Tom Stevenson and Perry Kalynuk each cuffed a double and one-bagger for the Oilers while Bridgett blasted a two-run homer in the opening canto.. 

Ronan (L), Bridgett (6) and K. Buchy
B. Chuchmuch (W) and Chipelski

(June 9)  The South Division-leading Riverside Canucks pounded out an 8 to 2 win over the homestanding Souris Cardinals. Grant Everard scattered eight hits, walked three and struck out one in taking the mound decision from import Chuck Evans. Morley Hartel collected two doubles and a singles for the Riversiders while Bob Williamson and Bruce Gullett each singled three times. Ron Seafoot, who followed Everard on the bump by twirling two hitless frames, added a double and single. Wayne Ramsey clouted his first home run of the year for Souris, a solo shot in the sixth, while Tim Janz doubled and singled.

Everard (W), R. Seafoot (8) and Gullett
Evans (L) and Bertholet

(June 10)  The red-hot Binscarth Orioles parlayed a strong pitching performance by Gerry Falk and a miserable defensive display by Dauphin to record their fifth straight MSBL victory, a 7 to 2 decision over the hometown Redbirds. Falk, running his record to 3 – 0, allowed just five hits while striking out a season-high 19 batters as the undefeated orioles won their fifth straight. Dauphin made eight errors in the game, three of them in the third inning when the O’s put up a four-spot on the scoreboard. The winners added a pair of runs in the sixth on Chuck Lang’s fourth dinger of the campaign, a two-run shot. Losing twirler Greg Feder gave up only eight base raps, seven of them singles, but was consistently victimized by the shoddy fielding by his mates. Gord Leduchowski paced the Orioles with three singles while Garth Jackman added two. Dave Rottman cracked a first-inning solo tater for Dauphin and later added a double while John Morrison delivered a double and triple.

Falk (W) and Lang
Feder (L) and Rideout 

(June 11)  The McAuley Blazers, who won a record 23 games during the 1976 MSBL season, have ended their long wait for their first victory of 1977. The Blazers, losers of their first four games, received a stellar three-hit pitching performance from Jon Langston and hammered the Angusville Cardinals 7 to 1. Langston struck out seven while losing heaver Perry Doroschuk, making his MSBL debut on the mound for the Cards, gave up nine hits, walked four and breezed seven.

P. Doroschuk (L) and Chipelski, Reagh (7)
Langston (W) and D. Lowes

(June 12)  The Hamiota Red Sox beat the Neepawa Cubs 7 to 2 in a six-inning assignment curtailed by rain. Two-run singles by Ron Ramsey and Bryan Smith in the fifth inning highlighted a Hamiota rally that produced five runs and snapped a 2 – 2 tie. The outburst came against rookie chucker Pete Chapin, making his first start of the season. Wes Coulson went the full six stanzas on the slab for the Sox to pick up his first win of the campaign. The 17-year old rookie struck out seven and walked only two. Both teams nicked the horsehide for eight safeties.

Coulson (W) and Labossiere
Chapin (L) and Buchanan 

(June 12)   A five-hit, 15-strikeout effort by Virden’s Bill Armstrong, subsidized with six Dauphin errors, paved the way for the invading Oilers to win their first game of the year, a 5 to 1 conquest of the Redbirds. In ending their four-game losing streak, the Oilmen banged out ten base blows off complete-game loser John Balderama. 
    
Armstrong (W) and K. Buchy
Balderama (L) and Rideout

(June 15)  Pitcher Dave Marabella, whose college obligations south of the border forced him to miss the first eight games of the Hamiota schedule, made his sophomore-season debut at Souris where he fashioned a three-hitter as the Red Sox blanked the hosting Cardinals 5 to 0. Marabella and the Cards’ Ken Vertz were locked in a scoreless struggle until the Red Sox broke through for a four-spot in the sixth spasm. Two of those Hamiota runs came on a single by Ellis Woods. Marabella didn’t issue a walk and whiffed seven while Vertz was touched for seven safeties, walking six and fanning four. Russ Shaw had a pair of singles for the winners and was the lone multi-hit batter in the contest.

Marabella (W) and Labossiere
Vertz (L) and Ramsey

(June 16)  The Brandon Cloverleafs knocked the Riverside Canucks from the ranks of the undefeated by thumping the Riversiders 11 to 5 in Boissevain. The normally sure-fielding Canucks committed six errors and the Cloverleafs cracked out ten hits as veteran left-hander Brian Hodgson won his first game in three decisions. Three of the Riverside miscues came in the third inning and Brandon’s Bob Thompson made them pay for their mistakes, drilling a bases-loaded home run off loser Ron Seafoot. Thompson’s blast was his fifth of the season, giving him the lead in that department. He also heads the circuit in RBI’s with 15. Ahead 6 to 2 after two innings, the visitors put the game out of reach in the fifth with a four-run explosion that was spiced by Bert Ready’s bases-loaded double. Thompson, who finished the game with five RBI’s, also singled while Rick Hlady rapped out a double and two singles. Roy McLachlan checked in with a brace of one-baggers. Hodgson checked the Canucks on eight hits, one of which was Cliff Seafoot’s three-run four-ply clout in the eighth episode. Mark Fisher picked up three singles for the hosts.

Hodgson (W) and Harvey
R. Seafoot (L) and Gullett, Kettles (8)

(June 16)  The McAuley Blazers won their second straight game, doubling the Neepawa Cubs 4 to 2. The Blazers came from behind with a three-run eighth inning against losing tosser Rick Somers. A run-scoring single by Dale Lowes tied the score and, when Somers unloaded a wild pitch with winning pitcher Tom Rosati at the plate, Wayne Poole scored the lead run from third base. Rosati then delivered the insurance run with a run-producing two-bagger. Arizonan Rosati limited the visitors to five hits and struck out 12. Somers also pitched a five-hitter but he walked eight batters. Lowes was the only Blazer to garner more than one hit, delivering a double and single. Neepawa’s Lawson Davie also had a double and one-base hit.

Somers (L) and Buchanan
Rosati (W), Langston (9) and D. Lowes

(June 17)  With airborne pitcher Gerry Falk winning his fourth straight assignment, the unbeaten Binscarth Orioles pushed their win streak to six games by blanking the visiting Souris Cardinals 9 to 0. Falk, flown in from Winnipeg for each of his mound appearances, was late in arriving because of some inclement weather so alternate starter Rod Enerson carried the pitching load for the first two frames, holding the Cards hitless. When Falk took over in the third, he stymied the Cards the rest of the way on a two-hitter while ringing up ten punchouts. Meanwhile, the Orioles were thumping loser Randy Clayton for ten hits and reliever Stan Furman for three. Binscarth catcher Chuck Lang regained a share of the MSBL’s home run lead by belting his fifth of the season. He also added a pair of singles. Don Gies had three hits for the hosts, including a pair of doubles while Lyle Robinson, Rod Fallis and Gord Leduchowski managed two safeties apiece.  

Clayton (L), Furman (7) and Epp, Bertholet (7)
Enerson, Falk (W) (3) and Lang

(June 17)  The Riverside Canucks pounded out an impressive 11 to 2 win over the Angusville Cardinals, belting import slabster Pat McGehee, back in the MSBL after a year’s absence, for 19 hits. Craig Bell nailed a home run, his third of the season, as well as two singles for the Riversiders while Bob Williamson, Greg Cameron and winning pitcher Grant Everard collected three singles each. Everard, in winning his third game without a loss, limited the hosts to seven hits and struck out a pair. One of the base knocks yielded by Everard was a circuit-clout by Bob Chuchmuch, his second. Chuchmuch also managed a single while Angusville catcher Mark Haley, playing in his first MSBL game, singled twice. 

Everard (W) and Gullett
McGehee (L) and Haley

(June 17)  The Hamiota Red Sox rallied for eight runs in the seventh stanza to register a 12 to 7 come-from-behind victory over the Virden Oilers in an eight-inning, darkness-shortened MSBL tussle. The Oilers, who scored their seven runs on just three hits, led 7 – 4 until the seventh when the Red Sox sent 11 batters to the plate in manufacturing the eight-spot. The Hamiotans built their winning rally on five hits, two walks and a pair of Virden errors. Reliever Dennis Anderson tossed the final 1-2/3 innings to pick up the win. Tim Ronan was saddled with the loss. He surrendered 12 hits, all singles and walked 13. Bryan Smith had three hits for the hosts while Mike Labossiere, Wes Coulson and Doug McPhail had two apiece. Hamiota’s Mel Smith drew five walks, giving him ten in his last two home games.   

Ronan (L) and K. Buchy
Mathison, D. Anderson (W) (7) and Sheardown

(June 18)  The McAuley Blazers, recovering from a poor start to their season, reeled of their third win in succession, annexing a 5 to 1 verdict from the punchless Souris Cardinals. Ross Lynd limited the visiting Cards to just four hits in winning his first pitching decision of the year. Lynd fanned five in taking the verdict over Chuck Evans who was saddled with his second loss. Terry Lynd helped his brother out by stroking a pair of singles for the winners.

Evans (L) and Bertholet
R. Lynd (W) and D. Lowes

STANDINGS 

NORTH DIVISION                W        L       Pct.      GBL
Binscarth Orioles             6        0     1.000      ----
McAuley Blazers               3        4      .429       3.5 
Dauphin Redbirds              2        4      .333       4.0
Grandview Lakers              2        4      .333       4.0
Angusville Cardinals          1        4      .200       4.5

SOUTH DIVISION                W        L       Pct.      GBL
Riverside Canucks             5        1      .833       ----
Hamiota Red Sox               7        3      .700       ----
Brandon Cloverleafs           4        2      .667       1.0
Souris Cardinals              3        5      .375       3.0
Neepawa Cubs                  2        4      .333       3.5  
Virden Oilers                 1        5      .167       4.0

(June 19)  The Grandview Lakers began their Sunday two-game road trip by stopping off in McAuley where they fell 2 to 1 to Jon Langston and the resurgent Blazers. Langston throttled the Lakers on just three hits and registered 11 strikeouts. McAuley got to losing chucker Jim Deaver for both their markers in the third inning. With two retired, Terry Lynd singled and Langston doubled, setting things up for Wayne Poole who chased both baserunners across the dish with a triple. Deaver surrendered ten hits, three of those to Langston who doubled twice and singled. Lynd and Tom Rosati followed with a pair of one-baggers each. Brian Bullas had two of Grandview’s three hits, both singles.

Deaver (L) and G. Ortynski
Langston (W) and D. Lowes

(June 19)  The hosting Virden Oilers won their second and third games of the season, equaling their all-too-modest productivity of a season ago, when they beat the Dauphin Redbirds 5 to 1 in the first half of a three-team Sunday doubleheader then used a two-run eighth episode to edge the travelling Grandview Lakers, who were completing the second portion of their split-venue twin-bill, 7 to 5, in the evening.
    
Import Bill Armstrong evened his record at 2 – 2 when he rang up 14 punchouts and stopped the Redbirds on three hits in the lid-lifter. Armstrong was also the main offensive cog for the Oilers, driving in four runs, three of them coming on an eighth-inning homer. He beat Dauphin’s Greg Feder who struck out ten while allowing eight hits, including two each by Bob Buchy and Randy Dittmer. Siggi Sigurdson had two of the Redbird safeties, including a double.  
    
Feder (L) and Rideout
Armstrong (W) and K. Buchy

Trailing 5 to 2 after 6-1/2 innings of the nightcap, Virden rallied to tie the score in the bottom-of-the-seventh spasm, highlighted by Tom Stevenson’s two-run triple, and then followed with a deuce in the eighth against the road-weary Lakers. A run-scoring double by Rick Bohonis and Randy Dittmer’s RBI-single provided the winning and insurance tallies. That was enough to make a winner out of veteran Ted Bridgett, who went the distance, allowing ten hits while striking out seven. Import Brian Bullas, saddled with the loss, allowed only six hits through the 7-1/3 innings that he toiled on the hillock but continuously put himself in peril by issuing eight bases-on-balls. Dittmer, who singled twice, was the only Oiler to garner more than one hit. Glenn Reiss singled and belted his first homer of the year for the Lakers while Jim Deaver and Deryl Ortynski both singled twice. 

Bullas (L), Kalechyn (8) and G. Ortynski
Bridgett (W) and K. Buchy

(June 19)  The hometown Hamiota Red Sox handed the Binscarth Orioles their first loss of the season, a 5 to 3 setback. Ron Ramsey’s two-run double was the key blow as the Red Sox wiped out a 2 – 0 deficit with four runs in the second inning. Ramsey, who added another double later in the game, came on in the sixth stanza to preserve Dave Marabella’s second consecutive mound victory. Marabella was nicked for three hits during his stint while Ramsey pitched a five-hit shutout the rest of the way. The loser was Garth Neville, plagued by control problems in his three-inning appearance. He walked eight and yielded five safeties before Rod Enerson was called on to finish up. The Red Sox, who committed five errors that Binscarth couldn’t capitalize on, got a pair of singles from ex-Oriole Russ Shaw. Garth Jackman and Glenn Hodgson stroked two singles apiece for the visitors.

Neville (L), Enerson (4) and Lang
Marabella (W), Ramsey (6) and Labossiere

(June 19)  The hot-hitting Riverside Canucks overcame an early 5 - 0 deficit to stampede past the homestanding Neepawa Cubs 14 to 9. The Riversiders belted import chuckers Pete Chapin and loser Rick Somers for 21 base blows. Craig Bell banged out three singles, a double and a homer, his fourth. Mark Fisher drove in five runs with two singles a double and his first four-bagger of the campaign while Bob Williamson laced four one-base hits. Rounding out the top Canuck swatsmiths were Danny Cassils and Greg Cameron who both slammed a double and a single. Ron Seafoot took the pitching win in relief of Rob Medoff, who was chased during Neepawa’s three-run second stanza. Rob Smith had two singles and a double for the hosting Cubs while Neil Martin contributed three singles. Catcher Rob Buchanan drilled a three-run homer in the eighth episode. 

Medoff, R. Seafoot (W) (2) and Gullett
Chapin, Somers (L) (4) and Buchanan

(June 20)  Craig Bell continued his torrid hitting streak as the Riverside Canucks defeated the McAuley Blazers 3 to 1 in MSBL action. Bell, who had 11 hits in his last 15 at-bats, nailed a double and two singles in leading the Canucks to their seventh win in eight games. Riverside scored single runs in each of the second, fifth and sixth innings to beat Jamie Poole, who pitched an eight-hitter in his first MSBL start. With the Riversiders in front 1 – 0, Mark Fisher drilled what proved to be the game-winning hit in the fifth, driving home Bob Williamson from second base with a two-out single. The win went to Rob Medoff, who held the visitors to five hits before needing relief help from Ron Seafoot in the eighth episode. Morley Hartel doubled and singled for the hosts. All seven McAuley hits were singles, including two each by Poole and Jon Langston.

J. Poole (L) and Lindsay
Medoff (W), R.Seafoot (8) and Gullett, Kettles (8)

(June 21)  Showing signs of re-achieving his status as a double threat in the MSBL, Bob Thompson tossed a complete-game four-hitter in leading the Brandon Cloverleafs past the Angusville Cardinals 3 to 1. Restricted to playing the outfield the past couple of seasons due to an ailing right arm, the hard-hitting Thompson, still carrying one of the league’s bigger bats, has helped the Leafs with his invigorated flipper this season. The Cloverleafs did all their scoring in the second inning on singles by Dennis Wiebe, Barry Wallin, Blaine Peterson and Mel Harvey plus an infield error. That was more than enough for Thompson, who lost his shutout in the third canto when Jim Flynn touched the pan on a groundout by Bill Flynn. Now 2 – 0, Thompson struck out six and walked one in beating import Pat McGehee, who went down to defeat for the second time. Wiebe and Wallin singled twice for the hosting Wheat City nine. The Cards got a pair of singles from Clint Pushka.

McGehee (L) and Haley
B. Thompson (W) and Harvey

(June 21)  The Dauphin Redbirds edged the Neepawa Cubs 3 to 2 in a hard-fought MSBL clash that needed ten innings to decide a winner. The deciding run was plated in the top-of-the-tenth when Greg Feder singled, swiped second, advanced to third on a single by Dave Manthorne and scored on an ensuing outfield error. The teams traded deuces in the opening panel. The visiting Redbirds acquired their brace on a solo dinger by Dave Rottman and a run-producing single by Manthorne. The Cubs evened the score when Neil Martin scored from third base on a passed ball and Lawson Davie reached home on an RBI-single off the bat of Rob Smith. The pitching win went to John Balderama, 2 – 2, who allowed eight hits and struck out nine in besting veteran Ed Beare, who gave up nine safeties and punched out 12.

Balderama (W) and Rideout, Morrison (2)
Beare (L) and Buchanan

(June 21)  Unimpressed by Virden’s two-game win streak, the McAuley Blazers hammered the Oilers 20 to 3 in an MSBL game shortened to eight innings due to darkness. The Blazers battered four Oiler tossers for 20 hits, scoring six-spots in each of the first and seventh stanzas as well as a sawbuck in the fifth. Dale Lowes belted his first tater of the season and added three singles while McAuley teammate Graeme Lee homered and singled twice. Winning pitched Tom Rosati nailed two doubles and a one-bagger while Barry Jamieson, Jon Langston and Wayne Poole all notched a two-bagger and single. Randy Dittmer had two of Virden’s six hits, a single and double. Tim Ronan was saddled with his fourth consecutive loss. 

Ronan (L), Stevenson (5), Bohonis (7), B. Buchy (8) and K. Buchy, Bridgett (6)
Rosati (W), R. Lynd (6) and D. Lowes

(June 22)  The Hamiota Red Sox parlayed a six-hit attack into an 11 to 2 victory over the Souris Cardinals for their ninth win of the season against three losses. The Scarlet Stockings erased a 1 – 0 deficit by pouring across seven runs in the sixth inning on five hits, three walks and a Souris error. They then added two-run totals in each of the seventh and eighth chapters to run away with the decision and make things easy for reliever Ron Ramsey who won his second game. Ramsey allowed five of the eight Cardinal hits was was charged with one run. The loss went to starter Ken Vertz who gave up five hits and seven walks before being lifted. Jerry Araujo of the vanquished Souris squad, with a couple of singles, was the only player from either team to have plural hit totals.

Vertz (L), Walker (6) and Bertholet
Coulson, Ramsey (W) (4) and Labossiere

(June 22)  The Binscarth Orioles stretched their lead atop the North Division by blanking the Grandview Lakers 11 to 0 on Rod Enerson’s five-hitter. Enerson won his second consecutive game and struck out 13 Lakers in the process. He beat Jim Deaver, 2 – 3, who was combed for ten hits and eight runs over 6-2/3 innings of mound work. Rod Fallis of the Orioles snapped out of a slump with three singles and a home run, driving in four runs. Teammate Dale Gies delivered a double and single. All of the Grandview hits were singles, two of them by Deaver.

Enerson (W) and Lang
Deaver (L), Luhowy (7) and G. Ortynski

(June 23)  A 7 to 2 conquest of the visiting Neepawa Cubs provided the Binscarth Orioles with their eighth MSBL win in nine games and gave them a 3-1/2 game lead over the second-place McAuley Blazers in the North Division of the MSBL. Garth Neville tossed a six-hitter to gain his second win. He walked five and struck out six and was supported by a well-balanced 11-hit attack to which eight Orioles contributed. The hosts scored twice in the third inning and then chased Cub starter Rick Somers with a four-run fifth frame, bringing on reliever Lawson Davie. Glenn Hodgson paced the winners with three singles while Alf Ducharme chipped in with a pair. Neville lost his bid for a shutout when Davie drilled a two-run round-tripper in the eighth episode. The loss for Somers was his third in a row after winning his first two starts.

Somers (L), Davie (6) and Buchanan
Neville (W) and Lang

(June 23)   The South Division front-running Riverside Canucks pushed their record to 8 – 1 with an 8 to 0 whitewashing of the visiting Virden Oilers. Import Scott Jenson, who last appeared in a Souris Cardinal uniform a year ago, made his first pitching performance with the Canucks a successful one. Although he allowed seven walks, he stifled the Oilers on four hits, two of them doubles by Terry Good and Tom Stevenson. Virden’s Bill Armstrong, meanwhile, was giving up 12 hits in a route-going effort that dropped his record to 2 – 3. Bob Williamson and Craig Bell stroked a double and single each for the Riversiders while Mark Fisher and Greg Cameron both collected a brace of one-baggers.

Armstrong (L) and K. Buchy
Jenson (W) and Gullett, Kettles (9)

(June 23)  The invading Brandon Cloverleafs posted a 7 to 1 win over the free-falling Grandview Lakers to solidify their third-place hold in the South Division. Mike Majcher pitched a five hitter for the Leafs in improving his record to 2 – 0. Majcher fanned ten and walked five to beat import Brian Bullas, now 0 – 4, who was kayoed from the knoll in the midst of Brandon’s three-run second inning. The visitors rapped out 14 hits, 11 of them off reliever Tony Kalechyn. Bob Wilson picked up three singles for the Wheat City nine while Dennis Wiebe drilled a double and single. Bill Chapple and Bert Ready managed two singles apiece while Rick McFadyen clouted his second four-bagger of the season. All the safeties surrendered by Majcher were singles with the only one damaging to him being a run-scoring hit by Jim Deaver in the seventh stanza.

Majcher (W) and Harvey
Bullas (L), Kalechyn (2) and G. Ortynski

(June 24)  In a clash of division leaders, the Riverside Canucks came out on top 6 to 2 over the hometown Binscarth Orioles. Although the Birds held a 9 to 6 edge in base hits in this error-free battle, it was the Riversiders who cashed in on the third-inning wildness of losing pitcher Gerry Falk to claim five runs and take control of the game. Falk uncharacteristically issued four straight walks with the bases loaded for the Canucks’ first four counters and then gave up a single to Bruce Gullett for a fifth tally, putting the North Division pace-setters in a deep hole. It was the first loss for Falk in five decisions. Winning hurler Rob Medoff retained an unblemished mark with his third win. Bob Williamson managed three hits for the victors, including a double. Doubles by Herb Andres and Don Gies in the fifth frame were instrumental in Binscarth scoring their pair of runs.

Medoff (W) and Gullett
Falk (L) and Lang

(June 24)  Veteran Bill Chapple stroked five singles as the Brandon Cloverleafs doubled up on the host Souris Cardinals 12 to 6. Chapple, who drove in four runs, was followed in the 18-hit Brandon hit-parade by Rick Cruise who had three one-baggers, good for a pair of RBI’s, as well as Bob Wilson, Bert Ready and Rick McFadyen who each claimed a brace of safeties. Wilson’s two blows were both doubles. The Cards sent four different chuckers to the hill as starter Brad Walker, kayoed in the opening panel when the leafs struck for a five-spot, was tagged with the loss. Rick Hlady scattered a dozen Souris hits in gaining his second win of the season. Wayne Ramsey hit his second homer of the year for the Cardinals while Keith Kontzie stroked three singles, one more than both Stan Furman and Tom Kearns. 

Hlady (W) and Harvey
Walker (L), Furman (1), Kontzie (5), Evans (8) and Epp, Bertholet (3)

(June 24)  Trailing 7 to 6 heading into their final turn at bat, the Angusville Cardinals pushed across two runs edge the visiting Dauphin Redbirds 8 to 7. Bob Chuchmuch’s leadoff home run in the bottom-of-the-ninth inning squared things up. Lorne Gallant was then awarded first base on a catcher interference call, advanced to second on a walk to Bill Flynn and advanced all the way home with the walkoff winner when winning pitcher Pat McGehee hit a ground ball that was bobbled at second base. McGehee came on in relief of Chuchmuch in the fifth frame. The Angusville duo was touched for ten hits and five walks. John Balderama, who gave up only six hits in going the route, took the loss.

Balderama (L) and Smith
B. Chuchmuch, McGehee (W) (5) and Haley

(June 24)  The homestanding Neepawa Cubs upset the McAuley Blazers 3 to 2. Losing chucker Jon Langston and the Blazers were cruising right along with a 2 – 0 lead until the sixth inning. Ultimate winning twirler Pete Chapin got the ball rolling for Neepawa with a single. He advanced to second on a walk to Neil Martin and scored on a double by Rob Smith. Martin and Smith subsequently crossed home plate on a double by Lawson Davie. That was all the offensive output that the youthful Cubs needed as Chapin struck out ten McAuley batters and gave up only four hits in earning his first win in MSBL circles. Langston struck out seven and yielded six Cub safeties. At the plate, he managed a pair of singles and drove in one of the Blazer tallies. A bases-loaded walk to Wayne Poole produced the other McAuley counter.

Langston (L) and D. Lowes
Chapin (W) and Buchanan

(June 26)  Facing two separate South Division opponents in a Sunday series of encounters, the hosting Dauphin Redbirds started things off by trampling all over the Souris Cardinals 8 to 3. The Riverside Canucks then took the field and, upon taking a 1 – 0 lead after one inning of play, earned a victory from the suspended game of June 5 when the foes battled to an 11-inning, 1 – 1 saw-off. That didn’t seem to bother the Redbirds, however, as they rode the power-hitting of Dave Rottman to capture the totality of the second event with an 8 to 5 conquest over the MSBL’s winningest team. 
    
Import Bruce Bremer, pitching for his new team, made his return to the MSBL a successful one in the opener against Souris, giving up eight hits and one run in seven innings before being forced to leave with a blistered finger. Brody McLean finished up. Dauphin collected eight hits off losing twirler Chuck Evans and sixth-stanza reliever Keith Kontzie. Rottman led the winners offensively with a double and two singles while Garry Davidson, Evans and Ron Bertholet all had three safeties for the Cards, including two-baggers by Evans and Bertholet.

Evans (L), Kontzie (6) and Bertholet
Bremer (W), McLean (8) and Smith

Rottman’s hot bat continued to spark the Dauphinites in their late tilt against Riverside, who were also playing their second bout of the day after starting off with a win at Grandview. After falling behind 4 to 0, which included the one-inning tie-breaker loss from the June 5 match, the Redbirds rallied for three runs in the fourth, two in the fifth and four in the sixth. Included in the offensive explosion were Rottman’s third and fourth dingers of the season. Both were two-run shots. Rottman, although touched freely by the Canucks for 15 hits, also managed to endure all the way on the hill. Grant Everard went the distance for Riverside, yielding 11 hits and fanning seven. Both Everard and Rottman were credited with a win and a loss. John Morrison and Dale Rideout, like Rottman, had two hits for Dauphin. Craig Bell stroked four hits for the visitors, including his sixth homer of the year. Bob Williamson singled three times and tripled while Cliff Seafoot delivered a double and two one-baggers.

Everard (L) and Gullett
Rottman (W) and Smith

(June 26)  It was a grim day for the slump-ridden Grandview Lakers who dropped both of their contests, their ninth and tenth consecutive losses. The hosting Lakers fell 5 to 2 to the Riverside Canucks in an afternoon scuffle and, then, in an evening skirmish, succumbed 3 to 0 to the Souris Cardinals, who had begun their jaunt into North Division territory by dropping a decision at Dauphin.
    
Hot-hitting Bob Williamson of the Riversiders knocked a triple and two singles while Craig Bell had a home run and single against the ineffective Grandview pitching corps. In total the Canucks had 11 hits, including  a double and single by Greg Cameron. The pitching win went to Ron Seafoot who scattered eight hits in beating Laker starter, import Brian Bullas, now winless in five decisions who was lifted in the fifth frame. Tony Kalechyn had a home run and single for the hapless Lakers while Deryl Ortynski picked up a double and two singles.

R. Seafoot (W) and Gullett
Bullas (L), Luhowy (5) and G. Ortynski

Souris’ Ken Vertz handcuffed the hosts with a six-hitter in the finale, walking four and fanning six in gaining the shutout. Jim Deaver gave up nine Cardinal safeties while whiffing 15 in absorbing the loss. Vertz helped himself with the baton, garnering a double and a single while driving in a run. Stan Furman also had a two-bagger and one-base hit for the victors while Chuck Evans managed a couple of singles. Grandview’s Glenn Reiss gave Vertz the most trouble, rapping out three singles. 

Vertz (W) and Bertholet
Deaver (L) and G. Ortynski

(June 26)  The travelling Brandon Cloverleafs split a pair of Sunday road games, clipping the North Division-leading Binscarth Orioles 8 to 2 before moving on to McAuley where they were downed 7 to 3 by the Blazers.
    
Bob Thompson walloped his sixth homer of the season and pitched a nine-hitter in the Leafs’ first game at Binscarth. The win for Thompson was his third in as many decisions. Rick McFadyen snapped out of a mild slump with four hits, including a run-scoring double and his third home run of the year. Barry Wallin, with a double and single, along with Thompson, who added a single to his four-bagger, were the only other Cloverleafs to get more than one hit off loser Rod Enerson, who was combed for 13 hits. Binscarth’s Bill Derlago slugged his first round-tripper of the season while teammate Gord Leduchowski singled twice.  
      
B. Thompson (W) and Harvey
Enerson (L) and Lang

Thompson blasted his league-leading seventh dinger, one of his two safeties, in the late match at McAuley but it wasn’t enough as the Blazers snapped a 3 – 3 tie with a four-run sixth stanza, lifting import Tom Rosati to his third win in four decisions. Rosati, who had a couple of singles, allowed seven Cloverleaf hits while punching out 13 in sending left-hander Brian Hodgson down to his third defeat. Stan Jenson had two RBI’s in the decisive inning for the winners. Mel Harvey, Rick Cruise and Thompson had two safeties apiece for the visitors.
   
Hodgson (L) and Harvey
Rosati (W) and D. Lowes

(June 26)  Paced by Ted Bridgett and Bill Armstrong, the Virden Oilers unleashed a 19-hit attack by thumping the Neepawa Cubs 20 to 7. Winning pitcher Bridgett struck out eight and allowed nine hits in copping his second win against no losses and aided his own cause with a double and three singles, accounting for three RBI’s. Armstrong singled four times and drove in four runs. Ken Buchy, Tom Stevenson, Randy Dittmer and Terry Good all followed with two hits apiece in the slow-moving game. Rob Buchanan and Rod Koscieiny both cuffed a pair of base raps for the vanquished Cubs. Import Rick Somers, bounced from the bump in the fourth, took the loss. 

Somers (L), Beare (4) and Buchanan
Bridgett (W) and K. Buchy

(June 28)  Back-to-back home runs off the bats of veterans Bob Wilson and Bob Thompson piloted the Brandon Cloverleafs to a 9 to 3 come-from-behind victory over the Neepawa Cubs. Trailing 3 – 1 heading into the seventh inning at Neepawa, Wilson unloaded his first tater of the campaign, a three-run shot. Thompson, the league-leader in four-ply clots, followed with his eighth dinger of the year. The Leafs then sealed the win with four more runs in the ninth as complete-game pitcher Mike Majcher won his third game in as many decisions. Majcher surrendered eight hits while punching out ten. Import Pete Chapin went the distance for the hometown Cubs, giving up 14 Brandon safeties while fanning 11. Rick McFadyen also went yard for the Leafs with a two-run goner in the ninth. Leadoff hitter Neil Martin stroked three singles for the Cubbies.

Majcher (W) and Harvey
Chapin (L) and Buchanan

(June 28)  The Riverside Canucks continued to rack up wins, defeating the host Hamiota Red Sox 7 to 3. The Canucks, who broke open a one-run game by scoring three times in the eighth inning, got run-producing hits from Bob Williamson, Greg Cameron, Dan Cassils and Bruce Gullett. Scott Jenson earned his second win, pitching a seven-hitter while Dave Marabella absorbed the loss. Bryan Smith hit a pair of singles for the Red Sox, driving in one of their tallies.

Jenson (W) and Gullett
Marabella (L), D. Anderson (4), Mathison (8) and Labossiere

(June 28)  The Binscarth Orioles received three doubles, accounting for five RBI’s, from Bill Derlago on the way to a 17 to 5 thumping of the visiting Dauphin Redbirds. The Orioles mounted a 19-hit attack against losing heaver Greg Feder and fifth-inning reliever Dale Rideout. Aside from Derlago, teammate Rod Fallis drove in three runs with three singles, Chuck Lang lunched his sixth home run of the season and added a single, Gord Leduchowksi had three hits, including a double, good for a pair of RBI’s and Glenn Hodgson punched out three singles. Garth Neville, with seventh-inning assistance from Gerry Falk, earned the pitching win. Feder starred for the Redbirds at the plate with three hits including a two-run homer.  

Feder (L), Rideout (5) and Smith
Neville (W), Falk (7) and Lang

(June 28)  The McAuley Blazers invaded Souris and outlasted the host Cardinals 10 to 7. Both teams managed to bang out nine safeties. The Blazers struck for six runs in the second inning, taking control of the game, on two hits, two walks and three Cardinal errors. Dale Lowes led the McAuley offense with three singles while Wayne Poole delivered a pair of doubles. Ross Lynd went the distance to gain the win over Chuck Evans. Stan Furman nailed a two-run homer as the Souris squad attempted a comeback with a four-run eighth inning. Evans added three singles, one more than Garry Davidson and Jerry Araujo.

R. Lynd (W) and D. Lowes
Evans (L) and Bertholet

(June 28)  The Virden Oilers won their fifth game of the season by defeating the visiting Angusville Cardinals. No final score, game details or batteries were reported in the print media.   

(June 29)  Rick Hlady fashioned a three-hitter at Kinsmen Stadium as the Brandon Cloverleafs ran roughshod over the Virden Oilers 17 to 1. Hlady, who had a no-hitter going for five innings, lost his bid for a no-no in the top-of-the-sixth spasm when veteran Bob Buchy led off with an inside-the-park homer. Unbeaten in three decisions, Hlady walked two and struck out eight in the game that was shortened to 7-1/2 innings because of darkness. With Rick Cruise, Mel Harvey and Hlady leading the way with three safeties apiece, the Leafs raked Virden’s Tim Ronan, now 0 – 5, for 15 hits before he was lifted for Randy Dittmer in the seventh stanza. Cruise’s sum of swats included a round-tripper and a triple while Hlady and Harvey also had three-baggers. Outfielder Bob Wilson delivered a couple of doubles, driving in three runs.

Ronan (L), Dittmer (7) and K. Buchy
Hlady (W) and Harvey

(July 1)  Birtle annual MSBL Canada Day $2,500 baseball tournament

(July 3)  The travelling Binscarth Orioles clipped the Riverside Canucks 10 to 4 in a battle of divisional leaders and then made it a doubly sweet Sunday with a 5 to 4 decision over the Souris Cardinals later in the day. Gerry Falk earned the pitching wins in both road games, running his record to 6 – 1.
    
Herb Andres cracked a base-loaded triple in the third inning to highlight a five-run Orioles’ rally in their fracas at Riverside as Falk limited the heavy-hitting Canucks to nine singles in going the route for his initial victory of the day. Rob Medoff was the victim of Binscarth’s 12-hit attack, giving up all nine runs in 5-1/3 innings. Import Lonney Thomas came on in the sixth and finished up. Andres added a double and single to his three-bagger while teammates Garth Jackman, Don Gies and Rod Fallis cuffed a brace of bingles each. Danny Cassils, Greg Cameron and Bruce Gullett all singled twice for the Canucks. 

Falk (W) and Lang
Medoff (L), Thomas (6) and Gullett

After toiling the entire nine innings of the opener against Riverside, Falk once again ascended the knoll to start the finale at Souris and pitched until there was one out in the sixth inning, leaving with a 5 –2 lead in favor of Garth Neville. The Cards narrowed the deficit to 5 – 4 on losing twirler Ken Vertz’s two-out, two-run single but Neville choked off the rally and got the save. Glenn Hodgson banged out a double and single for Binscarth while Bill Derlago drove in two runs with a pair of singles. For the Cardinals, Jerry Araujo was nearly a one-man show, belting a triple, double and single and scoring three of their four runs. Chuck Evans chipped in with a couple of one-baggers.
  
Falk (W), Neville (6) and Lang
Vertz (L) and Bertholet

(July 3)  The Cardinals from Angusville began a two-game set in South Division territory by dropping their namesakes from Souris 9 to 1 before venturing on to Boissevain where they lost to the Riverside Canucks 7 to 4. 
    
The visitors rapped out 13 hits against their crimson-feathered foes from Souris in the matinée tussle. Jim Flynn and Clinton Pushka cracked two singles and a double against losing twirler Chuck Evans, whose record dropped to 2 - 5. Angusville snapped a scoreless tie in the fourth inning, parlaying four hits and three Souris errors into four runs. Pat McGehee evened his record at 2 – 2 with a seven-hitter, hurling shutout ball until Larry Thiessen’s RBI-double in the seventh. Thiessen had two hits for the losers in this game. 

McGehee (W) and Haley
Evans (L) and Bertholet

The Cards kept pace with the South Division-leading Riversiders at 3 – 3 for the first five frames of the twilight tilt. In the sixth, however, Murray Duncan doubled home Morley Hartel to break the tie and Bob Williamson, the current batting leader in the MSBL, followed by driving in Duncan with the tally that proved to be the winner. The 5 – 3 lead was enough for the Canucks’ Scott Jenson, tagged for ten Angusville safeties, to pick up his third straight pitching win. Complete-game heaver Bob Chuchmuch was the loser. Williamson, Greg Cameron, Mark Fisher and Bruce Gullett led the 11-hit Riverside offense with two safeties each while Bill Flynn, Barry Wowk and Bob Mazur stroked a brace of base raps apiece for the Cards. One of Wowk’s hits was a triple.

B. Chuchmuch (L) and Haley
Jenson (W) and Gullett

(July 3)  The McAuley Blazers, winners of eight of their last ten games, hammered the homestanding Hamiota Red Sox 12 to 4. The Blazers scored at least one run in eight of the nine innings against three Hamiota slabsters including starter and loser Wes Coulson. Ross Lynd scattered ten hits for his third win in five decisions. Dale Lowes and Barry Jamieson paced the McAuley 15-hit attack with three safe swats each, with Lowes having two doubles in his arsenal. Jon Langston, Brian Rose and Stan Jenson added a couple of hits each. Ian Anderson drove in three of the four Red Sox’ counters with two singles while Russ Shaw contributed a double and single.

R. Lynd (W) and D. Lowes
Coulson (L), Labossiere (4), Scott (8) and Labossiere, Sheardown (4)

(July 3)  The Dauphin Redbirds plated an unearned run in the bottom-of-the-ninth canto to shade the Neepawa Cubs 8 to 7. The visiting Cubs, who trailed 3 – 0 after six innings, scored seven times in the final three innings but Dauphin ran across the walkoff winner when Neepawa catcher Rob Buchanan threw the ball into the middle garden, trying to nail Duke Rodnisky in a theft attempt of the keystone sack, allowing Dave Manthorne who had opened the ninth with a double, to ramble home from third with the deciding tally. Buchanan had given the Cubs the temporary deadlock with a run-scoring single in the top-half of the chapter. Lawson Davie, who took over from Cub starter Rick Somers in the seventh spasm after the Redbirds had tied the game 6 – 6, suffered the loss. Bruce Bremer whiffed 12 Neepawa batters in posting his second straight win. Import Greg Feder drilled four singles to lead the Dauphin attack while catcher Don Smith contributed a double, single and two RBI’s. Don Martin, Davie and Len Luharski had two hits apiece for the Cubbies.

Somers, Davie (L) (8) and Buchanan
Bremer (W) and Smith

STANDINGS 

NORTH DIVISION                     W       L       Pct.      GBL
Binscarth Orioles                 11       3      .000      ----
McAuley Blazers                    8       6      .571       3.0 
Dauphin Redbirds                   6       8      .429       5.0
Angusville Cardinals               3       8      .273       6.5
Grandview Lakers                   3      10      .231       7.5

SOUTH DIVISION                     W       L       Pct.      GBL
Riverside Canucks                 13       3      .813       ----
Brandon Cloverleafs               10       3      .769       1.5
Hamiota Red Sox                    9       5      .643       3.0
Virden Oilers                      5       8      .385       6.5
Souris Cardinals                   4      11      .267       8.5
Neepawa Cubs                       3      10      .231       8.5  

(July 5)  Danny Cassils and Cliff Seafoot delivered run-scoring triples in the 11th inning at Kinsmen Stadium, lifting the Riverside Canucks to a 6 to 3 victory over the Brandon Cloverleafs. The win was the 14th in 17 games for the Riversiders and left them with a 2-1/2 game bulge over the Wheat City aggregation in the South Division standings. The pitching win went to Grant Everard, 6 – 1, who took over from import starter Lonney Thomas in the seventh inning. Losing heaver Bob Thompson surrendered 11 of the 13 Riverside hits before giving way to Brian Hodgson with one out in the fateful eleventh. Mark Fisher drove in the first three Canuck tallies, two of them in the fourth frame with a towering four-ply clout. He also had an RBI-double in the seventh stanza. Greg Cameron doubled twice for the winners while Bob Williamson singled on two occasions. Seafoot added a single to his two-run triple. Dennis Wiebe collected three one-baggers for the hosts while Thompson and Rick Cruise doth stroked a double and single.

Thomas, Everard (W) (7) and Gullett
B. Thompson (L), Hodgson (11) and Harvey

(July 5)  The Hamiota Red Sox moved to within a half-game of the second-place Brandon Cloverleafs in the South Division of the MSBL by hammering the Angusville Cardinals 17 to 7. The Red Sox scored six runs in the third inning to take a 10 – 1 lead and make things easy for Ron Ramsey to pick up his third win in four decisions. Ramsey allowed ten of the 12 Angusville hits before giving way to Glennis Scott for the final two innings. Cardinal starter and loser Mark Haley lasted just 2-1/3 innings on the hillock before reverting to his more familiar spot behind the plate. Ellis Woods collected three singles and belted his first home run of the year in driving in six runs for the Red Sox. Wes Coulson singled twice and doubled while Ramsey knocked out three singles and Doug McPhail a pair. Pat McGehee and Marion Kotelniski both went yard with their first dingers for Angusville. Kotelniski also ripped a double while Jim Flynn and Bob Mazur checked in with a double and two singles for the Cards.

Ramsey (W), Scott (8) and Young, Sheardown (4)
Haley (L), B. Flynn (3) and J. Flynn, Haley (3)

(July 5)  The visiting Virden Oilers jumped out to an early 4 – 0 lead and went on to trip the Souris Cardinals 9 to 2 in MSBL action. Three consecutive doubles in the opening canto by Tom Stevenson, Bill Armstrong and Perry Kalynuk sparked the rally that got the Oilmen rolling. Armstrong needed no more offensive help in winning his fourth mound decision against three losses. He gave up eight hits and fanned 11 batters in losing twirler Jerry Araujo who was nicked for eight of the 11 Virden safeties. Oiler veteran Ted Bridgett smacked his second four-bagger of the year, a solo shot, and also stroked a single. Armstrong drove in three runs with his first-inning two-bagger and a single. Araujo belted a circuit-clout for the Cards, a bases-empty blast, that was his first of the campaign. Ron Bertholet contributed a double and singles while Garry Davidson singled twice.

Armstrong (W) and K. Buchy
Araujo (L), Furman (5) and Bertholet 

(July 6)  Import Brian Bullas, who splits his time with the Grandview Lakers as a pitcher and outfielder, produced his second consecutive 3-for-3 performance at the plate in helping the hometown Lakers blank the Neepawa Cubs 6 to 0. Bullas cracked out a double and two singles in support of complete-game winning pitcher Jim Deaver who fashioned a five-hitter. Grandview counted two runs in the second stanza against losing chucker Pete Chapin on a single, two walks and a pair of throwing errors. In the third, a run-scoring single by Tony Kalechyn and an RBI-double by Bullas, along with two passed balls, accounted for the Lakers’ final four runs. Deaver had two of the six safeties garnered by the Grandview Gang with a pair of singles. Catcher Rob Buchanan was best with the baton for Neepawa, stroking a double and one-bagger.

Chapin (L) and Buchanan
Deaver (W) and G. Ortynski

(July 6)  The Angusville Cardinals upset the North Division-leading Binscarth Orioles 10 to 4. Two wild pitches and an error, sandwiched around a single and two walks, opened the door for the Cards to score three second-inning runs against loser Rod Enerson and help make a winner of import Pat McGehee. Angusville followed up with four more tallies in the third as Lynn Chuchmuch and McGehee each lashed two-run singles. McGehee, now 3 – 3,  yielded seven hits and lost his shutout in the eighth episode when the Orioles scored all four of their runs. Chuchmuch, Jim Flynn, McGehee and Mark Haley all registered two hits for Angusville while Gord Leduchowski and Garth Jackman duplicated the feat for Binscarth.

Enerson (L) and Stainer, Lang (3)
McGehee (W) and Haley

(July 7)  Currently the hottest team in the MSBL, the McAuley Blazers improved their record to 10 – 6 with an 8 to 2 triumph over the Brandon Cloverleafs at Kinsmen Stadium. The win for the Blazers moved them to within 1-1/2 games of the North Division-leading Binscarth Orioles. McAuley rapped out ten hits against rookie chucker Mike Majcher, six of those coming in the final two frames when they plated five markers to turn around a 2 – 1 deficit into a victory. Majcher was breezing along with a four-hitter when a two-out single by Stan Jenson tied the game at 2 – 2 and Jon Langston’s follow-up double drove in what proved to be the winning tally. In the ninth, the Blazers cracked out two doubles and a pair of singles, accounting for three insurance runs, before Larry Thompson relieved Majcher and got the final out. Import Hank Ashworth who replaced the departed Tom Rosati on the Blazers’ roster, scattered seven hits and fanned five in procuring the heaving triumph. The Fullerton College attendee was one of the three McAuley batters to acquire two hits, banging out a pair of singles. Langston and Terry Lynd, each with a double and single, were the others. Mel Harvey singled twice for the Leafs.
         
Ashworth (W) and D. Lowes
Majcher (L), L. Thompson (9) and Harvey 

(July 7)  After four successive last-place divisional finishes, the Virden Oilers appear finally ready to qualify for a playoff berth in the MSBL. The Oilers scored three runs in the ninth inning to overtake the hosting Neepawa Cubs 6 to 5, solidifying their hold on the fourth and final South Division playoff position. Virden now has a 7 – 8 record, 3-1/2 games in front of the fifth-place Souris Cardinals. Rick Somers of the Cubs was trying to protect a 5 – 3 lead going into the final frame but after whiffing the first two Oiler batters, started to falter. An error, a double by Ken Buchy and an intentional walk to Ted Bridgett loaded the bases. The lead was then reduced to a singleton when Somers unloaded a wild pitch. Terry Good followed with a one-bagger that plated Buchy with the tying counter. Another fielding miscue sent Bridgett sprinting across the pan with what turned out to be the deciding tally. Somers was touched for six safeties, issued six free passes and rang up 15 punchouts while import Tim Ronan won his first game in six decisions by giving up seven safeties while whiffing nine. Buchy was the Oilers’ big gun with four hits, including two doubles. Don Martin led Neepawa with three singles and two RBI’s.

Ronan (W) and K. Buchy
Somers (L) and Beare

(July 8)  The Brandon Cloverleafs scored three runs in the top-of-the-tenth inning to win a wild 11 to 8 slugfest from the hometown Hamiota Red Sox and snap a South Division second-place tie with the Sox in the process. Two home runs by slugging Rick McFadyen and one by Rick Cruise had helped boost the Leafs into an 8 to 5 lead going into the-bottom-of-the-ninth. But, with two aboard and two out, Brandon left-hander Brian Hodgson served up a meatball to Hamiota’s Russ Shaw who put it into orbit for three counters and an 8 – 5 deadlock. In the overtime session, Brent Montague, the fourth of five twirlers paraded to the hillock by the Scarlet Stockings, dug himself a huge hole by walking three of the first four Cloverleafs he faced. The winning run then came in on a fielder’s choice, the first insurance tally on Bill Chapple’s RBI-single and the second on an outfield miscue on the same play. Hodgson survived to go the distance, surrendering 12 hits in winning his second verdict against three defeats. Montague lasted just 1-1/3 innings in absorbing the setback. McFadyen’s brace of dingers included a two-run blast in the fourth and a solo shot in the sixth. Cruise has a brace of one-base raps in addition to his two-run tater in the seventh. Bert Ready and Roy McLachlan singled three times each for Brandon while Garry Keating and Dennis Wiebe both racked up two of the Leafs’ 17 hits. Shaw was a one-man wrecking crew for the Crimson Hose, adding two doubles and a single to go with his dramatic ninth-inning goner. Bryan Smith and Wes Coulson chipped in with two singles each.

Hodgson (W) and Harvey
Ramsey, D. Anderson (7), Mathison (8), Montague (L) (9), Labossiere (10) and Labossiere, McPhail (10)

(July 8)  The Angusville Cardinals needed ten innings to subdue the hot McAuley Blazers 9 to 8 in an exciting MSBL affair in which 26 base hits were halved by the combatants. Trailing 8 to 5 as they came to bat in the eighth episode, the Cards scored a trey , two of them on a Blazer miscue to create a stalemate, and then won it in the overtime round of play on winning pitcher Pat McGehee’s run-scoring single. Bill Flynn had opened the bonus session for Angusville with a single and advanced into scoring position on an overthrow to first base. McGehee hurled the final 6-2/3 innings of the clash after relieving Bob Chuchmuch who was kayoed during a three-run McAuley fourth, Hank Ashworth, the third Blazer heaver, was tagged with the loss. Bob Mazur had a double and single for the Cardinals while Bill Flynn, McGehee, Lorne Gallant, Glen Katchin and Barry Wowk each stung the sphere for a brace of one-baggers. McAuley got three singles from Ashworth and Barry Jamieson as well as a pair of one-base raps from Terry Lynd.

J. Poole, Langston (2), Ashworth (L) (8) and D. Lowes
B. Chuchmuch, McGehee (W) (4) and Haley

(July 8)  The Riverside Canucks clinched at least a tie for the South Division pennant with a 7 to 4 win over the Virden Oilers. Scott Jenson tossed a seven-hitter for his fourth straight mound victory as the Riversiders’ power came through for a dozen base blows in roughing up losing chucker Bill Armstrong. Craig Bell slugged his fifth and sixth round-trippers, and added a double, while Bob Williamson, the MSBL’s leading hitter, went 3-for-5 including his second four-ply clout of the year. Bell and Williamson combined for five RBI’s with Danny Cassils and Cliff Seafoot knocking in the other two during a fifth-inning rally.
   
Jenson (W) and C. Seafoot, Gullett (6)
Armstrong (L) and K. Buchy

(July 8)  The Binscarth Orioles strengthened their hold on top spot in the North with an 8 to 2 win over the Grandview Lakers. Three Binscarth slabsters combined for a three-hitter as the Orioles broke loose for a five-spot in the fifth frame to take control of the fracas and increase the divisional lead to 2-1/2 games over McAuley. Garth Neville, who replaced Gerry Falk in the first inning after the Oriole starter had injured his right knee, got the win. Bill Derlago pitched the final inning for Binscarth. Brian Bullas, 0 – 6, took the loss, giving up three of the seven Oriole hits and four straight walks in the fifth frame to account for his downfall.  

Bullas (L), Luhowy (5) and G. Ortynski
Falk, Neville (W) (1), Derlago (9) and Lang, Wasslen (8)

(July 10)  The Souris Cardinals received a run-producing single from Chuck Evans in the bottom-of-the-ninth inning to edge the Neepawa Cubs 2 to 1. Evans’ timely hit came after a pair of costly errors by the Cubs. Keith Kontzie got the ninth-inning rally going by cuffing a single and advancing into scoring position on a throwing error at first base. Garry Davidson followed with an infield grounder that was bobbled, allowing Kontzie to move to third on the play. That set the stage for Evans who singled up the middle to end the game. Neepawa had taken a 1 – 0 lead on consecutive singles by Lawson Davie, Ed Beare and Mike Sweet in the second stanza but Souris tied the game in the fifth when Stan Furman singles, stole second and was driven home on a single off the bat of catcher Tim Janz. Ken Vertz scattered seven hits in taking the heaving victory over hard-luck loser Pete Chapin, who allowed just six safeties. Furman, with two singles, was the only Souris batter to acquire more than one base rap off Chapin. Davie, meanwhile, hit three one-baggers for the Cubs, one more than Sweet.

Chapin (L) and Buchanan
Vertz (W) and Janz

(July 10)  Belmont International Tournament of Champions

(July 12)  Gerry Falk subdued the Brandon Cloverleafs on four hits in leading the Binscarth Orioles to a 5 to 1 triumph over their hosts. Still recovering from a knee injury, Falk retired the first ten Leaf batters he faced before surrendering a single to catcher Mel Harvey. The Birds, meanwhile, pushed across a counter in the third inning on a double steal, then added all they needed in the fifth on Garth Jackman’s run-producing triple followed by a Don Gies’ sacrifice fly. Bill Chapple’s seventh-inning double drove in Rick McFadyen with Brandon’s lone run. Mike Majcher, who needed relief help from Brian Hodgson in the fourth, suffered the loss.

Falk (W) and Leduchowski
Majcher (L), Hodgson (4) and Harvey

(July 12)  The McAuley Blazers kept pace with their arch-rivals, the Binscarth Orioles, by pushing across four runs in the top-of-the-tenth inning to sideline to persistent Virden Oilers 5 to 1. With the score deadlocked at 1 – 1 after regulation time, McAuley finally got to starting and losing Virden pitcher Bill Armstrong. Terry Lynd reached first base on an error and was sacrificed into scoring position by Barry Jamieson. Then the fireworks started with five consecutive base knocks. Jon Langston, the winning pitcher, singled and was followed by Dale Lowes who doubled. Wayne Poole, Hank Ashworth and Jamie Poole rounded out the outburst by each singling. The result was four runs. Ken Buchy had staked the Oilers to a 1 – 0 lead by driving in Randy Nash in the fifth frame but the Blazers got that run back in the seventh, thanks to a single off the bat off Graeme Lee and a two-base error on a ball hit by Barry Jamieson. The winners had an 11 to 6 margin in base raps.

Langston (W) and D. Lowes
Armstrong (L) and K. Buchy

(July 12)  Playing at Boissevain, the Souris Cardinals stunned hosting Riverside with a 6 to 2 upset win over the Canucks to keep their playoff hopes alive. Despite the setback, the Riversiders clinched the South Division pennant when Brandon was defeated at Binscarth. Winning pitcher Ken Vertz got the Cards started offensively with a third-inning single. Subsequent one-baggers by Garry Davidson, Chuck Evans and Stan Furman, plus a double by Randy Clayton, accounted for three runs, all Vertz needed. Evans starred for the Souris squad, who still trail Virden by 1-1/2 games in the race for the final playoff spot in the South, driving in three runs with two singles and a triple. Rob Medoff, kayoed from the bump in the third, suffered the loss. Bob Williamson had a solo home run and a single for the Canucks.

Vertz (W) and Davidson
Medoff (L), R. Seafoot (3) and Gullett

(July 12)  Hammering the horsehide for 14 base blows, the invading Hamiota Red Sox breezed past the hapless Neepawa Cubs 10 to 4. Ron Ramsey led the charge at the plate by the Crimson Hose, spanking the sphere for three singles, a double and two RBI’s. Doug McPhail also drove in a brace of tallies while stroking three singles as Cub import Rick Somers was nailed with his sixth straight loss after opening the season with a pair of wins. Dave Marabella, who was the recipient of excellent relief aid from Dennis Anderson in the fifth, got credit for the win. Neepawa managed only three hits, all off Marabella, in the contest including a home run by Lawson Davie in the fourth.  

Somers (L) and Buchanan
Marabella (W), D. Anderson (6) and Labossiere

(July 13)  Slugging Bob Thompson led a Brandon long-ball barrage with two home runs, establishing an MSBL record, as the Cloverleafs thumped the hometown Angusville Cardinals 14 to 4. Thompson’s round-trippers were his ninth and tenth of the season, breaking the single-season mark of eight he held jointly with three other players. Thompson smashed the record when he belted a solo shot in the fourth inning off reliever Bill Flynn, who yielded five of Brandon’s six circuit-clouts. Mel Harvey, Dennis Wiebe and Garry Keating drilled their first dingers of the year for the visitors while Rick McFadyen powered his seventh of the campaign in the fourth frame. The other tater launched by Thompson came in the eighth episode and was a two-run blast. With the brace of goners, Thompson took over the current RBI leadership in the league with 24. As is becoming the custom, Thompson did more than just hit. He picked up his fourth pitching victory in five decisions by scattering the better part of Angusville 11 hits. The loser was Bob Chuchmuch, the first of three Cardinal tossers. McFadyen and Harvey each had a brace of singles in addition to their four-ply clouts while Wiebe added a two-bagger to his long-gone bomb. Roy McLachlan contributed to the Wheat City 17-hit assault with three singles while Blaine Peterson managed a pair. Cardinal import Pat McGehee launched the contest’s seventh see-ya-later with his second of the season. Clubmate Lorne Gallant doubled and singled while Jim Flynn singled twice.

B. Thompson (W) and Harvey
B. Chuchmuch (L), McGehee (3), B. Flynn (4) and Haley

(July 14)  The Brandon Cloverleafs were declared forfeiture winners of their scheduled game at Kinsmen Stadium when the Dauphin Redbirds failed to appear. 

(July 14)  The South Division pennant-winning Riverside Cardinals closed out their portion of the MSBL’s regular season with a 6 to 3 conquest of the Neepawa Cubs. The Riversiders rallied from a 3 – 0 deficit with a three-run fourth inning and went ahead to stay in the sixth when Morley Hartel doubled and scored on an error. That made a winner of Grant Everard, who pushed his record to 7 – 1 by limiting the visitors to seven hits. Pete Chapin spun a six-hitter in losing for the fifth time in six decisions. The Cubs’ Mike Sweet and Nell Martin were the only batters in the game with plural hit totals with a double included in Sweet’s brace of bingles. Bob Williamson and Greg Cameron both had doubles for the hosts.

Chapin (L) and Buchanan
Everard (W) and Gullett

(July 14)  The Binscarth Orioles clinched the North Division pennant with a 15 to 4 victory over the Angusville Cardinals. Chuck Lang and Rod Fallis slugged two home runs apiece, both driving in four runs, to spice Binscarth’s 19-hit attack off four Cardinal pitchers. Ron Low and Reg Parton both had a perfect night at the plate for the O’s, who scored ten times in the second inning. Low stroked four singles and a double in five trips while Parton singled three times in as many official appearances. Angusville’s Jim Flynn managed two singles off Garth Neville, now 5 – 1, who pitched a six-hitter. The loss went to starter Perry Doroschuk, who lasted just 1-1/3 innings before the parade to the mound started.

Doroschuk (L), McGehee (2), B. Chuchmuch (3), Kotelniski (6) and Haley
Neville (W) and Lang

(July 14)  The Hamiota Red Sox put together an 18-hit barrage in humbling the hometown Virden Oilers 16 to 4. Ron Ramsey pitched the first seven innings for the Sox to record his fourth win against one loss. Dennis Anderson finished up, surrendering five of the seven Virden hits. Tim Ronan, 1 – 6, was tagged with the defeat. Wes Coulson had three hits, including a homer, for the Hamiotans. Teammates Mike Labossiere and Bob Young also banged out three safeties, all singles. Checking in with two base knocks apiece were Mel Smith and Doug Mathison. Doug McPhail went yard for his fourth dinger of the season. Ken Buchy tripled and singled for the hosting Oilers while Ted Bridgett swung his way to a double and one-bagger.

Ramsey (W), D. Anderson (8) and Young
Ronan (L), Bridgett (3), Stevenson (8) and K. Buchy

(July 15)  The Dauphin Redbirds, playing at home 24 hours after they refused to play a controversial rescheduled game at Kinsmen Stadium in Brandon, waited until the bottom-of-the-ninth inning before striking pay dirt and extracting revenge from the same Cloverleafs en route to a 2 to 1 win. Brian Hodgson was coasting along with a one-hitter into the seventh inning for the Leafs. The veteran left hander was staked to a 1 – 0 lead in the top-of-the-seventh when the Redbirds committed three errors. Although he finished the game, Hodgson couldn’t contain the host team in the final inning. With one out and Dave Rottman at first base, winning pitcher Greg Federsingled, advancing Rottman to third. Catcher Don Smith was intentionally walked in a percentage move that backfired when Ron Rasmussen doubled into the right-centre field gap to end the game. Rasmussen also had an earlier single. Rich McFadyen, with a double and one-bagger, and Bert Ready, with a pair of singles, were tops with the lumber for Brandon.

Hodgson (L) and Harvey
Feder (W) and Smith

(July 15)  Portsider Jim Deaver fashioned a four-hitter in pitching the Grandview Lakers to a 7 to 1 conquest of the visiting Virden Oilers. The win for the Lakers kept them deadlocked with Angusville for the last playoff spot in the North Division. In winning his sixth game, Deaver struck out ten and received all the offensive help he needed from Deryl Ortynski and Brian Bullas, who had perfect nights at the plate. Ortynski lashed out three safeties in as many trips to the dish while Bullas went two-for-two, including a double. Both batters drove in a run. Ron Harper’s RBI-single in the third inning foiled Deaver’s bid for a shutout. Bill Armstrong took the loss.

Armstrong (L), Ronan (6) and K. Buchy, Bohonis (7)
Deaver (W) and G. Ortynski 

(July 15)  Keeping pace with Grandview in the battle for a post-season playoff berth, the Cardinals of Angusville slipped by their red-feathered counterparts from Souris 5 to 2 in an MSBL inter-divisional clash. The loss for Souris prevented them from moving into a tie with Virden for fourth spot in the South Division standings. Jim Flynn hit a double and drove in a pair of runs to help Pat McGehee to the mound win over Chuck Evans. Clint Pushka also doubled for Angusville, who were outhit 9 to 8 by the Southern visitors. Tim Janz had a triple and single for the vanquished nine while Garry Davidson delivered three singles. Jerry Araujo checked in with a double and single and Keith Kontzie singled twice.

Evans (L), Furman (4) and Davidson
McGehee (W) and Haley

(July 15)  The homestanding McAuley Blazers, runners-up in the North Division, knocked off the pennant-winning Binscarth Orioles 6 to 1. Import Hank Ashworth of the Blazers made sure that the Orioles weren’t going to tie Riverside for the best winning percentage in the MSBL by limiting the visitors to five hits as well as driving in three runs, two of them coming on a dinger with one mate aboard. The loser was Gerry Falk, 7 – 2, who was touched for nine hits while punching out seven. Dale Lowes had a brace of one-baggers for the second-place McAuley nine, as did teammate Stan Jenson.

Falk (L) and Lang
Ashworth (W) and D. Lowes

(July 16)  Import Rick Somers of the Neepawa Cubs stymied the invading Souris Cardinals on three hits and struck out 12 as the Cubbies officially eliminated Souris from the playoff race with a 9 to 1 victory. Neil Martin wielded the big bat for the winners against Cardinal loser Ken Vertz and reliever Stan Furman, banging out a two-run homer in addition to a pair of singles. Rob Buchanan and Lawson Davie followed, each hitting safely twice for Neepawa. 

Vertz (L), Furman (4) and Davidson
Somers (W) and Buchanan

(July 16)  The Virden Oilers ended the 1977 regular season the way they began it, with a defeat, but nevertheless were able to clinch a playoff spot when Souris lost to Neepawa. The Oilers were belted 7 to 1 by the Binscarth Orioles as Gord Leduchowski of the Birds, getting a rare pitching start, throttled the Virdenites on three hits. Leduchowski had a no-hitter going until Virden’s Rick Bohonis led off the seventh inning with a single. Leduchowski, who rang up ten punchouts, lost his shutout in the ninth on Ted Bridgett’s run-scoring single. The pennant-winning Orioles broke the game open with four runs in the third inning against Bridgett, who went the distance and suffered his first loss in three decisions. Leduchowski had a run-producing double in that frame. Binscarth’s Alf Ducharme was the only player from either team with more than one hit, collecting two singles.

Bridgett (L) and Bohonis
Leduchowski (W) and Lang, Wasslen (9)

(July 16)  With an 8 to 5 win over the invading Hamiota Red Sox, the Dauphin Redbirds wrapped up a playoff spot in the North Division and temporarily took control of the battle for third place. Import pitcher Bruce Bremer won his third straight game and benefited from an 11-hit Dauphin offensive assault, against complete-game loser Doug Mathison, which helped produce two runs in four separate innings. Dave Manthorne drove in two runs for the Redbirds with a double and single while veteran Jerry Shumanski added a pair of singles. Doug McPhail got to Bremer for three of the nine Hamiota bingles, all two-baggers while Dave Marabella chipped in with a couple of one-base raps.

Mathison (L) and Young
Bremer (W) and Rideout

(July 16)  The Grandview Lakers suffered a crippling 12 to 5 loss to the visiting McAuley Blazers, a setback which put them nearer elimination from the playoff picture. A grand-slam home run in the ninth panel by Hank Ashworth was the big blow for the Blazers as they snapped a 5 – 5 tie with a seven-run outburst against losing pitcher Brian Bullas. A prolific hitter, but far less effective on the mound, the winless Bullas went down to his seventh straight pitching defeat. McAuley’s Ross Lynd went the distance for his fourth victory in six verdicts as the Blazers finished the regular season with a 13 – 7 mark. Terry Lynd homered, doubled and singled for the winners while Wayne Poole launched his second tater of the campaign. Ashworth had a two-bagger to go along with his ninth-inning grand-salami while Stan Jenson, Dale Lowes and Barry Jamieson each contributed two safeties to the 16-hit Blazer attack. Tony Kalechyn drove in two runs for Grandview with a pair of singles while Bullas and John Hindle were other two=hit batters for the Lakers.

R. Lynd (W) and D. Lowes
Bullas (L) and G. Ortynski

(July 17)  Riverside pitcher Grant Everard’s throwing error in the fifth inning opened the door for the North Division All-Stars to score three runs to defeat their South Division counterparts 3 to 2 in the MSBL’s annual all-star game, held this year in Hamiota. The South squad, which had eight left-handed hitters in its lineup against three southpaw pitchers from the North, managed eight hits, one more than the North. Fittingly, the two top hitters in the league, Riverside’s Bob Williamson and Grandview Lakers’ Brian Bullas, led the offensive charge with three hits each. Williamson was best for the South with a triple and two singles in four trips to the plate while Bullas was a perfect three-for-three, all singles, to lead the North. Grandview’s Jim Deaver, who replaced Pat McGehee of the Angusville Cardinals on the mound to start the fifth inning and pitched two innings of three-hit ball, got credit for the win. The Canucks’ Everard, who took over from Virden Oilers’ Bill Armstrong to open the fourth, was tagged with the loss. Bob Thompson of the Brandon Cloverleafs finished the game on the hill for the Southerners while the McAuley Blazers’ Jon Langston hurled the final three frames for the North and earned a save with a one-hit performance. 

Armstrong, Everard (L), B. Thompson (7) and Gullett
Falk, McGehee (4), Deaver (W) (5), Langston (7) and D. Lowes

(July 18)  The Angusville Cardinals, on the strength of a four-run seventh inning, took a firm grip on the MSBL’s only remaining playoff berth by posting a 6 to 4 win over the Grandview Lakers. The Cards, who improved their record to 7 – 11, can wrap up fourth place in the North Division by capturing one of their two remaining contests. The Lakers, meanwhile, are of the brink of elimination, and will need help from elsewhere to qualify for post-season play. Import catcher Mark Haley delivered the key hit as the hosts rallied from a 4 – 2 deficit in the seventh. Haley, who had three hits and three RBI’s, cracked a two-run bases-loaded double to give Angusville a 5 to 4 lead. Bob Mazur’s single off reliever Brian Bullas knocked in the insurance run. Cardinal pitching ace Pat McGehee went the distance in securing the twirling triumph, allowing 11 hits and striking out five. The loser was Jim Deaver, who has pitched all six Grandview victories. He gave up 11 of Angusville’s 13 hits before being relieved by Bullas. Bob Chuchmuch doubled and singled for the winners while Lynn Chuchmuch, Bill Flynn and Barry Wowk each stroked two singles. Deaver, along with Deryl and Glen Ortynski all delivered a brace of one-baggers for the visitors.  

Deaver (L), Bullas (7) and G. Ortynski
McGehee (W) and Haley

(July 19)  Slab artist Pat McGehee pitched his second victory in 24 hours as the Angusville Cardinals secured a spot in the MSBL playoffs with a 10 – 5 win over the Neepawa Cubs. McGehee, coming off a nine-inning effort just the day previous, took over from starter Marion Kotelniski in the fifth frame while the Cubs were in the midst of a three-run rally that knotted the score 5 – 5. He went the rest of the way, giving up one run on five hits and four walks, while swishing seven. The Cards, who raked losing pitcher Pete Chapin for 16 hits, snapped a 5 – 3 tie with four runs in the seventh inning. They added one more in the eighth. Jim Flynn Paced the hosts’ offensive attack with three singles, while Bill Flynn, Barry Wowk, Bob Mazur, McGehee and Kotelniski contributed two safeties apiece. Neil Martin led Neepawa’s nine-hit batting thrust with three singles, one more than Lawson Davie. Chapin struck out seven as his record fell to 1 – 6.

Chapin (L) and Buchanan
Kotelniski, McGehee (W) (5) and Haley

(July 19)  Dave Rottman made a rare pitching performance for Dauphin this season and his rested right arm sparked the Redbirds to a 2 to 0 blanking of the Grandview Lakers. Rottman, now 2 – 1, gave up only three hits, all singles, and walked just one as he struck out seven in beating Grandview’s Don Luhowy who fanned four, issued one free pass and yielded seven base raps. Consecutive singles by Jerry Shumanski, Barry Woods and Siggi Sigurdson gave the hosts a 1 – 0 lead in the second stanza. They picked up their final and insurance marker in the eighth episode on back-to-back doubles by Rottman and Greg Feder. Rottman collected a brace of two-baggers and Woods singled twice. 

Luhowy (L) and G. Ortynski
Rottman (W) and Smith

(July 20)  Import left-hander Pat McGehee, completing an amazing stretch drive, became the MSBL’s winningest pitcher as the Angusville Cardinals rallied to defeat the homestanding Dauphin Redbirds 5 to 2. The win for McGehee was his third in as many nights, stretching his record to 8 – 3. McGehee took over from starter Mark Haley with two out in the sixth inning with the Redbirds in front 2 – 0. He blanked the hosts the rest of the way on one hit and fanned five as the Cards rallied for three runs in the seventh and a deuce in the ninth. The game, the last of the regular schedule was also of great significance in that Angusville moved into a third-place tie with Dauphin in the North Division. Both teams have 9 – 11 records and will meet in a sudden-death tie-breaker to be hosted by the Cardinals. Losing flinger Greg Feder surrendered nine hits in a route-going performance and struck out 11. Haley, meanwhile, was touched for five Redbird safeties before giving way to McGehee. Barry Wowk was the visitors’ top batter with two doubles and a single. Dave Manthorne, the only Dauphinite with more than one hit, singled twice.

Haley, McGehee (W) (6) and Wowk, Haley (6)
Feder (L) and Smith

FINAL STANDINGS 

NORTH DIVISION                     W        L       Pct.     GBL
Binscarth Orioles                 15        5      .750      ----
McAuley Blazers                   13        7      .650      2.0 
Angusville Cardinals               9       11      .450      6.0
Dauphin Redbirds                   9       11      .450      6.0
Grandview Lakers                   6       14      .300      9.0

SOUTH DIVISION                     W        L       Pct.     GBL
Riverside Canucks                 16        4      .800      ----
Brandon Cloverleafs               13        7      .650      3.0
Hamiota Red Sox                   12        8      .600      4.0
Virden Oilers                      7       13      .350      9.0
Souris Cardinals                   6       14      .300     10.0
Neepawa Cubs                       4       16      .200     12.0 

NORTH DIVISION THIRD-PLACE TIE-BREAKER

(July 22)  The Angusville Cardinals have been awarded third place in the North Division of the MSBL and the league will forego a proposed sudden-death tie-breaker between the Cards and the Dauphin Redbirds. It was mutually decided that because of the recent heavy schedules for both teams, and the upcoming playoffs, the game would not be played. In the two meetings between the adversaries this season, Angusville defeated Dauphin both times, thus giving them the edge for third place.

PLAYOFFS
SEMI-FINALS  (best-of-five series)

NORTH DIVISION
Dauphin Redbirds vs Binscarth Orioles
Angusville Cardinals vs McAuley Blazers

SOUTH DIVISION
Virden Oilers vs Riverside Canucks
Hamiota Red Sox vs Brandon Cloverleafs

(July 22)  The ever-astute Mike Labossiere, carefully observing Brandon baserunner Rick McFadyen leave third base too soon on a caught fly ball to the middle garden in the bottom-of-the-eighth inning, called for the horsehide and nullified a run on an apparent sacrifice fly, an important development in the Hamiota Red Sox’ eventual 12-inning 4 to 3 win over the hosting Cloverleafs in the opening game of their MSBL semi-final playoff series. Had the run counted, it would have given the Wheat City nine the winning margin and the game would have ended in the regulation nine innings. As it was, the teams battled through two scoreless rounds of overtime action before Doug McPhail’s bases-loaded grounder in the top-of-the-twelfth panel drove in Jeff Sheardown with the deciding counter. Successive singles by Sheardown, his third of the game, Labossiere and Cliff McKague set the stage for the game-winning play. Both starting heavers, winning tosser Ron Ramsey of the Scarlet Stockings, and Brandon’s Bob Thompson, went the route in the grueling opener. The Hamiotans had an 11 to 8 edge in base hits. Labossiere and McKague followed Sheardown as the hitting stars for the Sox with two singles apiece. Catcher Mel Harvey, Dennis Wiebe and flychaser Bob Wilson cracked two hits each for the vanquished Leafs.

Ramsey (W) and Sheardown
Thompson (L) and Harvey

(July 22)  The Riverside Canucks unleashed a 16-hit attack to overwhelm the visiting Virden Oilers 7 to 2 as their South Division semi-final series got underway at Boissevain. The Canucks’ heavy-hitting barrage came against Virden pitching ace Bill Armstrong who went the distance in absorbing the loss. Lonney Thomas of the Riversiders surrendered eight hits and whiffed the same number in gaining the win. Greg Cameron, Bob Williamson and Cliff Seafoot paced the winners with three hits each with one of Cameron’s raps falling in for a double. Danny Cassils and Mark Fisher both contributed a pair of one-baggers. Ted Bridgett laced a brace of doubles for the Oilers.

Armstrong (L) and K. Buchy
Thomas (W) and Gullett, Kettles (9)

(July 23)  Lefthander Pat McGehee tossed a three-hitter as the Angusville Cardinals banged out 12 hits and surprised the McAuley Blazers with a 5 to 2 triumph in the opener of their North Division semi-final series. McGehee won three pitching decisions last week to boost the Cardinals into the playoffs and kept up his magic by issuing just three singles to McAuley. Leading 1 – 0, the Cards broke through with three runs in the fifth inning to take control and McGehee’s arm did the rest. Lorne Gallant, catcher Mark Haley and McGehee paced the Angusville attack with a double and single each. Blazer starter Hank Ashworth was tagged with the loss, giving up four runs in 4-1/3 innings before Ross Lynd assumed mound chores. Lynd, Wayne Poole and Brian Rose, all with singles, were the only McAuley players to get to McGehee.

McGehee (W) and Haley
Ashworth (L), R. Lynd (5) and D. Lowes

(July 23)  The pennant-winning Binscarth Orioles took care of business by whipping the Dauphin Redbirds 9 to 3 in a darkness-shortened, 6-1/2 inning North Division semi-final opener. The Orioles hammered out 14 hits as Rod Fallis and Dale Gies stroked three singles apiece. Garth Jackman had a triple and single while Ron Low and Gord Leduchowski added two singles apiece. Gerry Falk went the route for the win, giving up six hits. The O’s trailed 1 – 0 until a five-run outburst in the fourth frame shelled Dave Rottman. Greg Feder started on the hill for the Redbirds but had to leave the game in the second stanza after taking a line drive on the toe off the bat of Fallis. Two-run doubled by Leduchowski and Jackman were the big blows in the fourth.

Feder, Rottman (L) (2), Rasmussen (4), Rideout (6) and Smith
Falk (W) and Lang

(July 24)  18-year old rookie Wes Coulson, essentially a part-time player during the regular season, broke up a 1 – 1 tie game by slugging a two-out, grand-slam home run in the bottom-of-the-eighth inning to lead the Hamiota Red Sox past the Brandon Cloverleafs 5 to 2, giving the Sox a 2 – 0 lead in the best-of-five South Division semi-final. Bill Chapple had driven in Bert Ready with Brandon’s first run in the opening inning but Bryan Smith’s solo dinger off complete-game loser Brian Hodgson in the sixth had tied the score. Winning chucker Dave Marabella co-starred with Coulson, limiting the Leafs to four hits, one of which was Mel Harvey’s bases-empty tater in the ninth. 

Hodgson (L) and Harvey
Marabella (W) and Young

(July 24)  The hard-hitting Riverside Canucks stayed true to form in their series with the Virden Oilers, slamming five home runs en route to a 12 to 1 pasting of the hosting Oilmen. The Riverside win gave them a 2 – 0 stranglehold in their South Division semi-final series. It was bombs away for the Canucks against Virden’s Ted Bridgett, who was roughed up for the quintet of circuit-jacks among the 11 hits he surrendered in seven stanzas on the bump. The long distance blows started in the opening panel when Danny Cassils and Mark Fisher went yard with solo dingers. Craig Bell added another bases-empty tater in the fourth before Bruce Gullett delivered a two-run shot in the same inning. In the seventh, Cliff Seafoot connected for the fifth goner with one mate aboard, sending Bridgett to the showers. The Canucks’ power made it easy for Grant Everard to cop the win. He allowed nine Oiler safeties in going the route, losing his shutout in the ninth chapter when a solo four-bagger by Tom Stevenson got Virden on the scoreboard. Gullett had two singles to go along with his round-tripper while Cassils, Seafoot and Bell added one-base raps. Rick Bohonis had two singles for the Oilers.

Everard (W) and Gullett, Kettles (8)
Bridgett (L), Stevenson (8) and Bohonis

(July 24)  The underdog Angusville Cardinals stunned the McAuley Blazers for a second time, pounding the visitors 10 to 3 and leaving them on the brink of elimination. Bob Chuchmuch stifled the normally heavy-hitting Blazers on just six hits while his clubmates were racking up 11 safeties off losing twirler Jon Langston and his seventh-inning replacement Barry Jamieson. Lorne Gallant was the hitting star for Angusville, slugging two home runs and adding a single. The Cards, ahead 3 – 2 after the sixth inning, exploded for six runs in the seventh, three of them on Jim Flynn’s circuit-clout. Chuchmuch struck out six and walked four in earning the route-going victory. Barry Wowk contributed two singles and three RBI’s to the Cardinals’ offense while McAuley’s runs came on a two-run dinger by Stan Jenson in the second stanza and a solo tater in the ninth launched by Hank Ashworth.

Langston (L), Jamieson (7) and D. Lowes
B. Chuchmuch (W) and Haley

(July 24)  The Binscarth Orioles bashed out 13 hits and rode the five-hit pitching of Garth Neville to a one-sided 11 to 3 conquest of the Dauphin Redbirds and a two-game lead in the series. Neville whiffed nine and took the pitching verdict over Dauphin’s Bruce Bremer, who persevered to the end despite being rocked by the Oriole batters. Glenn Hodgson led the O’s offensive charge with a double, single and solo homer. Ron Low cracked a triple and single, Rod Fallis drove in three runs with as many singles and Don Gies singled twice. A two-run single by Jerry Shumanski in the fourth frame, followed by Dave Manthorne’s RBI-double, had given the Redbirds a short-lived 3 – 2 lead. Binscarth piled it on thereafter, plating deuces in each of the sixth and seventh spasms before wrapping things up with a five-spot in the eighth. 

Neville (W) and Lang
Bremer (L) and Smith

(July 25)  The defending champion Brandon Cloverleafs were bounced from the 1977 MSBL playoffs, with barely a whimper, at Kinsmen Stadium, losing 6 to 2 to the Hamiota Red Sox who captured their semi-final series in the minimum three games. Doug Mathison, who hadn’t had a pitching start since early June, was Hamiota’s stopper, going eight full innings before leaving in favor of Ron Ramsey in the ninth with a four-run lead. Ramsey ended the game by retiring the only three batters he faced. Mathison stuck mainly to off-speed pitches in subduing the Wheat City nine. Playing-manager Rick Hlady went the route for Brandon, giving up ten hits, including three in the opening canto when the Red Sox struck for three runs to take control early. Brent Montague made it 5 – 0 in the fifth frame with a two-run, inside-the-park homer. The only time the Leafs posed a threat was in the sixth when three base hits and two walks produced their only two runs. Dennis Wiebe and Rick Cruise drove in the counters with back-to-back singles. Doug McPhail and Mike Labossiere did most of the damage for the Crimson Hose, collecting seven of Hamiota’s ten hits. Leadoff batter McPhail had four singles while Labossiere slammed a double and a pair of one-baggers. Wiebe was Brandon’s lone multi-hit batter with a pair of singles.

Mathison (W), Ramsey (9) and Sheardown
Hlady (L) and Harvey

(July 25)  Import Tim Ronan, who won only one game for Virden during the MSBL’s regular season, silenced the powerful Riverside Canucks with a four-hitter as the Oilers stayed alive in the South Division playoffs by eking out a 1 to 0 victory. The Canucks still hold a 2 – 1 lead in the best-of-five series. Ronan struck out seven and walked two in beating Riverside’s Scott Jenson, who also flung a four-hitter while registering 11 punchouts. The visitors scored the game’s only run in the fourth inning. Ted Bridgett led off with a base-on-balls, advanced to second on Ken Buchy’s sacrifice bunt and took third base on a wild pitch. After Tom Stevenson’s ground out, Bill Armstrong delivered the key hit, a bloop one-bagger to the middle garden. There were no batters from either side with plural hit totals.

Ronan (W) and Bohonis
Jenson (L) and Gullett

(July 26)  The Angusville Cardinals, who only qualified for the playoffs with a late-season charge that was propelled by the seemingly magic arm of Pat McGehee, advanced to the North Division finals, sidelining the hosting McAuley Blazers with a 7 to 1 decision. The star, of course, was McGehee who pitched an eight-hitter to gain his fifth victory in the last nine days. From the batter’s box, the import left-hander also came through with big-time efficiency, rapping out three singles and a double. Lynn Chuchmuch got the visitors started in the second stanza when he blasted a three-run homer off losing chucker Jon Langston. Angusville chased Langston in the third when another two runs scored. With a deuce in the fourth and a 7 – 0 lead, the Cards sealed the fate of the pre-series favorite Blazers. McGehee, who lost his shutout bid in the eighth, fanned six and walked two. Following McGehee in the 15-hit Cardinal hit parade was Jim Flynn who checked in with two singles and a double while import catcher Mark Haley singled and doubled. Langston and Hank Ashworth led McAuley with a double and single apiece. 

McGehee (W) and Haley
Langston (L), R. Lynd (3), Ashworth (7) and D. Lowes

(July 26)  The Binscarth Orioles, who started the season like gangbusters and never looked back in annexing the North Division pennant, ousted the visiting Dauphin Redbirds from the playoffs with a 7 to 2 game three triumph. Rod Enerson spun a four-hitter for the win as the Orioles rallied from a 2 – 0 deficit with deuces in both the sixth and seventh stanzas. They then put the result on ice with a three-spot in the eighth episode. Gord Leduchowski gave the hosts the lead in the seventh when he connected for a two-run dinger off loser Greg Feder, who fanned ten while allowing 11 hits in going the distance. Don Gies garnered three singles for Binscarth while Rod Fallis and Ron Low came through with a couple of one-baggers each. All four Dauphin safeties were singles.

Feder (L) and Smith
Enerson (W) and Lang

(July 27)  The Cinderella Virden Oilers maintained their hopes of advancing to the next round of the playoffs by forcing a deciding game in their best-of-five series with the Riverside Canucks with a 6 to 4 win. Bill Armstrong went the distance on the mound for the Virden victory, giving up eight hits. Riverside starter Ron Seafoot, who lasted until the fifth frame and surrendered the first four Oiler tallies, was tagged with the loss. The Canucks took a 1 – 0 lead in the first inning and went ahead 2 – 0 in the fourth on Greg Cameron’s solo homer before the Oilers began to mount a comeback. Ted Bridgett opened the Oilers’ fourth with a home run. After one had been retired, Armstrong doubled home Tom Stevenson to tie the score. Randy Dittmer followed with a run-scoring single to put the hosts into a 3 – 2 lead, one which they never relinquished. Terry Good’s two-run single off Riverside reliever Rob Medoff in the fifth inning propelled Virden into a 5 – 2 lead. Craig Bell of the Riversiders responded with a two-run circuit-jack in the sixth to narrow the count to 5 – 4. The Oilmen then added their final counter in their half of the canto against Lonney Thomas, the final Canuck chucker, to end the scoring. Dittmer, Good and Ken Buchy wound up with two hits apiece for the winners while catcher Bruce Gullett was the only Riverside batter with more than one safety, collecting a brace of one-baggers.

R. Seafoot (L), Medoff (5), Thomas (5) and Gullett
Armstrong (W) and Bohonis

(July 29)  Playing their first real pressure-filled game of the 1977 season, the Riverside Canucks responded with a 6 to 0 victory over the Virden Oilers in a rain-shortened 7-1/2 inning game five to advance to the South Division finals of the MSBL. Grant Everard, the Canucks’ star pitcher during the regular season with a 6 – 1 mark, blanked the Oilers on six hits, five of them singles, as his mates got to a pair of Virden hurlers for nine base raps. Everard didn’t issue a walk while recording seven punchouts. The Riversiders scored single counters in three of the first four frames against starter and loser Tim Ronan. Murray Duncan’s two-run single in the sixth spasm put the icing on the cake, shelling Ronan from the knoll. Bill Armstrong took over at that point and heaved the final 1-2/3 innings before rain halted proceedings. Aside from Duncan, Cliff Seafoot, Bruce Gullett and Craig Bell drove in runs for the winners. Ken Buchy and Randy Dittmer had two singles each for the vanquished Oilers.

Ronan (L), Armstrong (6) and Bohonis 
Everard (W) and Gullett 

(July 30 – August 1)  Souris Civic Holiday baseball tournament

FINALS  (best-of-five series)

NORTH DIVISION
Angusville Cardinals vs Binscarth Orioles

SOUTH DIVISION
Hamiota Red Sox vs Riverside Canucks

(August 3)  The Hamiota Red Sox scored a run in the top-of the-eleventh inning to shade the pennant-winning Riverside Canucks 5 to 4  as the South Division finals got underway at Boissevain. The game was forced into extra innings when Riverside’s Craig Bell slugged his third playoff homer, a one-out solo shot in the bottom-of-the-ninth inning. Russ Shaw, who had singled to begin the second overtime session and moved all the way around to the hot corner station, plated the deciding run on Wes Coulson’s sharp grounder to the right of Canuck shortstop Morley Hartel, a drive that the infielder had to dive for to stop. Hartel came up with the ball but had no time to make a play at the plate as Shaw scored easily. Dennis Anderson, who relieved Hamiota starter Ron Ramsey after Bell’s four-ply clout in the ninth, went 2-2/3 innings on the bump to earn the win. Lonney Thomas, touched for seven hits over the eleven-inning span, was nicked with the loss. The Red Sox took an early 2 – 0 lead on Doug McPhail’s leadoff tater in the opening panel and Jeff Sheardown’s sacrifice fly in the second. But the Riversiders came back with a singleton in the second and a deuce in the third for a 3 – 2 lead. Bruce Gullett’s triple drove in Mark Fisher with the Canucks’ first tally while Bob Williamson’s three-bagger and Danny Cassils’ sacrifice fly in the third accounted for their next two counters. Bryan Smith pulled the Scarlet Stockings in front in the sixth spasm with a two-run dinger and the 4 – 3 margin remained until Bell’s ninth-inning blast. McPhail and Ramsey had two hits apiece for the Red Sox while Gullett drilled three base knocks to lead the 10-hit Riverside offense. Williamson and Bell both wound up with two safeties. 

Ramsey, D. Anderson (W) (9) and Sheardown
Thomas (L) and Gullett

(August 3)  Garth Neville pitched a six-hitter and his Binscarth clubmates climbed all over left-hander Pat McGehee for 13 base raps as the Orioles took the first game of the North Division finals 5 to 3 over the Angusville Cardinals. The Orioles scored all their runs in the first four frames against McGehee, who settled down thereafter, while Neville had a two-hit shutout through the first seven stanzas before weakening. Run-scoring singles by Glenn Hodgson, Chuck Lang and Ron Low in the first frame staked Neville to a 3 – 0 lead. Binscarth went ahead 4 – 0 in the second spasm on Garth Jackman’s RBI-triple. A double by Lang in the fourth inning, after three straight one-base raps, accounted for the O’s final tally. The Cards put together four hits and a pair of walks in the final two chapters for their three markers. Mark Haley and McGehee, Angusville’s two imports, had run-scoring singles. Lang led the Binscarth offensive machine with a double and a couple of one-baggers while Hodgson cracked three three singles. Gord Leduchowski and Jackman finished with two safeties each. McGehee was the Cardinals’ lone multi-hit batter, stroking a brace of singles.

McGehee (L) and Haley
Neville (W) and Lang

(August 4)  Hamiota reliever Dennis Anderson pitched himself into and out of trouble in the ninth inning to preserve a 3 to 2 victory by the scrappy Red Sox over the Riverside Canucks, leaving the Crimson Hose with a 2 – 0 advantage in the best-of-five series. Anderson came on in favor of Doug Mathison after Morley Hartel’s two-out round-tripper had cut Hamiota’s lead to a single run. He immediately got himself into a jam by walking Bob Williamson and serving up a single to Danny Cassils. However, the left-hander regained his composure and whiffed the dangerous veteran Cliff Seafoot to end the threat. Import Dave Marabella, who left with a 2 – 0 lead after the fifth frame, garnered the pitching win. Mike Labossiere gave the hosts a 1 – 0 lead in the fourth inning with his first home run of the playoffs. Hamiota’s second counter came in the fifth, on another bases-empty four-bagger, this one on a fourth-inning serving by loser Ron Seafoot to Wes Coulson. Labossiere then drove in what proved to be the winning marker in the eighth with a two-out double. Seafoot went the distance for the Canucks, giving up eight safeties while issuing three free passes. The trio of Hamiota twirlers combined on a five-hitter, walked seven and fanned four. Bryan Smith singled twice for the winners while Labossiere had a single in addition to his other two hits. Cassils singled and doubled for the Riversiders.

R. Seafoot (L) and Gullett
Marabella (W), Mathison (6), D. Anderson (9) and Sheardown

(August 4)  With Angusville ace chucker Pat McGehee resting his left arm, the Binscarth Orioles exploited the Cardinals’ shallow pitching depth for five home runs and a 17 to 1 victory in the second game of the MSBL North Division finals, shortened to five innings because of rain. Bill Derlago led the Oriole pillage with two home runs and a single, good for seven RBI’s. Gord Leduchowski also smashed a brace of goners, driving in four runs. Ron Low followed with a three-run circuit-clout and a single. Glenn Hodgson and Chuck Lang rapped out three singles apiece. Losing heaver Bob Chuchmuch was derricked after 2-1/3 innings on the hillock while two ineffective relievers went the rest of the way. Meanwhile, Binscarth’s Gerry Falk throttled the hosting Cards on just one hit, a single by Lorne Gallant, while walking six and breezing four in the abbreviated tilt. 

Falk (W) and Lang
B. Chuchmuch (L), Kotelniski (3), Haley (4) and Haley, Reagh (4)

(August 9)  The surprising Hamiota Red Sox, who finished third in the South Division during the regular season, remained unbeaten in the playoffs by ousting the pennant-winning Riverside Canucks 13 to 5. The Hamiotans grabbed a 5 – 1 lead after three innings and pounded out 15 hits to win their sixth straight playoff clash going away. Ron Ramsey went the distance and fired a five-hitter to cop the mound verdict. He struck out two and walked one in beating Lonney Thomas, the first of three Riverside chuckers. Thomas was raked for six hits and five runs before Scott Jenson took over in the third. Jenson, who yielded nine hits and eight runs, gave way to position player Danny Cassils in the ninth. Doug McPhail paced the visitors’ attack with three singles, a double and three RBI’s. Jeff Sheardown, who singled three times, also drove in three runs. Bryan Smith, Mel Smith, Dave Marabella and Ramsey each stroked a brace of base raps. Mark Fisher had two hits for the Canucks, including his second home run of the playoffs. Bruce Gullett also had a brace of safe swats, including a triple. Four of Riverside’s runs came in the ninth inning when they were well out of it.

Ramsey (W) and Sheardown
Thomas (L), Jenson (3), Cassils (9) and Gullett

(August 9)  The Binscarth Orioles added the North Division championship to their pennant-winning laurels by sidelining the Angusville Cardinals 5 to 4 in the third assignment of their series. It was a heart-breaking loss for the Cards who had the Orioles on the ropes heading into the bottom-of-the-ninth inning. Trailing 4 to 3 as they came to bat for the final time, the O’s rallied for two runs to clinch the series. Don Gies opened the inning with a single off losing pitcher Pat McGehee and Glenn Hodgson followed by drawing a walk. Ron Low’s single tied the game and, after Rod Fallis reached first on a base-on-balls to load the sacks, Chuck Lang singled across the winning run. The pitching victory went to Gerry Falk who relieved starter Rod Enerson in the seventh inning. Enerson was charged with two runs on four hits while Falk surrendered two runs on one hit. McGehee gave up ten hits and walked four. Lang was the offensive star for Binscarth, collecting a triple, double and single. Hodgson, Low and Ron Falloon had two safeties apiece. For the vanquished Cards, McGehee smashed his first homer of the playoffs, a solo shot in the third, and catcher Mark Haley stroked a pair of one-baggers.

McGehee (L) and Haley
Enerson, Falk (W) (7) and Lang

(August 17-21)  Canadian senior baseball championship tournament 

NORTH – SOUTH FINALS  (best-of-five series)
Hamiota Red Sox vs Binscarth Orioles

(August 24)  Lefthander Gerry Falk, relying almost exclusively on his fastball, registered 18 strikeouts in pitching the Binscarth Orioles to an opening-game 7 to 4 win over the Hamiota Red Sox in the MSBL north-south finals. Falk limited the Sox to seven hits and walked two as his mates staked him to a comfortable 7 – 2 lead after five innings. Binscarth first baseman Rod Fallis slammed a three-run dinger off losing pitcher Wes Coulter in the opening panel, to get the Birds off and running, and added a single later in the game. The Orioles plated a deuce in the third and then put things away in the fifth on a two-run double by shortstop Garth Jackman, who also stroked a pair of singles. Coulson, raked for a dozen base raps in total, walked three in going the distance. Reg Parton and Don Gies nailed two singles apiece for the winners while Mike Labossiere and Ellis Woods had two hits each for Hamiota. One of Labossiere’s swats was a bases-empty tater in the eighth.

Coulson (L) and Labossiere
Falk (W) and Lang

(August 25)  The visiting Binscarth Orioles snapped a 2 – 2 tie with a four-run fourth inning and then hung on to shade the Hamiota Red Sox 6 to 5 to move to within one victory of the MSBL championship. The Red Sox, out-hit 12 to 9 by the Birds, made four errors in the game, three of them in the critical fourth that opened the door for the Orioles to plate a four-spot to take a 6 – 2 lead, a margin that seemed comfortable enough. The visiting O’s gave two of those runs right back in the sixth on a pair of miscues and then Mel Smith cut the margin to one with a four-ply clout off winning heaver Rod Enerson in the seventh. Losing flinger Ron Ramsey gave up all 12 Oriole hits plus a base-on-balls before left-hander Dennis Anderson came on to pitch the last inning. Gord Leduchowski was the leading Binscarth hitter with three singles while Glenn Hodgson, Don Gies and Ron Low each delivered a pair. For the Scarlet Stockings, Smith had a one-bagger in addition to his homer while Ramsey and catcher Bob Young both contributed a pair of singles.

Enerson (W) and Lang
Ramsey (L), D. Anderson (9) and Young 

(August 27)  Forced to mount a game-winning rally in the bottom-of-the-ninth inning after squandering a seven-run lead, the Binscarth Orioles edged the gritty Hamiota Red Sox 9 to 8 to win the 1977 Manitoba Senior Baseball League championship in straight games. Binscarth’s title comes on the heels of a sub-par season in 1976. The fighting Sox, down 8 to 1 after six innings, came through with a five-spot in the seventh and a deuce in the ninth to tie the game. After reliever Mike Labossiere retired the first two Oriole batters in the ninth, things went south for the Hamiotans. Reg Parton’s single was of little concern but then disaster struck when the next Binscarth hitter, Dale Gies, stroked a one-bagger into the middle garden that was misplayed by centre-fielder Russ Shaw into a two-base error, allowing Parton to race home with the winning run. Garth Neville went all the way for the O’s, giving up seven hits and walking the same number. Labossiere, tagged with the loss, took over from Red Sox’ starter Dennis Anderson in the fifth frame and was charged with two of the nine Oriole counters. Don Gies of the victors was the leading swatsmith in the contest, belting a home run, double and two singles. Dale Gies and Garth Jackman followed with a brace of one-base raps each. Shaw singled three times for the Crimson Hose while Labossiere cranked out a round-tripper and a single.

D. Anderson, Labossiere (L) (5) and Young
Neville (W) and Lang 

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EASTERN MANITOBA BASEBALL LEAGUE

Carman Goldeyes
Giroux Athletics
River East Raiders
Springfield Indians
Sundown Hawks
St. Boniface Mallards

FINAL STANDINGS              W      L     Pts.
Carman Goldeyes             14      4     28
St. Boniface Mallards       13      7     26
Giroux Athletics            12      7     24
Sundown Hawks               10      8     20
River East Raiders           3     13      6
Springfield Indians          3     17      6

PLAYOFFS
SEMI-FINALS  Giroux Athletics vs St. Boniface Mallards & Sundown Hawks vs Carman Goldeyes  (best-of-three series)

(August 15)  The pennant-winning Carman Goldeyes opened their EMBL semi-final series at home with a 5 to 2 victory over the Sundown Hawks. Gord Salinger was the winning heaver, allowing only four hits. Ron Legace drove in three runs for the winners. Sundown’s Erik Lister was tagged with the loss.

(August 16)  A narrow 4 to 3 conquest of the Sundown Hawks propelled the Carman Goldeyes into a commanding 2 – 0 lead in their series with the Sundown Hawks. Dave Banman, with three innings of relief help from Brian Coates, annexed the hurling decision over Fred Olynyk.

(August 17)  The St. Boniface Mallards opened their semi-final series with the Giroux Athletics by capturing a narrow 5 to 4 road win. The Athletics caught fire in the fifth frame to knot the count after trailing throughout the first half of the contest. However, Jim Foubister drove in Gerry Hogue in the sixth stanza with a two-out hit to restore the Mallards’ lead with the counter that stood up as the eventual winner. St. Boniface’s Doug Freeth not only was the complete-game winning chucker but he also drove in three of the five runs scored by the Mallards. Wayne Seidler of the Athletics was stung with the pitching defeat.

(August 18)  The Giroux Athletics sent 14 batters to the plate in the opening canto, scoring ten runs off starter Don Maskiw and reliever Ray Smith, en route to a 12 to 2 bashing of the hosting St. Boniface Mallards, tying their semi-final series at a game apiece. Brian Seidler was the winning twirler

(August 18)  Bill Whitehead slugged a three-run homer in the sixth spasm, breaking a 3 – 3 tie, as the Carman Goldeyes eliminated the Sundown Hawks from the playoffs with a 6 to 3 victory. Carman’s Carl Watson outduelled Fred Olynyk of the Hawks for the pitching verdict.

(August 31)  Giroux slabster Brian Seidler fashioned a no-hitter in leading the Athletics to a 3 to 1 win over the St. Boniface Mallards in the third encounter of their series. The win for the A’s moved them in front with a 2 – 1 edge in the showdown battle. Seidler fanned two and walked six while receiving stellar defense from his mates. Brian Sim drove in two tallies in the sixth inning to break a 1 – 1 tie and give the Athletics the win. Don Maskiw was the losing chucker for St. Boniface, striking out five and walking only one.

(September 7)  St. Boniface evened their series with Giroux at two-games each. No final score or game details were found in print.

(September 11)  With the Carman Goldeyes waiting in the wings, the Giroux Athletics prevailed 2 to 1 over the St. Boniface Mallards to take their hard-fought semi-final series three-games-to-two. Giroux pitcher Wayne Seidler struck out 11 and allowed St. Boniface baserunners in only three innings. Seidler also supplied the game-wining hit, driving in Brian Sim with the winning counter in the top-of-the-ninth session. The Mallards threatened to tie the game in their half of the chapter and had a runner at second base with one out. However, Gerry Hogue hit a hard liner to shortstop Maurice Chaput who snagged the ball for the second out and flipped it to second base to end the game with a double play. Don Maskiw, who came on in relief of St. Boniface starter Doug Freeth in the sixth inning, was tagged with the defeat.

FINALS Giroux Athletics vs Carman Goldeyes  (best-of-five series)

(September 11)  Immediately following their semi-final series’ deciding game with St. Boniface, the Giroux Athletics took to the diamond to begin the EMBL final series with the pennant-winning Carman Goldeyes. The Athletics jumped into a one-game lead in the best-of-five series although no final score was printed in the game summary. Strong defensive play provided the edge needed by the A’s for victory as they played errorless afield while the Goldeyes booted the ball three times. Brian Sim once again scored the winning run when the Carman first baseman misplayed a soft grounder off the bat of Wayne Seidler. Roy Seidler fanned five in copping the heaving triumph while Gord Salinger was nailed with the setback.

(September 13)  Carman’s Carl Watson checked the visiting Giroux Athletics on just one hit as the Goldeyes romped to an easy 10 to 0 whitewashing of the Athletics to square the finals at a game apiece.

(September 15)  A pair of two-run homers by Clark Single and Brian Hodgson provided the margin of victory as the pennant-winning Carman Goldeyes posted a 6 to 2 triumph over the Giroux Athletics to take the lead in the series. Giroux’s Rory MacDonald launched a solo four-bagger in a losing cause. Dave Banman notched the hurling decision over Roy Seidler.

(September 18)  The Carman Goldeyes took advantage of some loose play by the Giroux baseballers to score a pair of second-inning unearned runs as they closed out the final series with a 3 to 1 decision over the Athletics. The win climaxed the season for the Goldeyes who copped the regular-season pennant before walking off with the playoff championship in the inaugural EMBL campaign. Gord Salinger allowed seven hits by the A’s in taking the complete-game win over Wayne Seidler.

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SOUTH-CENTRAL (EAST) BASEBALL LEAGUE  (A.K.A. SANTA CLARA BASEBALL LEAGUE)

Austin Aeros : 
Carberry Royals :       
Cypress River Comets : 
Glenboro Canucks : 
Holland Athletics :                   
McGregor Cubs :

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YELLOWHEAD BASEBALL LEAGUE

Arden
Gladstone
Minnedosa
Neepawa Regals

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SOUTH-CENTRAL (WEST) BASEBALL LEAGUE

Baldur Regals :
Brandon U.C.T. Athletics * : 
Elgin Cubs :                                    
Killarney Shamrocks : 
Nesbitt Braves : 
Wawanesa Orioles : 

* 1977 pennant winners

PLAYOFFS
SEMI-FINALS  Wawanesa vs Nesbitt & Elgin vs Brandon  (best-of-five series)

(August 4)  Gord Kaluzniak and Len Boutet drove in three runs apiece at Kinsmen Stadium as the Brandon U.C.T. Athletics hammered the Elgin Cubs 15 to 2 in the opening game of their South-Central League semi-final series. Both Kaluzniak and Boutet had a triple and two singles to lead the A’s 12-hit attack. Dale Foster pitched the first five innings for the winners and gave up just four hits. Reliever Brent Muirhead tossed three frames of no-hit ball and struck out five in mopping up. Malcolm Martin was the losing chucker.  Nesbitt currently holds a 1 – 0 lead over Wawanesa in the other semi-final. 

(August 9)  Larry Thompson and Dale Harvey combined on a four-hitter in pitching the Brandon U.C.T. Athletics to a 6 to 3 win over the Elgin Cubs in the second game of their semi-final playoff series. Thompson went the first five innings and struck out eight while Harvey pitched the final two frames, whiffing five more. Cubs’ starter Cam Mealy suffered the loss. Dale Foster cracked two singles and a double for the A’s while Gord MacKay drove in a pair of runs with a two-bagger and single. Wayne Coates chipped in with two singles. Malcolm Martin, who took over mound chores from Mealy in the final two innings, slugged a bases-empty round-tripper for Elgin.

(August 11)  Wayne Coates belted a bases-loaded triple in the fifth inning to snap a 1 – 1 tie and send the Brandon U.C.T. Athletics into the South-Central League finals with a 5 to 1 victory over the Elgin Cubs. The A’s victory gave them the best-of-five series in straight games. Brent Muirhead pitched four innings of one-hit ball to earn the win. He took over from Len Boutet after three innings of the seven-stanza, darkness-shortened affair. The Two Brandon pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts. Losing flinger Lawrence Reid, who rang up ten punchouts, was Elgin’s top batter with a double and a single. Gord Kaluzniak added a triple and single to the winners’ offensive splurge. The Athletics now await the winner of the Wawanesa-Nesbitt series with Wawanesa currently in front of that semi-final series two-games-to-one.

FINALS  Wawanesa Orioles vs Brandon U.C.T. Athletics  (best-of-five series)

(August 16)  The Brandon U.C.T. Athletics trimmed the Wawanesa Orioles 11 to 5 at Kinsmen Stadium in the opening game of the South-Central Baseball League final series. Reliever Brent Muirhead took over for starter Gord Kaluzniak in the sixth inning and blanked the visitors the rest of the way on a pair of hits to earn the pitching victory. Kaluzniak had surrendered seven safeties. The losing chucker was Barry Angus who toiled on the knoll for 7-2/3 innings.

(August 24)  The Brandon U.C.T. Athletics made the most of four hits, defeating the Wawanesa Orioles 5 to 3 at Kinsmen Stadium, to sweep the South-Central Baseball League finals in three straight games. Dale Harvey earned the pitching win although he needed fifth-inning relief help from Dale Foster. Losing hurler Dennis Mitchell was the author of the four-hitter. Grant Griffith had two of the Brandon safeties, both singles. Bob Draymond had three hits for the Orioles, driving in two runs. 

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SOUTH-WEST BASEBALL LEAGUE

Coulter Red Sox : 
Deloraine Royals : 
Lyleton Leafs : 
Melita : Morris                                                                                                                                  
Tilston : 
Waskada Orioles :                      

PLAYOFFS
SEMI-FINALS  Lyleton vs Deloraine & Coulter vs Waskada  (best-of-three series)

(July 3)  Bruce Stephens belted three home runs and Danny Bonar one as the Deloraine Royals thumped the Lyleton Leafs 20 to 9 in the first game of their South-West League semi-final series. Ian Murray homered twice in a losing cause. Bob Caldwell copped the pitching win over Bob McNish.

(July 7)  The Lyleton Leafs edged the Deloraine Royals 7 to 6 to tie their best-of-three South-West League semi-final series at a game apiece. Rodney Murray, Bob McNish and winning pitcher Norm Murray paced Lyleton offensively with two hits apiece. Losing pitcher Bruce Stephens also stroked a brace of bingles.

(July 13)  A 24-hit attack propelled the Deloraine Royals to an easy 23 to 6 win over the Lyleton Leafs and a berth in the best-of-three South-West Baseball League finals against the winner of the Waskada-Coulter series. Lorne Sambrook slugged two home runs, a double and a single while teammate Bruce Stephens homered and doubled three times in pacing Deloraine to the win. Danny Bonar also dialed long distance with a four-bagger for the Royals. Lyleton’s Archie Heinrichs stroked two doubles and three singles off winning pitcher Bob Caldwell.

(July 15)  The Waskada Orioles, with Bob Dixon on the mound, blanked the Coulter Red Sox 3 to 0 to square their South-West Baseball League semi-final at one game apiece.

(July 20)  Nothing found in print for the deciding game of the Waskada-Coulter series scheduled for this date.

FINALS  Coulter vs Deloraine  (best-of-three series)

(August 4)  Bob Caldwell smashed two home runs, one of them a grand slam, to pace the Deloraine Royals to an easy 15 to 2 conquest of the Coulter Red Sox in the first game of the South-West League finals. Caldwell also slugged a two-run dinger to account for six RBI’s in leading the Royals’ 15-hit attack which include a solo homer, a double and a single by Wayne Coxworth. Bob Downey nailed a tater with one mate aboard to account for the brace of Coulter tallies. Lyle Franklin took the pitching win over Al Downey.

(August 10)  Lyle Franklin hammered two home runs and added a pair of singles, good for four RBI’s, as the Deloraine Royals captured the 1977 South-West Baseball League championship with a 19 to 8 win over the Coulter Red Sox. Deloraine won the best-of-three series two-games-to-one. Losing heaver Bob Downey of Coulter slugged a two-run homer in the first inning to give Coulter a brief lead but the Royals came back to shell Downey from the time the game was two innings old. Two other chuckers followed Downey to the knoll while the Royals’ Bob Caldwell was hurling an 11-hit, complete-game victory. Danny Bonar also had a hot night with the baton for Deloraine, stinging the sphere for three singles.

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INTERLAKE BASEBALL LEAGUE

Balmoral Orioles
Eriksdale
Grosse Isle
Inwood Royals
Lundar
Oak Point Eagles
Teulon Cardinals
St. Laurent Rams
Stonewall Jays
Warren

PLAYOFFS
QUARTER-FINALS  (best-of-three series)

Balmoral downed Oak Point in three games
St. Laurent beat Teulon two straight
Grosse Isle ousted Inwood in two games
Warren sidelined Stonewall  in straight games

SEMI-FINALS  Grosse Isle vs Warren & Balmoral vs St. Laurent  (best-of-three series)
Warren and St. Laurent prevailed in their semi-final series

FINALS

(August 19)  The St. Laurent Rams captured the Interlake Baseball League title for 1977 in front of a large partisan home crowd. The pennant-winning Rams defeated last season’s champions from Warren three games to none in a best-of-five affair. St. Laurent lost only one game all season and won 24 games including the playoffs.  

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MANITOBA JUNIOR BASEBALL LEAGUE

Carman Goldeyes : 
Charleswood Chiefs : 
Elmwood Giants :                                                                                      
Legion #141 : 
River East Raiders : 
Springfield Indians : 
St. Boniface Legionnaires :                                        
Transcona Jaycees : 

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M.B.A. INTERMEDIATE BASEBALL ELIMINATION TOURNAMENTS

In an effort to determine a provincial representative for the western Canada intermediate championship tournament scheduled for Czar AB in August, the Manitoba Baseball Association sanctioned two intermediate tournaments to run simultaneously in late July, one at Carman encompassing clubs from the eastern part of the province while the other, with western Manitoba teams, to be staged at Waskada. The winners of the two elimination tourneys then met in a best-of-three showdown at Carman in early August to determine a Manitoba representative for the western Canada intermediate championships.

EASTERN MANITOBA ELIMINATION TOURNAMENT

Border Baseball League All-Stars
Carman Goldeyes (Eastern Manitoba Baseball League)
Interlake Baseball League All-Stars
St. Boniface Mallards (Eastern Manitoba Baseball League)

(July 29-31)  The Carman Goldeyes of the Eastern Manitoba Baseball League captured the Eastern Manitoba intermediate “A” finals during a three-day, four-team competition.  The tournament began Friday with Carman defeating the Border League All-Stars by a score of 3 to 2. Don Briscoe, a hard-throwing right-hander, picked up from the River East Raiders for the tourney, was the winning hurler for the Goldeyes, tossing a no-hitter.
Saturday, the St. Boniface Mallards, the other EMBL entry in the competition, opened in running style as they defeated the Interlake League All-Stars 7 to 3. John Melnyk was the winning slabster while southpaw Elvin Unger of Grosse Isle, suffered the setback.

Interlake then escaped elimination in the double-knockout event with a come-from-behind victory over the Border League entry. Ken Leduchowski supplied the offensive punch for the Interlake League with a three-run homer.
St. Boniface and Carman, the two teams without a loss to this point, met with Carman emerging with an 8 to 4 ten-inning victory. Mike Mutcheson drove in the winning and first insurance run in the overtime session with a line drive to the left garden that was almost snared by the Mallard flychaser. Bill Whitehead nailed a solo dinger for the victors. Despite pitching a strong game, Doug Freeth was saddled with the defeat while Gord Salinger copped the win.

St. Boniface eliminated the Interlake squad on Sunday with an 8 to 3 victory. Gerald Hogue was prominent in the win, hitting a three-run tater as well as being the winning heaver.

Faced with the task of beating Carman twice in back-to-back games, the Mallards started out on the right foot by out-slugging the Goldeyes for an 8 to 6 win. St. Boniface scored five times off loser Brian Coates in the sixth inning as Don Maskiw grabbed the pitching win. Mike Mutcheson and Keith Kyle launched four-ply clouts in a losing cause for Carman while Gerry Hogue went yard with a bases-empty goner for St. Boniface.

Carman then came back in the final game of the tournament to down the Mallards 6 to 1. Brian Coates, starting his second game of the day on the knoll, went the distance to record the win. Brian Gwizon was tagged with the loss.
Carman will now face the winner of a similar tournament amongst western Manitoba contenders in a best-of-three encounter to determine a Manitoba representative for the western Canada championships to be held in Czar AB.

WESTERN MANITOBA ELIMINATION TOURNAMENT

South-Central (West) Baseball League
Deloraine Royals (South-West Baseball League)
Santa Clara (South-Central East) Baseball League All-Stars
Waskada Orioles (South-West Baseball League)

(July 30-31)  Murray Kozak of the Nesbitt Braves slammed a two-run homer in the final game of the Western Manitoba intermediate “A” tournament to lead the South-Central (West) All-stars to a 5 to 3 victory over the Deloraine Royals of the South-West circuit and a berth in the Manitoba intermediate finals. The SCBL selects went through the tournament undefeated, beating Deloraine 7 – 5 in the A-side final, an extra-inning contest. Deloraine then bounced the Santa Clara League reps 3 – 2 in in the B-final to earn another shot at the South-Central squad in the A-B final.

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MANITOBA INTERMEDIATE “A” BASEBALL FINALS

(August 6-7)  The South-Central Baseball League All-Stars advanced to the western Canada intermediate baseball finals at Czar AB by ousting the Carman Goldeyes of the Eastern Manitoba Baseball League in two straight games over the weekend. No final scores or game details were located in print.

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MANITOBA INTERMEDIATE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Not to be confused with the elimination tourneys staged in July to declare a Manitoba representative for the western Canada intermediate crown, this eight-team tournament, staged in Glenboro, was organized to bring together the champions from each of the seven intermediate leagues in the province plus the hosts in a double-knockout competition.

Arden (Yellowhead Baseball League)
Brandon U.C.T. Athletics (South-Central Baseball League)
Carman Goldeyes (Eastern Manitoba Baseball League) 
Clearwater (Border Baseball League)
Deloraine Royals (South-West Baseball League)
Glenboro Canucks (host)
Holland Athletics (Santa Clara Baseball League)
St. Laurent Rams (Interlake Baseball League)

(August 26-28)  The Carman Goldeyes of the Eastern Manitoba Baseball League successfully defended their provincial intermediate baseball crown by winning an eight-team tournament held in Glenboro over the weekend. The Carman aggregation defeated the Brandon U.C.T. Athletics of the South-Central Baseball League 14 to 4 and 12 to 3 in the deciding games of the double-knockout event. The Goldeyes needed two wins over the Athletics after being relegated to the B-side bracket by losing to Brandon in the A-side final. Carman advanced to the A-B championship finals with a 13 to 4 win over the Deloraine Royals of the South-West Baseball League behind the pitching of Brian Coates. Doug Freeth, a pickup from the St. Boniface Mallards, copped both pitching victories in the championship games while Dale Harvey and Dale Foster suffered the losses for the A’s.   

 

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