2004 Lloydminster Twins above. Back (L-R) - Kevin Payne, Colbey Field, Troy Winterhalt, Pat Pettman, Kelly Hoffer, Stacy Walker, Keith Davidson
Front -
Jaime Smithson, Daryl Flasch, Craig Traverse, Tyler Code
In 2023, the Lloydminster Twins were inducted into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame, noting their dominance of the North Saskatchewan River Baseball League. The following from the Lloydminster paper, the Meridian Source.
The Meridian Twins will go down in local baseball lore as one of the winningest AA teams in the North Saskatchewan River Baseball League (NSRBL) in the province ... the Twins won 10 league championships, including six in a row from 2009-2014 and were among the top AA teams in the NSRBL and province for over a decade.
That’s not bad for a team that entered the league in 1996.
In 1999, Stacy Walker took over managing the team, and with a solid young core of local players, exciting times were ahead for the Twins.
The team won its first NSRBL championship in 2000 and hosted the AA provincial championships in 2001, 2003 and 2005.
In 2002, they hosted and won the A provincial championships along with their second NSRBL title and were named SBA Senior Team of the Year.
The twins are part of the rich baseball history in Lloydminster with the first league starting up in 1907.
The Meridians were formed in 1938 and their games were followed closely until they disbanded during the Second World War.
After the war, the Oilers were formed and many great ball players were given jobs in the oil industry so they could play in town.
The 1950s and 60s are fondly remembered for local ball fans as Slim Thorpe and Russ Robertson who were key in bringing a semi-pro team to town.
They are also two pillars of the community recognized by the naming of the Thorpe Recovery Centre and the Russ Robertson rink at the Servus Sports Centre.
In 1954, the Lloydminster Meridians joined the Western Canada Baseball League and were led by ... Curly Williams, who was an all-star shortstop and third baseman.
The league folded in 1961 and the Lloydminster Greencaps then joined the Northern Saskatchewan League where they played for years.
In the mid-80s with softball and slopitch becoming popular, baseball died out.
The minor baseball program was revived in 1989 by Kathy and Brent Smithson, Bob Ermel, Greg Payne and others.
By early 1996, Bart and Graydon King, Bernal Ulsifer and Randy Taves started talks of Lloydminster once again having a senior baseball team.
Taves who was the city’s parks and recreation director helped get additional funding for the upgrades at Legion Ball Park as Lloyd was hosting the 1997 Alberta Summer Games.
There were a lot of volunteer hours from others like Dr. Corin Berg, Kyle McIntyre, Brad Kendall and the Ermel and Smithson coached midget team getting the infield sod laid outfield fence replaced, the new backstop and a sound booth.
It was important to get that volunteer base and interest to justify the money that went into the field for the Summer Games and it largely started with creating a senior team.
Enter the Meridian Twins in May 1996 and the rest is history.
2014 Lloydminster Twins above. Back (L-R) - Brett Kustaski, Troy Winterhalt, Steve Barbour, Kevin Payne, Chris Osmak, Travis Kusch, Kelly Hoffer , Stacy Walker
Front - Cole Kustaski, Evan Latos, Adrian Gutierrez, Dirk Treptow, Owen Hill, Curtis Zerr, Phil Jezowski, Paul Sonntag
2011 Twins above. Back (L-R) - DJ Feil, Alejandro Garcia, Cole Kustaski, Kevin Payne, Troy Winterhalt, Quincy Winkler, Kelly Hoffer, Kelly Horaska, Brent Smithson
Front - Cole Lupul, Warren Stang, Matt Loree, Derek Lantz, Riley Currie, Kris Quogliotto, Craig Traverse, Jaime Smithson, Stacy Walker