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Provincial Champions 1977
Provincial Champions 1979
Western Canadian Champions 1977
Western Canadian Champions 1979
The 1977 Wetaskiwin Legion
Bantam and the Wetaskiwin Sport Shop Midget Fastball Teams are being
inducted into the Wetaskiwin and County Sports Hall of Fame for winning
two Provincial Titles and two Western Canadian titles. To date they are
the only teams that have been inducted that were able to win both the
Provincial and the Western Canadian Championships and incredibly they
were able to accomplish the feat twice! Although not all of the men
being inducted played on both teams a core group were members of both
teams. When the boys were younger, some of them were also together on
teams that won the provincial title in 1973 as Mites and again in 1975
as Peewees. Congratulations are warranted for the group of men that are
being inducted for their triumphs as teenagers .
Unbeatable Pitching
Strength and Batting Power
The 1977 Bantam team went
undefeated in both the Provincial Championships and the Western Canadian
Championships, an incredible accomplishment! In advancing to the
Provincials, the Bantams defeated Brockville in two straight. In the
Alberta play-downs they swept the title in three games, winning 10-1,
6-1 and 2-1 against Calgary and Edmonton’s best. In the three day
Western Canada Championships held in Saskatoon the Legion Bantams had
the pitching strength and the batting power the other teams never had.
They were by far the best team in the tournament and defeated Port
Alberni in the final game 8-2.
Impressive Comeback to Win
Five Straight Games
In 1979 the Midgets were
also undefeated in the Provincial Championships. In winning the
tournament the Sport Shop beat Ardrossan 11-1, edged Grand Prairie 2-0
and beat Edmonton 12-6. In the final game they defeated Grande Prairie
17-9 after Grand Prairie had jumped into a 6 point lead in the first
inning! At the Western Canadians held in Campbell River the Midgets
lost their first two games and then won five in a row to take the
championship. After losing 3-0 to Saskatchewan and 1-0 to Manitoba they
defeated Campbell River 9-0, British Columbia 13-0 and Campbell River
2-1 to end the preliminaries. In the play-offs they beat Saskatchewan
3-2 and edged Campbell River 2-1 for the second time on their route to
the gold medal.
Coach Uses Inventive
Winter Drills to
Prep Players For Outdoor Fastball Season
The head coach of both the
Bantam and the Midget teams was Al Arner. As we all know, Al was a hard
task master. According to the Times article written after the Sport
Shop Midget Provincial Championships, “Some people would accuse Al Arner
of being a slave-driver. Quite a few, as a matter of fact, would point
a finger at the coach of the Sport Shop midgets and whisper about his
methods of coaching”. However, the boys must have respected Al and his
coaching as before the 1978 season, Al fell out of a tree, broke his arm
and consequently did not coach. Most of the players took the 1978 year
off and then played again in 1979 when Al was back at the helm. Al
started the boys playing inside in January and had many inventive drills
to prepare the boys for the outdoor season. Al was certainly a factor
and a positive influence in the accomplishments of the Legion Bantam and
Sport Shop Midget teams. Credit should also be given to the assistant
coaches and managers of the 1977 and 1979 teams, as well those who
coached the boys when they competed at the younger levels, as they all
contributed to the successes of these two teams.
The players on these two
teams learned the value of participating in team sports and have
encouraged their own children to become involved. Many of these men
have given back to the community by coaching teams or becoming involved
in the administrative aspect of community recreation thereby passing on
lessons they learned.
We applaud both of these
teams for their amazing achievement of winning these championships.
Winning and competing at this level required effort, dedication,
practice, team spirit, exceptional coaching, parental support, as well
as natural talent. These boys had it all and are certainly deserving of
the honor of being inducted into the Wetaskiwin and County Sports Hall
of Fame.
Team Members are:
Danny Anderson (77/79), Allen Bailer (77/79), Darrel Campbell (79),
Keith Clark (77),Dean Colborne (77/79), Brian Cooke (79), Mazen Debaji
(77/79), Eldon Dumkee (77/79), Dean Fonteyne (79), Doug Ganske (79),
Mike Gates (77), Scott Hagstrom (79), Barry Hebner (77/79), Darrell
Knapp (77), Dexter Knull (77), Kevin Lonsdale (77/79), Warren Moan
(77), Jim Pocock (77), Chris Smeaton (77), Doug Summers (79), Colin
Wark (79), Jim Woitt (77/79) Coach Al Arner (77/79), Assistant Coach
Raymond Bailer (77), Assistant Coach Bruce Rogers (79), Coach Val
Fonteyne (75), Sponsor Father Edward Lynch (77/79)
1977 Wetaskiwin Legion
Bantam Fastball Team
(Click to enlarge photos and view names of players)
1979 Wetaskiwin Sport Shop
Midget Fastball Team
(Click to enlarge photos and view names of players)
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