Curling’s done — let’s play ball

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/04/2025 (205 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The curling season is over and, with signs of an early spring, the baseball and softball seasons may get early starts this year. Call them curling ballplayers or ball-playing curlers – the dual-sport athletes who have put away their curling shoes and brushes will soon be pulling out their bats and gloves.

Manitoba has been blessed with a long list of curlers and ballplayers, who have reached a high level in both sports. Several have been inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame, and many have been inducted to the baseball and curling halls and in some cases both. Their achievements will be covered in a two-part series.

Dot Rose, Joan Ingram and Laurie Bradawaski won Canadian championships in both sports – the 1965 softball title with the CUAC Blues, and the 1967 curling championship with Betty Duguid’s Fort Garry team. With CUAC dominating Manitoba women’s softball from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s and the trio winning several women’s and senior curling titles, it’s safe to say they are the ball-playing curlers with the most provincial championships.

Ernie Boushy was the skip of the Heather team that won the first Canadian mixed championship in 1964, and Bea (Hall) McKenzie curled lead. A 2000 Manitoba baseball hall of fame inductee, Boushy, an infielder, played professionally in the U.S.A. and led the Class D Appalachian League in hitting in 1953 with a .349 average while playing for the Welch Miners in West Virginia. A Manitoba softball hall of fame inductee with the first class in 2002, McKenzie was an outstanding catcher from 1930 until 1952.

Gene Walker skipped his Gordon Bell High School team to the 1954 provincial title and his Heather team to the 1981 mixed championship with Clarice Fitzpatrick at lead. Walker pitched professionally in the Baltimore minor system in 1958 and 1959, while Fitzpatrick was with the 1957-1962 CUAC Blues teams that were inducted to the softball hall. Elaine Jones won a Canadian mixed championship in 1980 along with four provincial senior and six masters titles. Fitzpatrick curled on two of the senior teams. On the softball diamond, Jones of the CPAC Falconettes was named the most valuable player in the senior women’s league in 1964 and 1966.

Ron Toews has an impressive resume. He was inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame along with his family from Plum Coulee in 2008, and as an individual in 2013 for his accomplishments from juvenile to senior. Toews was a star pitcher for the Brandon Cloverleafs for several years. After moving to Winnipeg, he switched to softball, where he was an infielder and won three provincial titles with the Black Knights and the first Western Major Fastball League championship in 1973 with the Winnipeg Colonels. In slo-pitch, he played for teams that won men’s, masters and 55-plus senior championships. When he was inducted into the Manitoba softball HOF in 2008, he was the first player recognized for his accomplishments in both fast pitch and slo-pitch.

Ron and his brother Brian, who also played for the Black Knights, curled for the Victoria team that won the MCA grand aggregate in 1968. They, along with lead Barry Mulvenny, played baseball for the Plum Coulee Pirates team that was inducted to the baseball hall in 2002. Brian curled third for Mike Riley’s 1984 Canadian men’s champions from the Pembina, with John Helston at second (Russ Wookey was lead). Brian and John won the provincial senior title in 1998 with a Heather team. Ron won a senior championship in 1999 and a masters in 2014, both with Ron Westcott from Fort Rouge.

Westcott and Helston also had success on the softball diamond. Westcott played for the 1976-80 Winnipeg Colonels and was inducted to the softball HOF in 2020. Helston played for the Labatt’s Touring All-Stars, who represented Manitoba in the 1982 Western Canada Slo-Pitch Championship, and won the provincial twilight title that same year, and for the provincial masters winners in 1988.

A 2004 softball hall of fame inductee, Brian Pallister played for the junior Winnipeg Colonels and pitched in the Western Major Fastball League and for several senior A teams, including the Dodgers and Diamonds in his hometown of Portage la Prairie. In 1988, his pitching and hitting earned him MVP honours at the Canadian championship. In curling, he skipped a provincial mixed championship team from La Salle in 2001.

A future column will highlight ball-playing curlers, who primarily had success on the diamond before winning championships in curling.