2010 MJBL All-stars walk together into HoF

Team ended province’s national championship drought

By: Mike Sawatzky Posted: 5:18 PM CST Monday, Nov. 6, 2023 Last Modified: 10:37 AM CST Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023 | Updates

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The Manitoba Junior Baseball League All-stars arrived at the 2010 national junior championship in Trois-Rivières, Que., with designs on the province’s first title in 28 years.

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The Manitoba Junior Baseball League All-stars arrived at the 2010 national junior championship in Trois-Rivières, Que., with designs on the province’s first title in 28 years.

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The Manitoba Junior Baseball League All-stars arrived at the 2010 national junior championship in Trois-Rivières, Que., with designs on the province’s first title in 28 years.

It wasn’t long before Manitoba upstarts pushed their way into championship contention.

They went 3-1 in round-robin play before beating Newfoundland in the quarter-finals, Ontario in the semis and the host Trois-Rivières squad in the gold-medal game.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Members of the 2010 Manitoba Junior League All-stars baseball team (Back row from left) Mark Hildebrand, Dale Febr, Josh Ginter, Elliot Desilets, Jesse Grant, Justin Pasichnvk, Neil Walton, Brendan Johnson and Shane Seddon. (Front row from left) Scott Neiles, Brent Laverty, Glen Hunter, Jamie Bettens and Anthony Friesen.

On Monday, 13 members of that illustrious squad turned out for Baseball Manitoba’s annual Hall of Fame induction announcement. The MJBL All-stars are in a group of four teams, nine individuals and one family who will be officially inducted at a HOF banquet at the Access Events Centre in Morden on June 15.

“I think it’s a testament to the family and the brotherhood and the relationships that we forged through that process,” said Jamie Bettens, who was the head coach of the All-stars. “We will walk together forever is something that’s been said… We’re very proud of that group and it doesn’t actually surprise anyone that we have that many guys here today, along with a bunch of text messages from others that said, ‘I can’t make it but if I could, believe me, I would be there, too.’ ”

Manitoba’s path to the gold-medal game, beginning with an eventful meeting with Newfoundland.

“I think that pinnacle moment for us was against Newfoundland in the quarterfinal game,” said Bettens. “They had a left-handed pitcher that had picked off three runners and we were just struggling to get anything happening. And it was just one of those moments where we had a runner on base and we’re only down one and Elliot Desilets hit a two-run walk-off home run the seventh. It was something at that moment where the whole team kind of looked and said, ‘It’s just gonna happen.’”

Desilet had a vivid recollection of the game-changing at-bat.

“I remember going up to bat, bottom seven, (we) have a runner on first and we’re down by one,” said Desilets, a first baseman from St. James. “I was really impatient, I foul the first one off, get frustrated. I took the next pitch and then I got a fastball in and a walk-off (homer). I’d never done that before and as soon as I hit it, I knew it was gone. It was a good feeling.”

With the exception of Desilet’s late game heroics in the quarter-final, the All-stars didn’t rely on power.

“I don’t think teams were ready for the type of offence that we ran,” said Bettens. “We put the ball in play, we ran all over the place and teams just couldn’t control the pressure that we put on them and then our pitchers and defence did their job.”

In the semifinal, Bettens turned to Anthony Friesen, a pitcher from Somerset, who was sensational on his way to earning his second win of the tournament while catcher Brett Schreyer of St. Andrews went four-for-four with six RBI in a 7-1 thrashing of the powerful Ontarians.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Elliot Desilets hit the quarterfinal winning home run. — MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Elliot Desilets hit the quarterfinal winning home run.

“We treated it as if the Ontario semifinal game was our gold-medal game,” said Bettens. “So we went with Anthony, saying let’s at least get to the final. That Ontario team was loaded with Division I players and a ton of confidence that they were going to just just hammer us and they didn’t know what’s coming.”

Friesen also put the finishing touches in the gold-medal game, pitching the final two innings of a 6-3 win over Trois-Rivières. Manitoba got all the offence it needed with four runs in the fifth inning.

“The save was the big one,” said Friesen, who was named tournament MVP. “I went to the coach after the semifinal said, ‘I’m good to go for the final and the gold-medal game.’ We had a plan that someone would start and I said, ‘I’m your guy after that.’ ”

Tickets for the induction banquet can be purchased through the Hall of Fame’s website at www.mbhof.ca.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

THE HOF CLASS OF 2023

INDIVIDUALS

Ryan Boguski, (1976- ), Brandon: Chosen three times (1992-94) for the Manitoba Youth Team and earned a spot on national team in 1994. Played 23 seasons in the Manitoba Senior Baseball League with Brandon Marlins. A nine-time MSBL all-star.

Eleanor Callow (1927-1974), Winnipeg: Was inducted into our Hall of Fame in 1998 as one of the Manitobans who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Now an individual inductee. Was an all-star seven times in eights seasons betwene 1947 and 1954.

Stuart Gilman (1961- ), Calgary: Was part of two provincial championship junior teams as a pickup. He also played for Team Manitoba at the Canada Games in 1981 in Thunder Bay, Ont. Played senior baseball in the Redboine league with Elmwood and Teulon and was part of a Western Canada championship team (1990) and played in a Canadian championship (1991) in Rimouski, Que.

Chris Hofer (1971- ), Warren: From 1990-92 he played at the National Baseball Institute in Vancouver. In 1994 when playing with Grosse Isle he was Manitoba’s Senior AA Player of the Year and MVP of the Manitoba Senior AA championship tournament in Grandview. Wth Stonewall, he was part of three more Senior AA championship teams (1997, 1999, 2000).

Derrick Mudge (1966- ), Winnipeg: Infielder was part of four provincial championship teams and two Western Canada championship teams. He was twice a Winnipeg Senior League all-star. Since 2013 he has coached North Winnipeg teams at several age groups, taking three teams to Western Canada championships and finishing second in 2015 with the Pirates’ 15U AAA team.

Ollie Schroeder (1935- ), Winnipeg: Longtime volunteer had more than forty years of service to baseball in Northeast Winnipeg. Influential in the formation of the Winnipeg Minor Baseball Association, which administers city wide play. She was inducted into the Baseball Manitoba Honour Society in 1996 and named Baseball Canada volunteer of the year in 2006.

Derek Shamray (1969- ), Oak River: Member of the MSBL’s Hamiota Red Sox and Oak River Dodgers. Longtime coach in minor baseball. In 2018 and 2019 he coached senior teams that went to Nationals. He has been a vocal proponent for baseball facility projects such as construction of dugouts and installing an electric scoreboard.

Ken Sharpe (1962- ), Minnedosa: Played 15 years of intermediate/senior baseball with Neepawa, Brandon, Cardale, Minnedosa. In 1991, Sharpe was instrumental in the formation of the Minnedosa Mavericks team that became an powerhouse in the Santa Clara Senior League. He was on the Board of Baseball Manitoba from 2000 through 2022, serving as its president for 12 years from 2003 to 2014. From 2012 through 2016, he was also the president of the Western Canada Baseball Association. He was on the board of Baseball Canada from 2002 to 2014, and since 2018 has been the organization’s treasurer.

Bryan Swanepoel (1979- ), Souris: In 1996 and 1997 he was primarily a catcher and pitcher but also a corner infielder on Manitoba Youth Teams. Played in the MSBL from 1997-2000 with Souris and then 2001-13 with the Brandon Cloverleafs. A 15-time all-star in the MSBL and a six-time league champion with the Cloverleafs.

SENIOR CLUB TEAM CATEGORY

Kinosota Cougars, 1965-1970:

A baseball team was first formed in Kinosota in the 1930s and became the Cougars around 1961. The caliber of the team and the support from the community peaked in the late 1960s.

SPECIAL TEAM CATEGORY

Manitoba’s 1977 Canada Summer Games team: Manitoba, coached by Joe Wiwchar and Gus Beitz, finished first in its pool with a 4-1 record and went on to captured the silver medal at the 1977 Canada Summer Games held in St. John’s, N.L.

2010 Manitoba Junior League All-stars: Won the 2010 Canadian junior championship held in Trois Rivieres, Que., ending a 28-year drought for the province.

1990 Oil Dome Bantam All-stars:

All-star bantam team formed for the Manitoba championship added pickups for the Western Canada Championship held in Carman, where it went undefeated in round-robin play and beat Saskatoon in final. In the Western Canada tournament, the all-stars hit 14 home runs in five games.

FAMILY CATEGORY

Tycoles family, Reston: Ross, Carol and daughter Amy and sons Aaron and Rory are known as the first family of baseball in southwestern Manitoba.

HONOURARY LIFE MEMBERS

Glennis Scott, McConnell: Inducted into the HOF in 1998 and chosen for Manitoba’s All Time Dream Team (2016).

Joe Wiwchar, Morden: Inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2023.