Olympian part of Manitoba Softball Hall of Fame’s 2023 class

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This article was published 10/11/2022 (1107 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A 1996 Olympian leads a starry cast of athletes, teams and builders into the Manitoba Softball Hall of Fame.

Deb Sonnenberg, who pitched for the Canadian national team and competed at the ’94 world championship in Newfoundland, the ’95 Pan Am Games in Argentina and the Olympics a year later in Atlanta, will be inducted on May 6, 2023, at a ceremony in Winnipeg.

A product of Leduc, Alta., she moved to Manitoba in ‘92 and played with the Obsession and Smitty’s club teams, winning numerous provincial and national titles, defining herself as a premier pitcher and catching the eye of the national women’s program.

Joining Sonnenberg in the class of 2023 in the athlete category are Brandi Chammartin and Harvey Julseth; Adrian Brown and Ralph Nespor will be inducted in the all-around category; Phyllis and Larry Klimpke will be honoured as builders; and, the 1980-85 Legion No. 2 Blues fastball team, the ‘94-99 Moose’s Mob slo-pitch squad, and the ‘85 to ‘90 Sioux Valley Dakota fastball club will be inducted in the team category.

Chammartin was also a member of the national team, competing at world championships and the Pan Am Games, and was an alternate for the ‘96 Summer Olympics.

Julseth’s fastpitch career began at the age of 16 with the Brandon 7-Up’s in the mid-1960s. He received numerous all-star selections and was a member of 12 provincial championship teams and won seven medals at Western Canadian Championships.

Brown found success both as a player and coach. He was a star infielder with the Manitoba Alliance Juniors, and made 14 appearances at the Internternational Softball Congress World Tournament. In 2017, he was a co-winner of Softball Manitoba’s Leo Bouchard Memorial Award for the top coaching staff of the year.

Primarily an outfielder, Nespor started his fastball career in Lac du Bonnet with the Huskies and later with the Winnipeg Colonels of the Western Major Fastball League. He found success with a number of senior fastball teams and spent years coaching as well. In 1989 received the Leo Bouchard Memorial Award.

The Klimkes founded the South Interlake Phillies girls softball program in 1995 with a U16 team, and soon after U12, U14, U19, U21 and senior women’s teams were formed. They coached several squads at western Canadian and national championships over the years. A diamond at Quarry Park in Stonewall is named in their honour.

The Legion No. 2 Blues were formed in 1980, winning a Provincial Senior A crown just four years later. A year later, they finished third at the Western Canadians.

Moose’s Mob, a co-ed team, began as a group of friends playing out of John Blumberg but develeoped into a highly successful competitive club, winning numerous Manitoba titles and earning podium finishes at four consecutive Canadian Intermediate Nationals (1996-99).

Sioux Valley’s sensational fastball team dominated the Brandon Commercial Fastball League in the late 1980s with four straight titles. It also represented the province at the North American Indian Athletic Association tournament four times, and twice won the Canadian Native Men’s Fastpitch Championship in the ‘90s.

The 20th HOF induction banquet will be held at the Victoria Inn Hotel and Convention Centre on May 6, 2023. Tickets are $85. Contact Les Newman (204-235-1674, lnewman@live.ca) for tickets.

— staff