Sport: Baseball
Level: Pee Wee Minor Baseball
Year of Induction: 2001
Sport: Baseball
Level: Pee Wee Minor Baseball
Year of Induction: 2001
In the summer of 1973, the Canadian Baseball Federation held its national championship in North Battleford, Saskatchewan and invited each province to select a representative to try to qualify for the tournament. The Ontario Qualifying Tournament was held in Niagara Falls on July 6-8. Chatham Kinsmen Pee Wees won 4 straight games to win the tournament and earn the right to represent Ontario against Quebec for the Central Canada Championship.
Chatham met an all star team from Quebec in a 2 out of 3 playoff on August 11-12 in the Burlington area. After Quebec won the first game 6-5 by scoring 4 runs in the last inning after 2 were out, Chatham won the next 2 games by scores of 4-1 and 7-5. As Central Canada Champs, they were off to North Battleford.
Most teams at the national tournament were all star teams from the various provinces, however, Chatham was still a local team bolstered by 4 out-of-town players. In the 5 games played, Chatham won them all, scoring 81 runs while giving up only 11. After beating Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, and North Battleford, Chatham beat Sydney, Nova Scotia 8-0 to become Canadian Champions, the only Chatham Minor Baseball Association team ever to accomplish such a feat.