Little League Baseball: the early years - Page 3

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1966 Kelowna upsets Trail 7-5 in District 4 baseball championships in Kelowna. Len Ircandia hit the first home run of the tournament. West Trail wins the Little League Canadian Baseball championship. Gary Picone was the winning pitcher. Picone hit a double and stole home for Trail’s first run. Gerald Merlo’s bases-loaded single brought home Evo Marcon and Dale Costanzo. West Trail won the Western Canadian Little League championships after defeating winning the Zone 6 championships. In winning the Western championships they knocked over a strong Mandak North Manitoba team in a best-of-three series at New Westminster.
1967 Trail wins Canadian championship and goes on to appear in Little League World Series. Mayor Joseph Palyga presented team with Centennial Medallions. Coaches were Andy Bilesky and Al McAuley. League President Ray Hamilton, Mayor Palyga and Jack Kenzie from Safeway dedicate East Trail Little League Park to Andy Bilesky. East Trail won the BC Little League title with a close 1-0 decision over Whalley. Winning pitcher was Murray Levick. He struck out 10 Whalley batters. Both teams allowed two hits. Both Trail hits were fired out by John Hamilton. The double scored Levick for the only Trail run. This was the fourth title for Trail. Trail defeated Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan 8-0 to earn the right to represent Western Canada in the finals. Catcher Ricky Babcock batted in three of Trail’s runs with a 240-ft. homer into the left field stands in the third inning. John Hamilton allowed only one hit.
1967 Trail won the Canadian championship with a 5-0 triumph over Windsor, Ontario. Morley Levick hurled a one-hitter and struck out eight batters while Rick Babcock, R. Regnier and Larry Reid got Trail hits. This was Trail’s first Canadian title and first trip to Williamsport for the Little League World Series. Team roster: Chris Hughes, Keith Van DeKeere, Larry Reid, Vern McDougall, Bob Margoreeth, Wes Kenzie, Dovilio Binotto, Derek Haas, Bob Regnier, Mike Buna, Morley Levick, Rick Babcock, John Hamilton and Greg Peck.
1968 Arnold Lauriente, Ugo DeBiasio and Percy Halliwell take part in opening day ceremonies. Pat McLaughlin’s home run helps Trail to beat Kamloops 3-1 to enter the finals. Winning pitcher was Larry Reid, who also hit a home run. Jim Worsup, Larry Reid, Pat McLaughlin hit home runs to defeat Prince George 8-2 to win District 4 finals. Winning pitcher was Larry Reid. Trail loses to North Vancouver Jaycees 11-0 to be eliminated from the provincials.
1969 Ken Umbarger pitches a two-hitter to beat Prince George 4-1 to win the Central Interior Little League championships. Trail eliminated from the provincials in extra innings 7-6 by Cloverdale. Pat Zanier blasted a grand slam for a 6-2 lead. Cloverdale scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game and force extra innings. Trail’s Ken Umbarger and Al Pastro shared the pitching duties.
1970 District tournament held in Trail. Opening ceremonies saw Don McLeod batting against Bobby Kromm with catcher Garth Rizzuto. Umpire was alderman Tom Steven. Chris Vlanich’s two-run homer sparked Trail’s final victory over Kelowna 7-1. Allan Pastro was the winning pitcher. Trail starts finals by defeating Vancouver Victoria Drive 4-0. Bruce Ferguson hit a three-run homer. Trail wins BC championship. Trail is eliminated by Lethbridge 2-1 in 11 innings in Canadian championships. Steve Tambellini struck out 18 batters in eight innings. Trail scored one run in the top of the ninth but Valleyfield scored two in the bottom.
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