Peter (Pekoe) Daptil
Athlete Category | Pekoe Daptil was a superb outfielder with speed, good hands and a strong arm and was a terrific hitter always batting in the top part of the batting order. Daptil played for 12 provincial senior A championship teams between 1938 and 1954 with teams such as Grey Goose, Globelite Batteries, Northern Hotel, and Legion 141. He also played for three Western Canadian champions. Daptil won the MVP award in the Winnipeg Senior League in 1944. From the late 1940s to the early 1970s, he umpired both men’s and ladies softball in Winnipeg. |
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Rhonda Denbow
Athlete Category | Rhonda Denbow began her competitive playing career with Souris Blues senior team and was eventually recruited by North Dakota State University at Bottineau. She then moved to Valley State University where she was named to the All-Conference and regional teams in softball and volleyball. To this day Denbow holds the single season pitching record of 20 wins with just eight walks. This gifted athlete joined Smitty’s in 1990 and played an integral role in Smitty’s winning seven National and four Western Canadian championships. She led a Saskatchewan team to the gold medal in the World Masters Games in Edmonton in 2005. Denbow brings to the team superior work ethic, leadership, dedication, and passion for the game on and off the field. She currently is the female softball coach at Minnesota State University at Moorhead. |
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Ken Dilk
Athlete Category | Ken Dilk was an outstanding senior A pitcher in Winnipeg with the Canadian Order of Forresters and Molson Canadians during the 1960s. Canadians with Dilk the team’s pitching ace won four consecutive Manitoba senior A championships from 1965 to 1968. In 1967, Canadians won the Canadian Senior Men’s Championship at Saskatoon with Dilk capturing the MVP award by hurling 21 innings, fanning 15 and allowing one earned run. In 1968, Dilk was a member of the Canadian team that finished second in the World Championship. In 1973, he helped Winnipeg Colonels win the first Western Major Fastball League championship. |
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Bill Huston
Athlete Category | A dominant fastball player in Brandon for almost two decades, Bill Huston commenced his sparkling career with the Brandon 7-Ups in 1963. He pitched the 7-Up team to six league championships in seven years (1964-1970), and five more league championships with Esso Westman, Pizza Place Clubbers, A&W and Esso Astros. In 1973, the Westman ace fashioned a perfect season with 17 straight wins which included six in the playoffs to lead his team to the title. Bill Huston, one of the top hitters in the league, captured batting titles in 1966 and 1968 in addition to several pitching, MVP, and sportsman awards in his lengthy list of softball accomplishments. |
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Ed (Eddie) Keryluk
Athlete Category | Ed Keryluk, who was born in the R.M. of Kreuzberg, played for Meleb Tigers from 1944 through 1949. The outstanding third baseman then played top-level ball from 1950 to 1960 with Massey-Harris, Drewrys, Kiewel Seals and Manitoba Clothing in Winnipeg and ANAF Vets #60, ANAF Vets #10, Athletics and 7-Up in Brandon. Keryluk won a Winnipeg senior men’s league MVP award with Drewrys in 1951 when he hit .362 and had a fielding average of .998 and won the award again in 1952. In 1959, he hit an amazing .528 for 7-Up to capture the Brandon league batting championship. |
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Joan (Henderson) Panting
Athlete Category | Joan Henderson, first baseman, was undoubtedly one of the most popular players in the Winnipeg Senior Girls Softball League and rarely came to the plate without receiving a hand from the crowd. Before moving up to senior competition, she helped St. Vital Tigerettes win provincial intermediate champions in 1941and 1942. She then was with the Tigerettes senior A provincial championship teams in 1943, 1946 and 1949. Panting took a break in 1950 & 51, but returned to help West Kildonan Tigerettes win titles in 1952 and 1954. She was named to the league all-star team at first base in 1947, 1949, 1952 and 1954 and the second team in 1948 and won the batting championship in 1945 and 1954. |
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Thomas (Tom) Town
Athlete Category | Tom Town was a perennial Brandon all-star at first base and his ability to do the splits nipped many a runner. Town played softball from 1944 to 1960 with Brandon Plumbing, Reg’s Mercuries, Anglo Canadian Oil, ANAF Vets #10 and La Salle Grill. He won the league batting championship in 1944. Town was a member of teams that won the Brandon and area softball champs in 1947, 1953, 1954 1955 and 1956. He also was a member of the Manitoba intermediate “A” champs during the years 1953 to 1956 when the ANAF Vets reached the Western Canadian final twice. Town is a member of the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame. |
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Peter Dewis
All-Around Category | Peter Dewis was recognized as “Mr. Softball” in central Manitoba for over three decades as a player, coach, manager, league founder, and team builder. He was a co-founder of the Central Manitoba Fastball League in 1952 and established the Portage Seals (Bisons) team in 1959. An excellent leadoff hitter and skilled infielder, Dewis was named the league all-star second baseman for eight consecutive seasons. As a player/coach he led the Portage Seals to six league championships in nine years. He also played for the Portage All-Stars in 1965 and 1966 when they represented Manitoba in the Western Canadian Championships in Calgary. |
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Karen (Anderson) Dunbar
All-Around Category | A native of Hamiota, Karen (Anderson) Dunbar was hired as the physical education & math teacher at Souris and soon became an outstanding coach and role model for her students. She was a pitcher and clean-up hitter with the Souris Blues teams that won several provincial senior B and C women’s titles and represented Manitoba in the Western Canadian championship. Her students and teammates always maintained that she was “the straw that stirred the drink.” An all-around athlete who also starred in basketball and curling, she was selected as Westman’s Athlete of the Year in 1975. She coached Souris at the Canadian junior women’s championship in 1976 and coached Team Manitoba at the Canada Summer Games in 1977. |
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Art Penner
All-Around Category | Art Penner, originally from Plum Coulee, began playing fastball with St. James Teachers and Westwood Esso in the Winnipeg Men’s Industrial League. He was a strong-armed second baseman who consistently batted in the middle of the lineup. Penner was the player-coach of the Black Knights team that won the Winnipeg senior A title in 1969 and represented Manitoba in the Canadian senior men’s championship from 1970 through 1972. In 1973, Penner and 2004 inductee Harry Bueckert purchased a franchise in the new Western Major Fastball League and the team called Winnipeg Colonels won the first league championship with Penner a player-coach. He remained with the team for several years and then completed his player-coach days with the Manitoba Masters team that won the Western Canadian fast pitch championship in 1984 & 1986. |
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Don Robins
All-Around Category | Don Robins starred on the diamonds in Western Manitoba for 30 years, 17 years in the Brandon Centennial Fastball League and 13 years in the Brandon Commercial Fastball League. During this period of time, he captured the top pitcher award on five occasions, the league MVP award five times and numerous all-star, playoff MVP, and sportsmanship awards. Robins pitched with Simplot Blues, Esso Westman, and Clanwilliam Greys to provincial championships on three occasions. In addition to his pitching prowess, he hit for a high average and was always among the league leaders in RBI. Robins has always been a tireless worker for the betterment of softball in Western Manitoba serving on league executives and at provincial championships. |
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Bob Wright
Coach/Manager Category | For more than 25 years, Bob Wright played a major role in the growth and development of softball in the Boissevain area of southwestern Manitoba. From 1961 to 1970 he was the coach and manager as well as the catcher for the Horton team that primarily played Sunday tournaments, but did compete provincially on three occasions. In the early 1970s, he became involved with coaching the group of teenage boys that became the Pringle’s Pirates team and won the provincial senior D men’s championship in 1975 and 1979. Women’s softball was almost extinct in the area when Wright started coaching the Boissevain Lady Cardinals in the 1980s and the team captured provincial intermediate championships in 1984 and 1985. At a tournament one would often see Bob Wright coaching two different teams at different age levels. Wright taught players to be gracious in winning and losing, with sportsmanship being all-important. |
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| 1954-1957 Lenore Ladies Fastball Team Team Category | Lenore Ladies from a small village, not having a league to play in, attended numerous tournaments in conjunction with sport and fair days at places like Birtle, Strathclair, Brandon, Minot, and into Saskatchewan. The team got stronger with experience and in 1954 won 30 of 39 games, were tops in 40 of 50 contests in 1955. Lenore was victorious in 70 of 75 in 1956 winning 21 of 25 tournaments. In one tournament at Minot they defeated two Minot clubs to place first and in 1957 they were runner-up at Minot. The Lenore girls were dedicated, superb players, showed sportsmanship, and earned the admiration of their peers on the tournament trail. |
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| 1977-1982 Souris Blues Senior Ladies Fastball Team Team Category | Souris Blues consisting of players in and around the small town of Souris, competed in the Brandon and District Ladies Fastball League as well as entering tournaments in North Dakota, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. After Blues won the provincial junior championship in 1976, many of the team members were on Team Manitoba at the Canada Summer Games the following summer. Starting in 1977, Blues won four consecutive provincial senior B titles and represented Manitoba in the Western Canadian championship winning silver in 1978. Blues were provincial finalists the next two years. The community spirit along with this teams hunger for competition paved the way for these successful years. |
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| 1985-1990 Minto Mustangs Men's Fastball Club Team Category | Minto Mustangs won intermediate A provincial titles in 1985, 1986 and 1988 as well as being provincial finalists in 1989 & 1990. The team’s most successful year was 1988 when Mustangs won the provincial tournament consisting of 19 teams and defeated Gladstone in the final. The winning continued in Richmond, B.C. as the Mustangs went 6-0 in round-robin play and then defeated Saskatchewan 3-0 & 4-1 to win the Western Canadian intermediate “A” championship. Although from a very small town, the team sought out top-level competition in order to improve, which was a major reason for their success. |
