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Home , Birmingham Bulls (WHA), Brad McCrimmon, Brandon Wheat Kings, Brian Propp, Laurie Boschman, Regina Pats

B2 ■ SPORTS THE BRANDON SUN ■ SATURDAY AUGUST 14 2021 TRY TO BEAT THAT!: THE 1978-79 1970s was a very different era

BY GREGG DRINNAN player via trade, with forward Larry Roberts coming over Forty-two years after cov- from the Billings Bighorns ering the 1978-79 Wheat in October in a three-team Kings, Gregg Drinnan was swap in which Brandon sent asked to refl ect on the sea- forward Darren Bobyck to son and the experience. the . What Brockest and McCal- It was March 21, 1979. lum did early that season, no The Brandon Wheat Kings doubt with the help of ace had just surrendered three scout Ron Dietrich, was add third-period goals in losing three St. James products — 6-4 to the visiting forwards Dave McDonald Blades. But as the 2,692 fans and , along with fi led out of the Keystone Kelly Elcombe. , you can bet they The three were friends, and weren’t talking about what they played McCallum-style was only their favourite hockey, which is to say they team’s fi fth loss of the WHL could beat you in the cor- season. No, they were abuzz ners, along the boards or about a nasty third-period in front of the net, or in the brawl that occurred after one alley if you preferred. They of the Blades had the misfor- slipped quietly onto the tune of having his stick make roster and into the dressing contact with the face that room, thus there weren’t any belonged to Brandon sniper Darren Gusdal, and Larry Roberts. Don Dietrich, Brad McCrimmon and Kelly Elcombe. trade-related distractions . and the team’s chemistry, Of course, this was Game which was terrifi c, remained 71 in a 72-game regular-sea- intact. son and the teams knew they Keep in mind, too, that the would be facing each other Wheat Kings that season car- a few times in the fast-ap- ried only 21 players for the proaching playoffs. So, yes, most part — two goalten- the donnybrook was at least ders, six defenceman and 13 a little bit predictable. Hey, forwards. So there weren’t a that’s the way things were lot of comings and goings to done back in the day. disrupt things. But now it was 15 or 20 That isn’t to say there minutes after the game had weren’t distractions. ended and few people re- Freshman forward Walt mained in the stands when Poddubny had 22 points Dunc McCallum, the Wheat in 20 games when he went Kings’ coach, walked up home to Thunder Bay. There the stairs en route to his of- also was the devastating in- fi ce. On the other side of the jury suffered by defenceman ice surface, Joe Arling, the Mike Perovich, who had 73 Blades’ assistant coach, also points in 62 games when his was leaving the scene via season was ended by a bro- the stairs. When he saw Mc- ken arm. Might the season Callum, Arling yelled a few have ended differently had choice words. McCallum either or both of them been responded. They went back in the lineup on that May and forth a couple of times Athletic therapist Jack (Smokey) Stouffer, Kelly McCrimmon Bart Hunter, Rick Knuckle and Scott Olson. day in Verdun, Que.? before going their separate and Brad Kempthorne. Distractions? Let’s not ways. forget about the goings-on As McCallum reached the in November when Peter top step with a nosy reporter Pocklington, then the owner trailing him, he turned and of the WHA’s Indianapolis said, with a chuckle: “Well, Racers, having just sold a do you think we sold some 17-year-old named Wayne tickets tonight?” Gretzky to the As much as anything else, Oilers, swooped in and tried McCallum knew that the to sign Allison and Propp. Wheat Kings were — as they Pocklington offered the are today — in the entertain- Wheat Kings the grand sum ment business. of $80,000 for the two for- Of course, those were dif- wards. The team’s board of ferent times. In one of that directors voted unanimous- regular season’s best games, ly — after having a good Ernie (Punch) McLean’s New chuckle, I’m sure — to reject Westminster Bruins came to Pocklington’s offer. (A couple town and battled the Wheat of weeks later, Pocklington Kings to a 1-1 tie on Dec. 3, fl ew into Brandon on his pri- thanks to 64 saves by - vate jet, bringing Allison and tender Richard Martens. A Propp’s agent with him. He few nights prior to the game, apparently upped the offer the phone rang at my desk. by a few pennies, but the an- It was McLean. “Need any swer was the same.) scoops?” he asked. It turned out that the After the game, I visited WHA’s Birmingham Bulls both dressing rooms, then Dave Stewart, and Tim Lockridge. Wes Coulson, Mike Perovich and Greg Mann. had made attempts to sign headed upstairs to McCal- McCrimmon and Propp lum’s offi ce. I walked in to over the summer, too. It’s a fi nd him and McLean sitting good thing for Wheat Kings and chatting with a bottle fans that those WHA teams — something tells me it was weren’t rolling in dough. high-end Scotch — perched One other thing that can’t on the desk. “Just having one be emphasized enough for the road,” McLean said. about those Wheat Kings is Anyway … for that one that there weren’t any assis- season, 1978-79, the Wheat tant coaches so, really, there Kings were the greatest show only was one voice — Mc- on ice. Callum’s. Think about that Oh my, were they! the next time you’re looking By the time the season at a WHL team’s coaching ended, the Wheat Kings had roster and notice an associ- set or tied at least 23 WHL ate coach, an assistant coach regular-season and playoff of two, a video coach, a goal- records of the individual and tending coach, a strength- team varieties. and-conditioning coach, a In a regular season in which mental health coach … teams didn’t play overtime, But, then, if you were pay- the Wheat Kings fi nished 58- ing attention you knew that 5-9. I have always wondered McCallum had a de facto how many of those nine ties assistant coach in McCrim- would have been victories mon, whose hockey IQ was had they played extra time. off the charts and who was Can you imagine starting Brandon coach Dunc McCallum. Stephen Patrick, Brant Kiessig and . mature beyond his years. OT with Brian Propp, Lau- When McCallum felt that the rie Boschman, team needed a break from and Brad McCrimmon on then in the way the game beat then belonging to Bruce (Pilling, though, was great At the same time, I found him, McCrimmon would run the ice? How many of those is administered and played Penton. copy, like the time after yet a team chock full of players a practice or two. nine ties would have been mean there hasn’t been a After fi ve years at the Win- another loss, this one refer- who were in the right place Of course, in the end, the turned into victories on the team approach that same nipeg Tribune, I returned to eed by Glen Agar of Brandon, at the right time, each of 1978-89 Wheat Kings didn’t fi rst shift of OT? After all, that level of greatness in the in- Brandon in October 1978, when he said: “We’re the whom knew his precise role, win their last game of the forward line accounted for tervening years. Nor will hired by then-sports edi- weakest team in the league along with a head coach in season, losing the Memorial 496 regular-season points, there be, if only because this tor Jack Gibson to cover the and Brandon is the best, and McCallum who knew exactly Cup fi nal to the OHL’s Pe- including 220 goals, then is a much younger league Wheat Kings, with Penton I don’t think Brandon needs when to yank on the reins terborough Petes, 2-1 in OT, added 44 goals and 65 as- than it was in the 1970s. having moved to the city edi- any assistance from a trailer and when to let the thor- in Verdun. It was a crushing sists in the playoffs. All told, I had gotten my journalism tor’s desk. salesman masquerading as a oughbreds run. loss that no doubt remains the three totalled 605 points, career started at the Bran- In the fi rst game I covered, referee.”) McCallum knew what he fresh in the players’ minds including 264 goals, in 94 don Sun in 1972, fresh out of the Wheat Kings whipped Upon arriving in Brandon, had and where he wanted even all these years later. games. McCrimmon, by the the auto body course — yes, the visiting Regina Pats, 12- what I discovered was a team to go with that team. He and But it shouldn’t dimin- way, put up 98 points. I spent 10 months learning 0, to run their record to 9-0- that was incredibly focused general manager Jack Brock- ish this team’s legacy and it Numbers like that are al- how to repair and repaint 0. “And just think,” muttered and driven, some of that no est — who would end up as shouldn’t overshadow the most beyond belief and dinged fenders — at Assini- Regina head coach Gregg doubt a carryover from the the franchise’s sole owner memories that were created won’t happen again. boine Community College. Pilling, “the way the sched- spring of 1978 when Bran- before the season ended — just by winning the WHL Who’s to say whether this In two years at The Sun — I ule is, we likely have to play don had been left with egg were comfortable with what championship. Brandon team was the best absolutely loved covering these guys 100 more times.” all over its face after being they had. So there weren’t And from my perspective, one in the history of the the Senior Base- Actually, it was 16 times and, eliminated in one of those any trades; well, there was there always was something WHL, but it certainly is in the ball League — I didn’t get a yes, the Wheat Kings won all debacle-fi lled WHL round- one but it hardly was a block- to write about, like the time discussion. Changes since taste of the Wheat Kings, the 16 games. robin playoff circuses. buster. They added only one … SATURDAY AUGUST 14 2021 ■ THE BRANDON SUN SPORTS ■ B3 MLB CPL AMERICAN LEAGUE STANDINGS East Division GP W L T GF GA Pts W L Pct GB Victoria 12 6 2 4 19 12 22 Tampa Bay 70 45 .609 — 12 6 3 3 11 15 21 Boston 67 51 .568 4 1/2 12 65114 919 New York 63 52 .548 7 Hamilton 11 6 5 0 12 9 18 Toronto 62 52 .544 7 1/2 York 11 4 4 3 11 15 15 Baltimore 38 76 .333 31 1/2 Edmonton 12 3 5 4 12 12 13 Central Division Halifax 10 35281211 W L Pct GB 10 2718177 Chicago 68 48 .586 — Cleveland 56 58 .491 11 Thursday’s Game Detroit 57 61 .483 12 Winnipeg 0 Edmonton 0 Minnesota 50 65 .435 17 1/2 Saturday’s Game Kansas City 49 65 .430 18 Halifax at Ottawa, 2 p.m. West Division Monday, Aug. 16 W L Pct GB Victoria at Winnipeg, 7 p.m. Houston 68 46 .596 — Wednesday, Aug. 18 Oakland 67 49 .578 2 York at Ottawa, 6 p.m. Seattle 61 55 .526 8 Los Angeles 58 58 .500 11 Texas 41 75 .353 28 MLS Thursday’s Late Games EASTERN CONFERENCE Chicago White Sox 9, N.Y. Yankees 8 L.A. Angels 6, Toronto 3 Team GP W L T GF GA Pt Friday’s Games New England 19 12 3 4 35 22 40 Cleveland 7, Detroit 4 Orlando 18 8 4 6 28 23 30 Boston 8, Baltimore 1 New York City 17 8 5 4 32 18 28 Texas 8, Oakland 6 Nashville 18 6 2 10 26 17 28 St. Louis 6, Kansas City 0 Philadelphia 19 7 5 7 25 19 28 Tampa Bay at Minnesota, N D.C. 18 8 7 3 27 21 27 Houston at L.A. Angels, N Columbus 18 6 6 6 21 23 24 Toronto at Seattle, N Montreal 18 6 7 5 24 24 23 Saturday’s Games N.Y. Red Bulls 17 5 8 4 21 22 19 Baltimore (López 3-12) at Boston (Sale 0-0), 3:10 p.m. Atlanta 18 3 6 9 21 25 18 Cleveland (TBD) at Detroit (Peralta 3-2), 5:10 p.m. Chicago 18 4 9 5 20 20 17 Oakland (Kaprielian 6-4) at Texas (Lyles 5-9), 6:05 p.m. Miami 16 4 8 4 15 26 16 N.Y. Yankees (TBD) at Chicago White Sox (Cease 9-6), Cincinnati 17 3 7 7 18 30 16 6:10 p.m. Toronto 18 3 9 6 23 38 15 St. Louis (Lester 3-6) at Kansas City (Keller 7-11), 6:10 p.m. Tampa Bay (Wacha 2-3) at Minnesota (Maeda 5-4), WESTERN CONFERENCE 6:10 p.m. Team GP W L T GF GA Pt Houston (Garcia 8-6) at L.A. Angels (Barria 2-0), 8:07 Kansas City 18 10 4 4 33 20 34 p.m. Seattle 18 9 3 6 26 14 33 Toronto (Ryu 11-5) at Seattle (Kikuchi 7-6), 9:10 p.m. L.A. Galaxy 18 10 6 2 29 28 32 Sunday’s Games Colorado 16 8 4 4 22 16 28 Baltimore at Boston, 12:10 p.m. Minnesota 17 7 5 5 21 21 26 Cleveland at Detroit, 12:10 p.m. Portland 17 7 8 2 23 29 23 N.Y. Yankees at Chicago White Sox, 1:10 p.m. Los Angeles F.C. 18 6 7 5 24 25 23 St. Louis at Kansas City, 1:10 p.m. Salt Lake 17 5 6 6 26 20 21 Tampa Bay at Minnesota, 1:10 p.m. Dallas 18 5 7 6 23 25 21 Oakland at Texas, 1:35 p.m. San Jose 18 5 7 6 21 27 21 Houston at L.A. Angels, 3:07 p.m. Houston 18 3 6 9 19 25 18 Toronto at Seattle, 3:10 p.m. Austin 17 4 9 4 13 20 16 Vancouver 17 3 7 7 19 28 16 NATIONAL LEAGUE Friday’s Game The letters are starting to fade but Brian Propp’s message to future Brandon Wheat Kings teams — 125 pts. Try to beat that! East Division Vancouver at San Jose, N — have never been covered over in the dressing room despite a series of transformations over the years. The symbolism is W L Pct GB Saturday’s Games New York 59 55 .518 — L.A. Galaxy at Minnesota, 5 p.m. unmistakeable. The 1978-79 team’s legacy will never be erased. (Perry Bergson/The Brandon Sun) Philadelphia 60 56 .517 — New York at Montreal, 7 p.m. Atlanta 59 56 .513 1/2 New England at Toronto, 7 p.m. Washington 50 65 .435 9 1/2 Miami at New York City, 7 p.m. Miami 48 67 .417 11 1/2 Philadelphia at Cincinnati, 7 p.m. Central Division Colorado at Houston, 7:30 p.m. W L Pct GB Kansas City at Dallas, 7:30 p.m. Milwaukee 70 46 .603 — Austin at Real Salt Lake, 9 p.m. Cincinnati 63 54 .538 7 1/2 Sunday’s Games St. Louis 59 56 .513 10 1/2 Los Angeles FC at Atlanta, 3 p.m. » Team still close today Chicago 52 65 .444 18 1/2 Columbus at Chicago, 5 p.m. Pittsburgh 41 74 .357 28 1/2 D.C. at Nashville, 6 p.m. West Division Seattle at Portland, 7:30 p.m. Continued from Page B1 history that makes up the Brandon don’t wish we would have won. It feels W L Pct GB Wheat Kings.” like the dessert was taken, and I like des- San Francisco 74 41 .643 — Los Angeles 69 46 .600 5 Then you sort of ponder it a little bit DAVE McDONALD: “Three or four sert. I’m not an educated guy to come San Diego 66 51 .564 9 CFL and go ‘Wow, we went 20-some games years ago we were at Stewy’s place in up with the right adjectives but there’s Colorado 51 64 .443 23 WEST DIVISION Arizona 36 80 .310 38 1/2 without loss, and at the time that was Calgary and Lockridge was there and a hole there. It’s been fi lled by other GP W L T PF PA P a major junior record.’ At the time Wes Coulson. We had some good laughs things in my life, and there’s a hole when Thursday’s Late Games Winnipeg 2200 39134 San Francisco 7, Colorado 0 1100 33292 you didn’t care about records, you just and we phoned Donny Gillen and we I think about my friends who aren’t with Arizona 12, San Diego 3 B.C. 2110 44422 wanted to play hockey and win, and if phoned Kelly McCrimmon and a few us now. It’s grown to be much greater Friday’s Games Edmonton 1010 12160 Cincinnati 6, Philadelphia 1 Calgary 2020 29380 we needed to fi ght, we wanted to beat guys that I had numbers for. When you than not scoring a goal in overtime but St. Louis 6, Kansas City 0 the other guys up. Life was pretty sim- sit there and talk about the old times, it’s if it wasn’t for the game (of hockey), we Atlanta at Washington, N EAST DIVISION Milwaukee at Pittsburgh, N ple, just play hockey and do your best good. It’s pretty spectacular to say you wouldn’t know about those guys who we Chicago Cubs at Miami, N GP W L T PF PA P to win. Those are things you look back played on one of the best junior teams miss now. The game was great, it gave us L.A. Dodgers at N.Y. Mets, N Ottawa 1100 16122 San Diego at Arizona, N Toronto 2120 30402 at many, many years later and you just in Canada.” the experiences we had.” Colorado at San Francisco, N Montreal 0000 0 0 0 think it was a privilege to play a small DON GILLEN: “I look back at it very » [email protected] Saturday’s Games Hamilton 1010 6 190 Cincinnati (Castillo 6-11) at Philadelphia (Moore 1-3), part of that team and to be part of the fondly. I’m not going to pretend that I » Twitter: @PerryBergson 3:05 p.m. WEEK 2 Atlanta (Fried 9-7) at Washington (Corbin 6-11), 5:05 Bye: Ottawa p.m. Thursday’s Late Game Chicago Cubs (Davies 6-9) at Miami (TBD), 5:10 p.m. British Columbia 15 Calgary 9 Milwaukee (TBD) at Pittsburgh (Wilson 2-5), 6:05 p.m. Friday’s Game TODAY IN SPORTS L.A. Dodgers (Buehler 12-2) at N.Y. Mets (Walker 7-7), Winnipeg 20 Toronto 7 6:10 p.m. Saturday’s Game Riders look for St. Louis (Lester 3-6) at Kansas City (Keller 7-11), 6:10 Montreal at Edmonton, 6 p.m. IN WESTMAN p.m. Hamilton at Saskatchewan, 9 p.m. San Diego (Musgrove 8-7) at Arizona (Gilbert 0-1), • RUGBY — The Brandon Barbarian men host the 7:10 p.m. WEEK 3 Colorado (Freeland 3-6) at San Francisco (TBD), 8:05 Bye: Hamilton Winnipeg Wombats at John Reilly Field, 4 p.m. p.m. Thursday, Aug. 19 Sunday’s Games Edmonton at British Columbia, 9 p.m. steady effort Atlanta at Washington, 12:05 p.m. Friday, Aug. 20 Cincinnati at Philadelphia, 12:05 p.m. Montreal at Calgary, 8:30 p.m. ON TELEVISION Milwaukee at Pittsburgh, 12:05 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21 • GOLF — Wyndham Championship third round, noon Chicago Cubs at Miami, 12:10 p.m. Winnipeg at Toronto, 3 p.m. St. Louis at Kansas City, 1:10 p.m. Ottawa at Saskatchewan, 6 p.m. (GOLF) and 2 p.m. (TSN1) Colorado at San Francisco, 3:05 p.m. San Diego at Arizona, 3:10 p.m. against Ticats • — Ottawa and Hamilton clash in CEBL L.A. Dodgers at N.Y. Mets, 6:08 p.m. GOLF action, 3 p.m. (CBC) PGA TOUR REGINA — After a roller- you love the game it will nev- • TENNIS — National Bank women’s semifinals, noon coaster victory in Week 1, the er love you back so you can’t BEFORE and 5 p.m. (SNW); men’s semifinals, 2 and 7 p.m. (SNW) WYNDHAM CHAMPIONSHIP take snaps and plays and AUG. 14 At Sedgefield Country Club, Greensboro, N.C. • CFL — Alouettes visit the Elks, 6 p.m. (TSN1); Tiger- Yardage: 7,127; Par: 70. Purse: $6.4 Million are looking for a complete games for granted.” 1919 -- Chicago’s Happy Felsch tied the major-league Second Round (Friday) effort when the Hamilton Like the Riders, the Ticats Cats at Roughriders, 9 p.m. (TSN1) record with four outfield assists in a game. The White Sox Russell Henley 62-64—126 still lost to the Boston Red Sox 15-6. Rory Sabbatini 66-64—130 Tiger-Cats come to town on got off to a quick start in their • MLS — New England vs. Toronto, 7 p.m. (TSN4) 1932 -- Brooklyn’s John Quinn, 49, became the oldest Webb Simpson 65-65—130 Saturday. opener against Winnipeg pitcher to win a major league game. Quinn pitched the last Scott Piercy 64-66—130 • MLB — Blue Jays visit the Mariners, 9 p.m. (SN1) two innings of a 2-1, 10-inning win over the New York Justin Rose 66-65—131 Saskatchewan’s season with a seven-play, 89-yard Giants. Tyler Duncan 69-62—131 opener against the B.C. Lions drive that ended in a 37-yard 1933 -- Jimmie Foxx of the Philadelphia Athletics hit for Brian Stuard 65-66—131 IN LOCAL HISTORY the cycle and drove in nine runs in an 11-5 win over the Kevin Streelman 66-66—132 on Aug. 5 was a tale of two touchdown pass from Jere- Cleveland Indians. The nine RBIs set an American League Alex Smalley 68-64—132 halves for the Riders, who miah Masoli to Jaelon Acklin. • 50 YEARS AGO — Michael Stewart homered and record for one game, breaking the 22-year-old mark set by Tyler McCumber 65-67—132 Topsy Hartzell of the New York Highlanders. Kevin Na 68-64—132 stormed out to a 31-0 lead Unlike the Riders’ extend- tripled to help Clements edge Sokol 13-12 in Bronco Baseball 1958 -- Vic Power of the Cleveland Indians stole home Chris Kirk 64-69—133 midway through the second ed success, however, Ham- twice, in the eighth and 10th innings, in a 10-9 win over Kevin Kisner 65-68—133 League action. Detroit. He had only three steals all year. Hudson Swafford 64-69—133 quarter only to have to with- ilton couldn’t fi nd a rhythm • 40 YEARS AGO — Keith Kyle’s two-run homer 1960 -- Bill White of the St. Louis Cardinals hit for the Bronson Burgoon 65-68—133 stand a furious second-half on offence and dropped a cycle in a 9-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the opening Sam Ryder 68-65—133 helped the City Centre Cougars beat Jenkins Carpets 10-3 in game of a doubleheader. Mackenzie Hughes 70-63—133 comeback by the Lions. Lim- 19-6 decision to the Blue Brandon fastball action. 1971 -- Bob Gibson of St. Louis pitched a no-hitter, Matt Kuchar 66-67—133 ited to just two fi rst downs in Bombers. Masoli fi nished blanking the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-0. Sung Kang 64-69—133 • 30 YEARS AGO — Lloyd Dalrymple pitched eight 1987 -- Oakland’s Mark McGwire set a major league Sebastián Muñoz 66-67—133 the second half, the Riders the game 24 of 41 passing for rookie record with his 39th homer of the season to help the Jhonattan Vegas 65-68—133 held on for a 33-29 victory. 242 yards with one touch- innings of five-hit ball to lead the Boissevain Centennials A’s to a 7-6, 12-inning victory over the California Angels. John Augenstein 68-65—133 1998 -- Baltimore’s Chris Hoiles became the ninth major Denny McCarthy 65-69—134 Head coach Craig Dicken- down and two interceptions. to a 5-2 victory over the Lyleton Leafs in the Southwest leaguer and first catcher to hit two grand slams in one Tommy Fleetwood 66-68—134 son believes they won’t re- Receiver Brandon Banks, game. Sungjae Im 66-68—134 Baseball League semifinals. 2007 -- Atlanta manager Bobby Cox was ejected after the Adam Hadwin 64-71—135 peat their second-half strug- Hamilton’s top offensive • 20 YEARS AGO — Riding a tremendous pitching fifth inning for arguing a called third strike in the Braves’ Roger Sloan 71-64—135 gles this week. weapon, was held to 77 yards 5-4 victory over San Francisco. It was his 132nd ejection, Michael Gligic 65-71—136 performance from 18-year-old right-hander Jaye Judd, the breaking the mark set by Hall of Famer John McGraw. Nick Taylor 65-71—136 “I hope we’ve put it behind on eight catches. Brandon Ora Dental Marlins beat the Brandon Cloverleafs us, it was eight days ago so Riders safety Mike Edem we’ve had a long week. That said he respects Masoli and 6-3 to win the series 4-3. Judd worked the entire game and was the idea: learn from isn’t about to underestimate limited the Cloverleafs to just two earned runs on seven hits the mistakes and try praise, what the veteran quarter- and one walk. Meanwhile, the Marlins scored five unearned reward and reinforce the back brings to the table. runs against Cloverleafs starter Lyle Wright, who watched good,” said Dickenson. “We “Masoli can beat you from his teammates commit seven errors in the biggest game of felt like we did a lot of good inside the pocket and outside the season. things in the fi rst half. In the the pocket, that’s the big- second half we didn’t play as gest thing. He can make ev- well, but we were resilient ery throw in the book,” said and we found a way to get Edem. “He makes his throws more than they did when it from an unorthodox base, in Virden splits games to was all said and done. terms of he can throw from “I felt there was way more any platform. As a safety, you positives than negatives cannot think he’s commit- open A-ball provincials from that fi rst game.” ted to one side because in a Emma Ramsey hit a home Red, 9 a.m. Riders quarterback Cody heartbeat he can put his foot run and scored twice as the Headingly vs Bonivital East, Fajardo fi nished the game 28 on the ground and throw it Virden Gold Rush beat Boni- 9 a.m. of 35 passing for 230 yards opposite. You’ve got to play vital West Red 13-6 in the pro- Headingly vs Bonivital West with one touchdown and him like a true quarterback.” vincial A girls softball cham- Blue, 11 a.m. one interception. Like Dick- The Riders’ offence has pionship at Ashley Neufeld Hamiota vs Bonivital West enson, Fajardo is focusing on one interesting change this Softball Complex on Friday. Red, 11 a.m. the positives from the open- week, with Andrew Lauder- Virden lost its other game Winkler vs Virden, 1 p.m. er with a goal of repeating dale replacing Brett Boyko 12-2 to Headingley, which was Bonivital East vs Hamiota, 1 the fi rst-half success. as the left tackle. Dickenson paced by Sophie Mead’s three p.m. “We started off so great. said Boyko has been feeling hits and three runs scored. Virden vs Bonivital East, 3 Whatever we felt going out “under the weather” all week In the opening game, Dan- p.m. in that fi rst week, let’s try and the decision was made ika Smith plated two runs as Bonivital West Blue vs Win- and replicate it because ob- to start a healthy Lauderdale the Hamiota Red Sox blanked kler, 3 p.m. viously it worked for us,” said in his place. Bonivital West Blue 7-0. Hamiota vs Headingly, 5 Fajardo. “For me, I’m always The Ticats are bringing Bonivital East topped Win- p.m. going to be nervous, going to two veterans back to the ros- kler 5-3 in the other game. Bonivital West Red vs Boni- be emotional because when- ter Saturday with right tack- Round-robin action contin- vital West Blue, 5 p.m. ever you get the chance to le Chris Van Zeyl and nose ues in the seven-team tourna- Sunday’s Games play football for another tackle Ted Laurent suiting up ment today, with the top four Semifi nals, 9 a.m. game, that’s a blessing in my after missing Week 1. reaching Sunday’s playoffs. Bronze medal, 11:30 a.m. eyes. This game is so funny, Saturday’s Games Gold medal, 12 p.m. it doesn’t matter how much » The Canadian Press Winkler vs Bonivital West » The Brandon Sun