Saskatoon Optimist : (July 1) Irl Flanagan stole home with the winning run as Kindersley edged North Battleford 5-4 at the Saskatoon Optimist Tournament. In another opening round game, Saskatoon Macs beat Neilburg 7-1. Macs downed Kindersley 4-2 in the final.
Neepawa Tournament : (July 1) (July 1) Brandon Cloverleafs turned on the offense at the Neepawa Tournament Friday to take top money with four straight victories. The Leafs crushed Eden 19-3 in the final after scoring wins of 7-0 over Kirkfield Park, 8-1 over Neepawa B's and 8-0 from the Neepawa Cubs. First baseman Tommy Town had one of his best days in a Brandon uniform with ten hits, including two homers, a triple and a double. In the first game, Don Hunter tossed a three-hitter for the win over Kirkfield Park. Town and Bob Wilson had homers.
Hunter (W) and xxx
xxx and xxx
Lorne Lilley fired a no-hitter in the win over Neepawa B's. Four walks cost him a shutout. Ron Baryluk and Hunter had long balls over losing pitcher Clint McKerlie.
Lilley (W) and xxx
McKerlie (L) and xxx
Morley Macfarlane hurled the shutout over the Cubs and had home run support from Lloyd Brown.
Macfarlane and Lad Hutchison share the pitching in the final as Town, Hunter and Mort Wright punched out homers. Eden had made the final with a 10-0 win over Brandon Canucks and a 10-0 triumph over Oakland Braces.
Macfarlane (W), Hutchison and xxx
xxx and xxx
Peace River : Dawson Creek Cardinals captured the Peace River tournament with a 4-3 win over Barrhead Cardinals in the final.
Saskatoon Exhibition Tournament : (July ??) Kindersley Klippers, behind Bentley MacEwen's six-hitter, downed North Battleford 7-2 to take top prize at the Saskatoon Exhibition Tournament. MacEwen fanned 11 in besting Roy Rowley of the Beavers.
MacEwen (W) and xxx
Rowley (L) and xxx
Beavers downed Delisle 5-1 in the semi-final before one of the largest crowds in the history of the tournament. North Battleford topped Dinsmore 8-5 in the opening round as Ollie Harris, with relief help from Roy Rowley, picked up the win. Barney Krake led the offense with three hits.
Lacombe : (July 27)
"Thanks to perfect weather and Slim Thorpe's Lloydminster Meridians, all records fell at the 11th annual Lacombe Lions Baseball Tournament Wednesday. The ideal weather put a record number of fans in the Lions new baseball park, 10,000 in two days, and the Meridians broke all other records for one club's domination in what stands as Canada's top baseball tournament, money-wise, color-wise and baseball-wise.
The Meridians completed a tournament route by defeating the Lefty Mack - Ivan Crook North Alberta All-Stars 27-5 in a final game ended by darkness after seven innings ... Indicative of the Lacombe's tourneys spot in Alberta sport field is the fact that no - get that no - event has been so heavily covered, with five dailies, three TV stations, nine radio stations and six weeklies on the spot for two days." (Hal Pawson, Edmonton Journal, July 28, 1960)
In the most one-sided final in tournament history, the Lloydminster Meridians bombed the Northern Alberta All-Stars 27-5 to take top prize of $1,500 in the 11th annual Lacombe tournament.
Meridians blasted 25 hits, including homers by Tom Bergeron and Bill Miller, and took advantage of nine walks, a hit batsman, seven errors and five stolen bases. Bergeron, with four hits, and Curly Williams had days to remember. Bergeron was on base seven straight times in the final while Williams reached safely on six consecutive plate appearances. In the three games of the tourney, Williams reached base 14 times in 15 tries. He had 10 walks to go along with three doubles and a single. Mike Noakes rapped out five singles against the All-Stars. 18-year-old Tom Belcher, who went six innings, picked up the win. He fanned 11.
Belcher, Proctor (7) and Milano, Miller (7)
Tookey, Reece (2), Gates (4), Waddle (5), Serbu (5), Weise (7) and Williams
The Meridians advanced to the final by trouncing pre-tournament favourite Drain Black Sox 17-2. Meridians scored five runs in the first and coasted to the easy win. Southpaw Dick Dyer held Drain to six hits and helped at the plate with three singles. Right fielder Norm Revis blasted four doubles and two triples to pace a 14-hit attack for the winners. Tom Bergeron belted a triple and a double. Second baseman Bill Wagner had a homer for the Black Sox.
Dyer and Milano
Ron Whittaker, Leon Criner (1), Mark Clarke (3) and Bach
Ruben Rodriguez held Calgary to five hits and fanned eight as Lefty Mack's All-Stars beat the Buffaloes 5-2.
Slaughter, Graves (7) and Garrett
Rodriguez and Williams
The biggest shock of the opening day came as the Northern Alberta All-Stars (a combination of the Cold Lake Cardinals and North Edmonton Rockets of the Big Seven League) whipped the Saskatoon Commodores 10-2. The All-Stars jumped into a 2-0 in the first inning and never looked back. Lefty Ron Gates allowed 10 hits to Saskatoon but went the distance for the win. Herb Sewers led the Stars with a homer, double and single while Tom Murphy added a triple and a pair of singles. Larry Exel, Pete Estrada and Gary Herrington each had two hits for Saskatoon.
Gates and Williams
Popkin, Scavo (5), Hobson (8) and Herrington
Calgary scored seven runs in the first two innings on the way to an 11-0 win over Barrhead. The key blow was a three-run homer by Marty Hurd. Bill Casanova had a two-run triple in the eighth along with a double and single. Ray Wrenn had three singles and Bill Fennessey cracked out a pair of doubles and a single. Gene Graves and Jim Johnson held the Pontiacs to just two hits. Barrhead was a last minute replacement for the Bellingham Belles.
Kosteniuk, Dave Waddle (2) and Kulka, Johnson (5)
Graves, Johnson (3) and Garrett
Drain punched out 16 hits in trouncing Lethbridge 12-2. Everyone in the Black Sox lineup had at least one hit. Jim Lester and Bob Bourbeau each had two hits for the White Sox. Jim Withers pitched a seven-hitter for the win.
Withers and Bach
Canner, Bolingbroke (2), Sims (3), Montee (7) and Koentopp
Lloydminster pushed across four runs in the first inning to beat the Kansas City Monarchs 9-1. Bill Oakley fired a four-hitter for the win. Bob Milano rapped a two-run homer for the Meridians while Tom Bergeron had a triple and single. Norm Revis also had two hits. Sugar Cain took the loss. The Monarchs were late in arriving after driving 14-hundred miles non-stop. The team spent three days and nights aboard a bus to make the tournament.
Oakley and Milano
Cain, Calvin Grant (7) and McKnight
After the tournament, Spero Leakos picked up four players to bolster his Commodores' roster. Leakos signed up Nate Dancy, Ira McKnight and Tommy Taylor of the Monarchs and also acquired pitcher Ruben Rodriguez.
Lethbridge : (July 30) The Lloydminster Meridians won their second major tournament in a week by downing Calgary 9-6 in the final of the 10th annual Lethbridge Rotary tournament. Meridians took the $1,500 first prize with a five-run uprising in the seventh inning which featured a two-run homer by Tom McGarry and triple off the bat of Barry Arnett. The Buffaloes had taken a 4-1 lead in the second inning on a leadoff homer by Bill Casanova and a three-run blast by Gary Engelken. Meridians came back to tie in the third with Cliff Pemberton's triple the key blow. Marty Hurd's two-run double in the bottom of the third gave the lead back to Calgary, 6-4. That was all the scoring until the Meridians winning rally in the 7th.
Belcher, Dyer (3) and Milano
J Johnson, Burnett (2), Graves (3), Slaughter (7) and Garrett
Lloydminster reached the final with a 7-2 win over Lethbridge. Curly Williams broke the game wide open with a grand slam homer in the third. Williams, Norm Revis and Cliff Pemberton each had two hits for the Meridians. Lee Murphy and Bob Bourbeau replied with two hits each for Calgary. Bill Oakley scattered nine hits to gain the win.
Bolingbroke, Sims (3) and Koentopp
Oakley and Milano
The Buffaloes came from behind a 3-0 deficit to edge the Kansas City Monarchs 6-5 in the other semi-final. The Monarchs had jumped on starter Willie Walasko for three runs in the third inning, two coming on Frank Williams' homer. Calgary bounced back to tie in the bottom of the third on doubles by Jerry Pritchett and Marty Hurd. Buffs scored two in the fifth and Bill Casanova produced the eventual winning run with a solo homer in the sixth.
Grant, Smith (7) and McKnight
Walasko, J Johnson (7) and Garrett
In first round action, Lloydminster erupted for ten runs in the third inning and coasted to a 12-8 win over the Drain, Oregon, Black Sox. Pete Kenney and Don Lane were the victims of the Meridian onslaught. Kenney faced seven batters, allowing five hits, a walk, and a hit batsman. Lane came on and gave up three runs on four hits before Ron Whittaker finally got the side out. Tom Bergeron led the Meridians with a homer and a pair of singles. Norm Revis, Bill Miller and Mike Noakes each contributed a double and a single. Larry Pederson crashed a three-run homer for the Black Sox. Ted Richardson went seven innings for the win.
Drain 8 Lloydminster 12
Kenney, Kane (3), Whittaker (3) and Haroldson
Richardson, Searcy (8) and Milano
John Vaselenak's sixth inning homer with Lee Murphy aboard was all Lethbridge needed in a 2-1 win over the Northern Alberta All-Stars. Dick Montee, who had a no-hitter into the sixth, allowed just four hits in a brilliant pitching performance. He fanned 13. Ron Gates, who pitched an eight-hitter for the All-Stars, drove in the only run for the Northern Alberta club. In addition to his homer, Vaselenak had a pair of singles and Jim Lester belted a double and a single.
Lethbridge 2 Edmonton 1
Montee and Koentopp
Gates and Williams
Calgary scored four runs in the second inning on a Ray Wrenn grand slam and went on to a 10-1 victory over Spokane Builders. Gene Graves tossed a seven-hitter for the win. He lost his shutout bid in the seventh on a Rich Rust homer. Bill Casanova added a homer for the Buffaloes.
Spokane 1 Calgary 10
Barnes, Stoner (5), Hogan (9) and Challich
Graves and Garrett
A two-out double by George Davis sent Nat Dancy home with the winning run in the ninth as Kansas City, the defending tournament champions, shaded Saskatoon 4-3. Sherwood Brewer paced the Monarchs with three hits while the big blow was a two-run homer by Willie Washington in the fourth. Larry Exel had a solo homer for the Commodores. Tommy Taylor went the distance for the win.
Saskatoon 3 Kansas City 4
Peters, Jones (2) and Herrington
Taylor and McKnight