Wheatley Peewees take 1977 OBA ‘B’ title

WHEATLEY — On Sunday, September 18, 1977, the Wheatley Peewees claimed the Ontario Baseball Association (OBA) Peewee ‘B’ crown with two wins and a loss against Sault Ste. Marie.

In the first game of the best-of-three series on Saturday, Wheatley downed the Sault team by a 6-3 score.

However, the visitors rebounded in the first game Sunday, winning 16-6, before Wheatley’s bats unleashed a barrage of hits enroute to a 20-0 drubbing and the championship.

Wheatley won the ‘D’ title last season and were moved up in class to the ‘B’ category based on this season’s record.

The locals had defeated Moore Township and Fort Erie before getting to the final. The Sault beat Sudbury and London to get their berth.

Despite a storm early Sunday morning, the scheduled 10 am game went off at 1 pm, after a delay to fix up the field in Wheatley.

In game one on Saturday, the locals were led by the strong pitching of hurler Tim McIntosh, who went five of the seven innings, allowing only one run and one hit. He was replaced by George Imeson in the sixth. The Sault coach remarked that his team had never seen pitching like young McIntosh displayed. The speed and accuracy were the best he’d seen at Peewee level.

Mike Simpson had a pair of hits to lead the Wheatley bats, with singles going to McIntosh and Rob Beattie.

The Sault came out swinging in game two, jumping to a 4-0 first inning lead and then upped it to 9-0 in the second.

Wheatley did rally for four runs in the fifth to narrow the score to 10-6, but the Soo stepped on the gas and pulled away, ending the game 16-6.

Wheatley’s offense was led by Beattie with a pair of hits, while single safeties went to Imeson, Clair Anderson, Simpson, McIntosh and Shelly Beleutz.

Members of the 1977 Nelson Wood Products Wheatley Peewees were, back row: Coach Brad Bailey, Shelley Beleutz, Mike Simpson, Coach Mark Omstead, Jim Heyens, Clair Anderson, Coach Wayne Beattie, Rob Beattie, Tim McIntosh, Coach Brian Bailey. Front row are Ron Prudence, Hal Dundas, Paul Stevenson, Brett Chadwick, Amy Bell, Len McLounie, George Imeson.

In the final game, both teams played cautiously for three innings, with Wheatley scoring once in the bottom of the third.

Then, they broke loose for 11 runs in the fourth to take a 12-0 lead and seal the fate of the Sault.

Mike Simpson hit two triples to lead the Wheatley offense. Clair Anderson had four hits in five official atbats. McIntosh chipped in with three of his own and Paul Stevenson, Brett Chadwick and Jim Heyens each had a pair of hits. Singles went to Beattie, Ron Prudence and Len McLounie.

McIntosh went the distance on the mound for Wheatley, scattering just three hits for the shutout.

The Wheatley team also had two female members, who both saw action during the series. Amy Bell and Shelley Beleutz saw limited playing time but contributed to the success of the team. Beleutz had played on last year’s team, while Bell joined the team this year.