Let Me Earn Your Business!
From Environment Canada WED., JAN. 26 THUR., JAN. 27
CHRIS BABKIRK
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high
FRI., JAN. 28
SAT., JAN. 29
-11 high
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390 Talbot St. N. Essex
SUN., JAN. 30
519-776-6447
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chrisbabkirk@kenknappford.com
Wednesday, January 26, 2022
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MON., JAN. 31 high
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Southpoint Sun - 19
Once-in-a-lifetime team won the 1980 OHA title
By C. Scott Holland The 1979-80 Leamington Flyers were a powerhouse Jr. C team which was filled with highly talented players and were unstoppable once they won the Great Lakes Jr. C title. That team — under the coaching leadership of Reg Mulholland — won 12 straight games in the OHA Jr. C playdowns to capture the provincial championship. Their ability to win was already evident in regular season. In their Great lakes Jr. C semi-final, the Flyers faced the Blenheim Blades and won the series 4-1 including a 9-0 whitewash. One of their few playoff downsides occurred in that series as defenseman Rob Willan was sidelined with apparent ligament damage. After losing Willan to injury, General Manager Rob ‘Specs’ Johnston signed 20 year-old forward Bill Brown who had played for the Petrolia Jets. Brown was claimed off waivers. Next up in their quest for the title was county rival Essex 73’s. It was a tougher series but the Flyers prevailed, winning the set 4-2 and claiming their second straight Great Lakes crown. The provincial quarter-final playdowns had hampered the Flyers the previous year and as Great Lakes convenor Ted Hannigan noted, “It’s a better start this year!” In that ‘78-79 round, the Flyers had been knocked out by Kincardine four games to one. However, it was no contest in the 1980 round as the Flyers cruised past the Port Elgin Bears 4-0. The Flyers won two of the four contests by lopsided scores. The semi-final series was against the Flamborough Colts who – like the Flyers’ previous opponent – fell 4-0, setting up a Leamington berth in the Jr. C finals against the Bradford Blues. Like the other two series, Bradford found it hard to contain the powerful Flyers’ offense. Leamington won the series 4-0 to sweep three OHA Jr. C series to capture the Schmalz Cup. At the time, OHA records had no other Jr. C championship team completing this feat and as someone stated shortly after the provincial title, “This was a once in a lifetime team.” Team members were Bill Brown, Mark Johnston, Todd Hodgson, Scott Omstead, Dave Balakowski, Jim Horvath, Bob Clifford, Gary Gayer, Ed Thiessen, Rob Willan, Gary Ferguson, Rob Serviss, Mike Wladarski, Keith Lindsay, Dwayne Boudreau, Tim Oliphant, Don Campbell, Dave Drummond, Mike MacKinnon, Kevin Leslie and Claire Gillanders. The staff consisted of Albert Jenkins, Carl Stadler, Murray Knox, Doug Vickery, Dr. Robert McGee, Bill Knox, GM Rob Johnston and Coach Reg Mullholland.
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The 1971 Tyke house league champs, the Pirates. Back row from left, Henry Steeman, Troy Wiper, Rick Taylor, Andy Wiper, Mark Ribble, Tracy Wiper, Mike McVeigh, Philip Wiper. Front row: Coach Henry Wheeler, Greg Guyitt, Brad Dunmore, Tim Tetzlaff, Paul Woelk, Mark Wiper and assistant coach Trudy Wheeler. Photo courtesy of Bill Wheeler
Pirates capped an 8-1 season with playoff sweep in ‘71 LEAMINGTON — In the Tyke division of the 1971 Leamington Minor Baseball Association, the standings couldn’t have been any tighter when the dust settled on the season. The Expos and Pirates both finished with 8-1 records on the summer, with the Angels racking up a 6-2-1 record for third spot. The Pirates, coached by Henry and Trudy Wheeler, absorbed their only loss — 10-9 to the Angels — in the fourth week of the season. The more experienced Expos, coached by Roland Martens, lost their only game to the Pirates — a 4-3 barnburner on July 31. When playoffs began, the Pirates got the nod as the number one seed for that victory and hosted the Cubs in the first game of the playoffs, while the Expos drew the Leaming-
ton Post and News. The Cubs gave the Pirates all they could handle as the favourites had to come from behind to pull off an 8-7 victory in the last inning. Rick Taylor and Tracy Wiper — the Pirates dynamic pitching duo — scattered six hits, struck out nine and walked eight. Rod Zwiers went the distance for the Cubs, allowing eight hits, fanning 12 and walking four. Taylor led the offense for the Pirates with three hits. Wiper and his brother Mark each contributed two. Andy Wiper made it a Wiper trifecta with the only other Pirates’ hit. Rick Finlay led the Cubs with a couple of hits, while Zwiers, James Schmidt, Victor Pundzius and Daryl Havens had singles. Meanwhile, the Expos easily defeated the Post
and News squad. But in the semi-finals, the Expos dropped a hard fought 14-9 decision to the upstart Angels to see who would face the Pirates in the final game. A week later, the Pirates exploded for four runs in the first inning and held on to beat the Angels 14-8 in the championship. Wiper and Taylor — once again — combined for the Pirates victory, striking out 15 batters, while issuing seven walks and allowing nine hits. Rick Butler, Tony DeSantis and Jerry DeGo-
Flyers return to play here Feb. 3
With the resumption of play for the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League next week, the Leamington Flyers will play their first home game on Thursday, February 3 when they host the Chatham Maroons at 7:10 pm. The new re-vamped schedule will have the Flyers playing nine games in March with only two of them at home.
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