2026 Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame Media Release

MEDIA RELEASE FOR NOVEMBER 3, 2025, AT 11:00 A.M.

On the evening of June 13, 2026, the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame will host its 28^th annual induction banquet at the Access Events Centre in Morden. Tickets for the event can be purchased through the Hall of Fame’s website, www.mbhof.ca. Click on Banquet and follow instructions.

Today the Hall of Fame is pleased to announce the names of individuals and teams that will be inducted or otherwise honoured at the June 13 banquet.

INDIVIDUAL INDUCTEES:

NATE ANDREWS (1975-    ), BRANDON.

Nate Andrews was a good baseball player from a young age. He was a leader on a Brandon Mosquito team that won a provincial championship in 1986, then part of two Brandon teams that won provincial Beaver championships. In 1991 he was a pick-up on the Portage la Prairie Midget team that was the only team from Manitoba to win a Canadian championship in that age category. In 1993 he was part of the Manitoba Youth Team. In 1993 he went to Mayville State and the Mayville State Comets were conference champions in all of his four years. Back home in Senior ball he played in the Manitoba Senior Baseball League from 1993 to 2015, mostly with the Brandon Marlins formed in 1995 primarily by Nate and his father Neil. He was a nine-time all-star in the MSBL He was twice the home run champion and RBI leader. He was part of five MSBL championship teams. He played in the Canadian Senior Baseball Championship tournament five times. He has coached high-level minor baseball in Brandon and is one of four main volunteers who look after Andrews Field.

ED KULYK (1969-    ), WINNIPEG.

For many years, Ed Kulyk has been an organizer and builder of the Elmwood Giants, one of the top baseball organizations in the province. He has served on the Elmwood Giants Board of Directors. He has been the chief administrator of Koskie Field, where the Giants play home games. He has been in charge of diamond scheduling, revenue collection, field maintenance, capital projects and upgrades, insurance, and field security. Above all, he has been a successful coach and manager. His Elmwood Giants 22U AAA team were Manitoba Junior Baseball League finalists for ten consecutive seasons, 2016-2025. During that span of years, they were League champions six times, and they were selected four times as Manitoba’s High Performance Team of the Year-Major. In 2023 the team was National champions. In 2024 they won the Western Canada Baseball Association championship. Individually, Kulyk has twice been named Manager of the Year in the Manitoba Junior League and twice named Baseball Manitoba’s High Performance Coach of the Year.

DARRELL McELROY (1960-   ), DARLINGFORD.

Darrell was a pitcher, catcher, infielder, and dangerous power hitter. He was born in Darlingford, and when he started playing Intermediate AAA ball (now Senior AA) at age 17, it was with the Kaleida Ks of the Border League. He was part of the good Kaleida teams of 1977-79, and again in 1983. He joined Morden Bombers in 1980 and played for them until 1996, except for 1983 when they did not field a team. He was a Border League all star in 17 of the 20 years he played. On two occasions, he was MVP of the Border League all star game. He was part of seven teams that won the Manitoba Intermediate AAA championship. In 1990, he was part of the Manitoba Border East team that won the provincial championship and went on to win the Western Canadian tournament at Westlock, Alberta. He coached minor ball for 12 years in Morden and Winkler. He was also a high level Senior hockey player. In 1994 he was chosen Male Athlete of the Year by the Manitoba Central Region Sports Association.

LARRY NICHOLSON (1954-    ), NEEPAWA.

Larry Nicholson grew up on a farm near Neepawa and he became proficient as a pitcher in both baseball and fastball. In the early 1970s he played fastball for the most part, and went to a provincial championship tournament in Thompson. In the mid-1970s he started playing baseball for the very good Intermediate Neepawa Farmers. In 1981 he was a star player on the Farmers team that won the provincial Intermediate title and went on to represent Manitoba at the Western Canadian championship in Quesnel, B.C. They finished fourth. In 1982 the Farmers joined the Manitoba Senior Baseball League. For seven seasons Nicholson was a top pitcher and power hitter for the club. In 1983 he was a pick up for the Riverside Canucks that went to the National championship tournament in Sudbury, Ontario. In 1986 the Farmers took the MSBL pennant. They also won the prestigious July 1 MSBL tournament in Birtle, and Nicholson was the winning pitcher in each of the Farmers’ three straight victories. By 1988 he had two boys who played ball and needed coaches for their teams. He retired as a player and spent the next decade as a coach. 

LORNA ROBERTSON (1939-    ), HAMIOTA. 

For seventy years Lorna Robertson has supported events and organizations that have made life in Hamiota and district enjoyable and fulfilling. For her volunteer efforts she won a Woman of Distinction Award from Westman YMCA in 1985, and a Queen Elizabeth 11 Platinum Award for Community Service and Involvement in 2012. She has been a leader in many sports including basketball, volleyball, fastball, hockey. If we concentrate on baseball, we find that from 1961 to 1990 she was a tireless worker for the Hamiota Red Sox of the Manitoba Senior Baseball League. She organized supplies and staff for the canteen, arranged for batboys and ball chasers, sold 50/50 tickets, took money at the gate, and along with husband Al provided post-game food and beverages at her home. She helped organize the Hamiota Junior Red Sox that developed players for the Senior team and played in a Yellowhead League for five seasons. In youth baseball, in the 1970s and 1980s she was a coach of teams that won at least seven provincial championships. For Hamiota’s youth baseball organization, especially but not only when she was President in the early 1980s, she ordered uniforms, arranged for coaches and umpires, scheduled the American imports who ran practices with youth teams, oversaw canteen activities, and finally supervised construction of three impressive new diamonds.

GARTH WHITE (1953-    ), NEEPAWA.

Garth White played for the Neepawa Farmers of the Yellowhead League in Intermediate ball in the 1970s and early 1980s. In 1981 they won the provincial Intermediate championship and competed in Quesnel, B.C. in the Western Canadian tournament. The next year the Farmers joined the Manitoba Senior Baseball League. White became the coach of the team in 1986 and he remained coach until 2010. In the MSBL he was chosen an all star in 17 of his 24 years. His teams won League championships in 1992 and 1994. Over the 24 years he was much more than the coach. He was the key to keeping the Farmers going because he did all the jobs that needed to be done. He was especially a recruiter of players, a fundraiser, and field maintenance supervisor. He and his wife Gail billeted many of the American imports who joined the Farmers. In addition to his efforts for the Neepawa club, he was also part of the coaching/managerial staff of several MSBL all star teams that competed in Western Canadian championships. 

GUY YERAMA (1962-    ), TORONTO.

Guy Yerama grew up in Gilbert Plains and was part of the good youth baseball teams from that village from 1967 through 1978. While in high school he played not only competitive baseball but also competitive fastball. He was part of a Gilbert Plains team that won two provincial championships. From 1979 through 1981 he played baseball on Grandview Midget teams and with the Grandview Lakers of the Manitoba Senior Baseball League. Over the next several years he was a catcher and sometimes player-coach for teams in in the MSBL, the Border League, the Red Boine League, and the Winnipeg Intermediate Baseball League. He then concentrated on coaching and from 1990 to 2010 he was in charge of several Manitoba provincial teams. In 1990 he was founder and first President of the Winnipeg Intermediate Baseball League, which later became the Winnipeg Senior Baseball League. He remained President until 1996. In 2000 he started a baseball academy in Winnipeg which competed against teams from the USA. In 2009-10 he worked with Mike Krykewich to form the University of Winnipeg team that played until 2017 in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. In 2010 Guy moved to Toronto and has continued to coach there. He has coached over 100 players who reached college-level baseball. 

TEAM INDUCTEES:

MINOR CLUB TEAM

WINNIPEG SOUTH CHIEFS AAA PEE WEE/BANTAM TEAM 2008-2010

From 2008 through 2010 the Winnipeg South Pee Wee/Bantam Chiefs put together three remarkable seasons playing in the AAA Winnipeg Amateur Baseball Association and beyond. Over the three years the team had a record of 63-0 in league play and in all games played in Canada they went 134 and 13.They won three WABA championships and two provincial championships. They represented Manitoba at two National championships and advanced to the medal round in one of them. This team was twice honoured as Baseball Manitoba’s High Performance Team of the Year. In each year a player from the team was Baseball Manitoba’s Player of the Year in the relevant age category—Madison Bowey 13U in 2008, Chris Shaw 15U in 2009, Derrick Millar 15U in 2010.

SPECIAL TEAM

NEEPAWA AA MIDGET TEAM 2003

The 2003 season began poorly for the Neepawa AA Midgets. They went 1-7 in their own league against teams from Russell and Hamiota. However just as league play finished the team began to play better, and they won a regional tournament to qualify for provincials. At the ten team provincial championship tournament in Winnipeg, Neepawa finished second in their pool and then downed Altona and Fort Garry in the play offs. They moved on to the Western Canadian championships in Altona. This 2003 team featured nine players who had been on the 2002 provincial championship team that had played poorly in the Western championship, and these veterans along with their coaches and the five new players were determined to do better this time. They did just that. They went 4-0 in round robin play. This put them in the final against Saskatchewan. They beat the North Battleford team 5-0 behind Greg Hockin’s one hit complete game. They were later named Baseball Manitoba’s Grassroots Team of the Year, and Hockin was chosen Midget Player of the Year.

SPECIAL TEAM

OIL DOME BANTAM A ALL STARS 1987

This team of 14 and 15 year olds was formed with players from Killarney, Lauder, Wawanesa, Pierson, Baldur, and Souris, with pick ups from Morden and Dauphin for the Western Canadian championship. Coaches were Craig McKinstry and Larry Nicholls, both from Killarney. In July the team went to Teulon and played in a qualifying tournament for the provincial championship. In early August at the provincials in Winnipeg, the team went undefeated. Late in August they travelled to Kelowna, B.C. for the Western Canada tournament. In round robin play they went undefeated, which meant they had a bye into the finals and had to be beaten twice in a row by the other finalist, Alberta. Alberta won a close first game but in the second game Manitoba won 13-1. The team was later chosen Baseball Manitoba’s Team of the Year.

SPECIAL TEAM

WESTERN MANITOBA JUNIOR ALL STARS

CANADA SUMMER GAMES TEAM 1973

A Western Manitoba Junior all star team was formed in 1971 by Junior-aged players on teams in the Manitoba Senior Baseball League. In 1972 the players recruited Glennis Scott and Al Robertson as coaches. They won the provincial championship and represented Manitoba at the Junior National tournament in Point-Aux-Tremblay, Quebec. In 1973 the all stars won the Manitoba championship, beating out tough teams from St. Boniface and Carmen. They then went to the Canada Summer Games in Burnaby/New Westminster, B.C.  They finished the round robin in their pool at two wins and two losses. They beat Nova Scotia in the semi-final but fell 5-2 to B.C. in the gold medal game. Jeff Sheardown had a great week at the plate, smacking three home runs in the six games. This team was one of four Manitoba teams that have won silver at a Canada Summer Games. No Manitoba team has managed to win gold.

HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS:

AL KINLEY (1945-    ), WINNIPEG 

Since the 1950s Al Kinley has been a player, coach, administrator, and supporter of many sports including football, hockey. lacrosse, and baseball. For his efforts over several decades in several sports he has been inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame. He is the first person you think of when someone mentions the Elmwood Giants Baseball Club. He joined the Board of Directors of the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004. Since then he has nominated many of our inductees, and without nominations our selections committee has no starting point. He has a uniquely thorough knowledge of Winnipeg players and teams past and present. He has served primarily on our merchandise committee and our selections committee. He was Chair of the Board of Directors from 2011 to 2013. For the Hall of Fame he has written several articles on the early years of baseball in our province. These will be useful for years to come.

MORRIS MOTT (1946-    ), BRANDON.

Morris Mott played most of his baseball in his home province of Saskatchewan. After moving to Manitoba as an adult, he played or coached intermittently for nearly thirty years. Then in 1995 he was asked to be part of the group forming the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1996 he became a member of the first Board of Directors, and he has remained a Director ever since. He has served on banquet, selections, and nominations committees. He was the Board’s Chair from 2013 to 2020. Probably his biggest contribution has been to work with different Directors and with Hall of Fame office staff to prepare the Souvenir Programs for all 28 of our induction banquets.