Three teams join Welland Sports Wall of Fame
Three teams will be honoured this Sunday at 1 p.m. when the annual Welland Sports Wall of Fame induction ceremony is held at the Seaway Mall.
Joining the wall are the 1973 Atlas Steels tyke baseball team, the 1977 Club Richelieu midget baseball team and the 2016 Jean Vanier girls basketball squad.
The Atlas Steels team became the first Welland baseball team to capture a provincial title since a juvenile squad in 1949.
The tykes dominated the Niagara District league, winning the league and playoff titles, before knocking off Hamilton in the first round of the provincial playdowns. Welland then defeated Chatham two games to one to move into the final against Oshawa where it claimed the provincial crown with a pair of 11-4 victories.
Members of the team were Ben Mercier, Chris Neudorf, Bob Laforest, John Yari, Perry Orosz, Mark Laforest, Greg Yari, Gilles Falardeau, Paul Cieri, Lawrence Banner, Joe Pelino, Dave Toulouse, Darrin Asselin, Bobby Langel, Dave Bernatz and Mark Huffman. The coaching staff was made up of head coach Ed Pringle, assistant coach Norm Asselin, manager Wayne Jaroslawski, assistant manager Mike Hominuk and scorekeeper Claude Falardeau.
CLUB RICHELIEU MIDGET BASEBALL
The midget squad finished the Niagara District regular season with a record of 13-5-1 before sweeping Thorold 2-0 in the playoff final.
Competing in Paris at the OBA B championship, the squad won four straight games in the double-knockout tournament to advance to the finals against Whitby. Welland was outhit 8-5 in the final but still managed to come away with a 5-1 triumph.
Members of the team were Jeff Perenack, captain Dave Burkholder, Scott Hiller, Randy Beyers, Jim Larouche, Greg Strong, Nino Ramunno, Paul DiFelice, Mark Tardif, Ivan Severinsky, Carmen Santoro, Tom Babyak, Norm Asselin Jr., Ron Beaudoin, Frank Lostracco and Mike Bernatz.
Making up the coaching staff were head coach Jim Chapman, assistant coach Vince Vadacchino and manager Brian Saltarelli.
JEAN VANIER GIRLS BASKETBALL
The Vanier girls basketball team won back-to-back Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations A championships in 2016 and 2017 during a run where the program won four straight Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Athletic Association A titles from 2013 to 2017.
In 2016, Jean Vanier became the first single A school to top the St. Catharines Standard and Welland Tribune tournaments. In the second OFSAA year, the team finished with a record of 28-1.
“You don’t need a group of basketball players to win OFSAA. You need a group of athletes who are willing to buy into the program,” Vanier head coach Tara Poulin said.
Many players from the squad would move on from Vanier and play at the post secondary level.
Members of the team, coached by Tara and Trish Poulin, were Isabelle Sinclair, Mikayla Lafontaine, Alexandra Hebert, Keturah Balabyekkubo, Gabrielle Lemay, Julia McPhail, Matteya Wendling, Morgan McAvoy, Danielle Bilodeau, Kyara Wendling, Sophie Vaillancourt, Kendel Dunn, Natasha Desjardins, Julia Doucet and Emily Charron.
This year’s induction ceremony will be broadcast on YourTV Niagara Friday, May 10 at 7 p.m., Saturday, May 11 at 9 a.m. and Sunday, May 12 at 1 p.m.
