2015 Inductees

1997 Berwick White Sox – Provincial Midget 'c' Baseball Champions

In the spring of 1997, coach Steve Greenwood was aware he had some outstanding midget-aged baseball players at his disposal, including a handful of players who had won the 1995 bantam provincials.

Moreover, the group featured several players capable of playing multiple positions, including pitcher and catcher.

While Greenwood had talented players, his problem was there weren't quite enough of them to fill out a roster for the provincial playdowns. He solved the problem by asking the Berwick bantam team to affiliate with them.

The team that eventually would compete at provincials consisted of 10 midget and three bantam-aged players.

The team had an up-and-down regular season, and often needed a call-up or two from the bantams to allow them to play. At the same time, when they played, it was easy to see the talent they had.

The Berwick squad was the only midget 'C' team registered in the Valley district, which meant they advanced directly to regionals, where they hosted the always-competitive team from Clark's Harbour.

On the Brown Street field (now the Peter Connell Memorial Field), the Berwick bats came alive, and they swept Clark's Harbour in two straight games.

This qualified Berwick for the midget 'C' provincials in Liverpool on the Labour Day weekend. If the Sox were going to win provincials, they would have to do it with 11 players. Aaron Silver had left for Ontario to attend university, and Scott Connelly chose the provincial fastball finals in Halifax.
Fate played a hand when the Easson's fastball team was eliminated early in their provincials, which allowed Connelly to return to the midgets for their final round robin game.

Berwick won the contest, but Connelly was ejected by the umpire and was unable to finish the game.

The win advanced Berwick to the championship against a team from Dartmouth. Because of Berwick's record, Dartmouth had to beat them twice to claim the provincial title.

Dartmouth won the first game, and coach Greenwood decided to pitch Connelly in the second game, even though the umpire that had ejected him earlier was working home plate.

In his final game as a midget-aged player, Connelly threw a one-hitter and led his team to a provincial title that hadn't seemed possible only a few months earlier.

At that time, a Hit, Run and Throw competition was held as part of provincials. Berwick's Ryan Nichols won the hitting and throwing portions of the competition.

Members of the 1997 Berwick Sox midget 'C' team, not all of whom played at provincials, included Scott Connelly, Sam Goulden, Isaac Greenwood, Jeff Hannam, Ben Fleming, Ryan Harris, Mark Coldwell, Ryan Nichols, Brad Swinamer, Aaron Silver, Leigh Rockwell, Scott Swinamer, Matt Wright, head coach Steve Greenwood and assistant coaches Glen Hannam, Randy Rockwell and Bud Crocker.

The Berwick Sports Hall of Fame is pleased to induct, in the team category, the 1997 Berwick White Sox midget 'C' baseball team.