Sports
14 NEEPAWA BANNER & PRESS
JULY 17, 2020
Neepawa Cubs glide to victory Pick up wins over the Austin A’s, Plumas Pirates
Neepawa Banner & Press
The Neepawa Cubs are very happy with how things have gone so far at this point of the Santa Clara Baseball League (SCBL) regular season. The team has won its first three games of the shortened schedule, including a 14-1 victory over the Austin A’s and an 11-5 decision against the Plumas Pirates. In the showdown versus the A’s on Wednesday, July 8, it was Neepawa hitting the road to Austin. On that night, the heart of the Cubs’ batting lineup led the way, with Garrett Rempel, Robby Moar and Dylan Birch all collecting a pair of hits. Birch added to his individual stats, by also accumulating three runs batted in (RBI). Bryan Todoruk added a pair of RBIs, while Andrew Richards, Kevin Levandosky and Ian Hockin also contributed one a piece, to help the
Cubbies to collect the W. Neepawa pitcher Cole Krutkewich registered the win, striking out five Austin batters over the course of four innings, while giving up only a pair of hits. Jason Kirkland came to the mound in relief for Krutkewich, and finished out the night surrendering no hits and notching three strikeouts of his own. Cubs outlast Pirates Neepawa returned home for a game at the Ag Grounds on Friday, July 10 versus the Plumas Pirates. The huge crowd in attendance found themselves entertained by some really good back and forth baseball action. In the later innings, however, Neepawa was able to find some separation and eventually cruised to the 11-5 win. For the first four and a half innings, it was anyone’s ballgame, as there were multiple lead chan-
ges. Trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Neepawa was able to put together a four run rally and would follow that up with an identical tally in the sixth to secure their third win of the season. At the plate, it was a really collective effort of the Cubs, with six different players registering a hit. As for pitching, Garrett Rempel picked up the win, with a five inning, six strike out night. Taylor Fletcher blanked the Pirates for the final two innings, to earn the save. With those victories, Neepawa improved it record to 3-0-0, a good enough mark for first place in the Santa Clara League. Next up for the Cubs was a game against the Carberry Royals on Wednesday, July 15 in Neepawa. That game concluded after the Banner & Press publication deadline, but will appear in the next edition of the paper. The final two homes games of
Park Lake, then and now Continued from Page 3 Some historic details of Park Lake as submitted by Gerrond Davidson I am not sure what year the first Park Lake dam was built, but the trestle railway bridge over Stoney Creek was built in 1902 and the lake was there then. Neepawa had a power plant there in 1913 and the town water works were begun in 1911. The dam would wash out all the time and the local ice cutter, Melvin Murray would repair the dam at his own expense so he didn’t have to go so far for ice. It is documented that he repaired it in 1920. In 1953, PFRA (Prairie Farm Assistance Act) built a cement dam. There are lots of references to the low area east of Neepawa being flooded and the mail having to be brought in with a canoe for some periods. Stoney Creek and Boggy Creek join at Neepawa to form the Whitemud River. Editor’s note: An 1898 map of Neepawa shows the Lake. Park Lake now By Ken Waddell For most people today, Park Lake means a shallow, little lake at the south end of Neepawa. It’s the home of Rotary Park, the Neepawa Bird Sanctuary. Hundreds of wild geese, dozens of pelicans and many other birds and small animals call the place home. Rotary Park is the site of many community and family events. Park Lake dam almost burst in a major flood event on July 2, 2001. There was an extensive threat of downstream flooding back then in the McGill Street/Walker Avenue area, but the berm held. On July
1, 2020, the berm didn’t fare so well and excessive rainfall and run-off from Stoney Creek overpowered the berm. Flash flooding followed very quickly. As has been well documented in this paper and in numerous other media, there was a huge effort to try and stop the flooding. Over 40 homes were evacuated and extensive damage was done to several homes. Today, Park Lake is now a muddy flats with a rather placid Stoney Creek running through it. The big question in the weeks, and perhaps years, ahead will be what to do with the actual lake. The access road bridge is damaged beyond repair. Early estimates of the cost to replace the bridge are huge. An emergency trail is being established to get people in to look after the birds and animals at the sanctuary and for one resident to get access to their home. The original usefulness for Park Lake to the town as a water source for drinking water and for the steam turbine are long gone. How to make the best recreational and flood control use of the now empty lake basin is a question that will have be decided. Neepawa doesn’t need Park Lake as it used to be. In fact, to restore it to it’s former levels would be akin to loading a shotgun and aiming it at our feet. Park Lake dam will fail again, it’s inevitable. As a creek, the water will flow through and the dikes around the downstream homes should safely handle the anticipated and historic flow. As Mayor McCutcheon said to me, “It will all come down to money.”
the regular season will be on July 24 versus Austin and July 29 against the Portage Padres. All start times are set for 7:00 p.m. Neepawa Cubs infielder Nathan Stephenson (#2) looks to make a play on a hit early on in the game between Neepawa and the Plumas Pirates on Friday, July 10. The Cubs would end up winning this contest, by the score of 11-5. PHOTO BY EOIN DEVEREUX
Santa Clara Baseball League Team Name
G W L T Win % GB
Neepawa Cubs
3 3
0 0 1.000
Carberry Royals
3 2
1 0
.667
1.0
Portage Padres
2 1
0 1
.750
1.0
Ebb and Flow Lakers 1 0
1 0
.000
2.0
Austin A’s
2 0
2 0
.000
2.5
Plumas Pirates
3 0
2 1
.167
2.5
Banner & Press
neepawa
By Eoin Devereux
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