A once-dynastic southwest baseball team is nearing a return after a quarter-century hiatus.

The community of Hazlet is rallying together to try and bring back their Elks baseball team, who have been disbanded since 1993.

History:

The Elks played in the South River Baseball League until 1981 - Hazlet three-peated league titles to end their run in the league (1979, 80, 81)

Hazlet decided they wanted to be a part of a more competitive league, and moved up to the Sask Major Baseball League (now the Western Canadian Baseball League), where their dominance continued to be put on display.

From 1982-93, Hazlet again put up a three-peat of titles (87-89).

1982: Missed the playoffs
1983: Lost in league final
1984: Lost in league final
1985: Lost in league semi-final
1986: Lost in league semi-final
1987: Won league championship
1988: Won league championship
1989: Won league championship
1990: Lost in playoffs
1991: Lost in playoffs
1992: Lost in league final
1993: Missed the playoffs

Seven former Elks made it to either the Minor or Major Leagues:

Gerald Wagner, Steve Reed, Vince Shinholster, Willie Hysaw, Greg Mathews, Kurt Mattson, and Kernan Ronan were the notable names.

Steve Reed was the longest-tenured major leaguer, playing for several teams in his 14-year MLB career as a pitcher. 

In 2013, two decades since the Elks faded from competitive baseball in the province, the village of Hazlet was inducted into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame.

"When that happened, I started to realize how important baseball was to our community back then," said Lindsay Alliban, Hazlet's Economic Development Officer. "Just going around the province and in other parts of the country even, people recognize Hazlet because of the Elks. I just see that as a huge legacy to uphold."

The Process:

As of the late, the community has started buzzing, as a dream of regaining a respectable baseball program continues to inch closer to becoming a reality.

Alliban, volunteers, and prospective players alike have gathered several times to discuss the feasibility behind the idea.

"We're taking this very seriously to create the team again," Alliban noted. "We wouldn't do it without taking into consideration all the factors, and just making sure that we do it right, so we don't tarnish that legacy at all either."

The biggest, and most recent meeting was scheduled for February 6 at the Hazlet rink, where more of a tangible path back to playing ball would be discussed and unveiled.

"There were a lot of kids and guys present who are interested in being players. We had about 22 guys committed to play, so that was really exciting," she said. "We probably had 15 to 20 people attend the meeting just as volunteers and as players, so we had lots of different discussions about if we have enough pitchers, if we can commit fully to getting the baseball field ready because it's in kind of disrepair currently.

"There was a lot of excitement just at the whole idea. Lots of guys were talking about how we can raise some money, how we can involve the kids."

Picking up momentum, and moving forward as a cohesive community, it was decided that the Elks would look to join the Sask-Alta Baseball League either in the 2019 or 2020 season.

 

An aerial view of the Hazlet ball diamonds (photo courtesy of the Hazlet archives)

"We decided that we would first try and see if we could get some sponsorship solidified before we went forward, because we're going to need quite a bit of money to get the diamonds fixed up," said Alliban. We have a crew of about four or five people just reaching out to some potential sponsors this week and next week. If we get a few people committed to sponsoring the team and the diamonds, then we are going to move forward and probably join the league."

Alliban says they're shooting for a fundraising and sponsorship goal between $15,000 - $20,000.

"We're pretty lucky, our baseball field is still fairly decent - it has a good backstop, fence, and pretty good dugouts - it's just kind of filling in some of the gopher holes, making a proper pitcher's mound, and all that stuff," she explained.

Nearing the end of February, Alliban says the plan should be laid out as to which season they'll look to join the Sask-Alta league.

"It'll take some work, but we will get there. Our community has shown that they shine through lots of obstacles - I have no doubt that we can do it."