1971 New Waterford Kinsmen Rovers Bantam Baseball Team

In 1971 the Kinsmen Club of New Waterford decided to sponsor Bantam Baseball in New Waterford. They organized an eight team league and bought new uniforms. At the end of the season, an all-star team was picked from the league in the Cape Breton Bantam championships.

The team was named the Kinsmen Rovers and captured the Cape Breton title with a lopsided victory over Sydney Mines in the championship game.

The Rovers then travelled to Halifax to play in the Nova Scotia finals against Halifax, Stellarton and Kentville. The locals opened up with a 7-1 victory over Kentville followed by a 6-4 victory the next day over a tough Stellarton tram. The final game against Kentville was a close contest with the Rovers emerging with a 5-4 victory as New Waterford used 3 pitchers to secure the win

After winning the Nova Scotia title, the Rovers were off to Moncton to compete in the Eastern Canadian Championship against Moncton, PEI and a team from Montreal. New Waterford needed 2 extra innings to beat the Moncton team in the opening game 10-7. Timely hitting and a couple of good breaks enabled the Rovers to beat a highly touted New Brunswick which included Fredericton pick-up Brent Hallet who later played for Canada's National baseball team. Next up the team handled PEI entry handily with a 9-6 victory. In the final game against the Montreal team, the locals saved their best for last; Greg Hawley pitched a gem of a two-hitter and the Rovers pounded out 9 hits including 2 home runs to win the game and the Eastern Canadian Championship.

The championship ended a storybook season for the Rovers. The team just got better each game throuhout the playoff run according to head coach Lowell Cormier. The talent level on the team was incredible. The leadership and fine play of Greg Hawley, who led a very deep pitching staff, along with the timely hits and defensive plays from the other team members was instrumental in the path of the championship Charlie MacLellan led the Eastern Canadian's in hitting, and Bruce MacKenzie got the biggest hit of the tournament according to Cormier!