June 20, 2024

Hawks Down Thornhill on Dan Lehmkuhl Night in Newmarket

By Dan Estey

Canadian Amateur Baseball Central

On a night where the last thing on everyone’s mind was a ball game, the Newmarket Hawks and Thornhill Reds locked horns in Greater Toronto League action at Don McKnight Field in Newmarket.

Newmarket scored an 8-1 win, but the game offered an opportunity for players, coaches and fans to remember good friend and teammate Daniel Lehmkuhl.

Prior to the game last night, the teams held an on-field ceremony to pay tribute to Lehmkuhl’s life. Lehmkuhl started his GTBL career with Thornhill Reds and then moved over to the Newmarket Hawks later in his career. He was also active on the GTBL Executive as the secretary. Dan’s wife, Laura, as well as his two children, Maddie and Jack, were on hand for the moving pre-game presentation. Dan’s father, Peter, was also present.

Hawks skipper Matt Richard led off the ceremony by addressing the crowd of about 150 and thanking them for coming to the field to celebrate Dan. The who’s who of GTBL was present as well as a number of former Hawks and Reds plus current players from around the league.

Richard called upon Thornhill skipper and GTBL League president Nolan Revin to speak on behalf of the Reds and the league. It was at that point that Revin announced that the league would be re-naming the GTBL Playoff MVP Trophy the Daniel Lehmkuhl GTBL trophy.

Richard then unveiled a home-plate sized plaque that will remain at Don McKnight Field so that future generations of younger players coming through the Newmarket system can remember Dan and his amazing qualities. To wrap up the festivities, Dan’s son, Jack, trotted out to the same mound that he dad stood on for so many years and threw out the opening pitch. Former Hawks 3B Chris Bloom caught the pitch which was a sweet looking fastball splitting the plate in half at the knees for a strike.

The CABC made the trek to Newmarket that night to livestream this contest between the two teams. The opening inning saw both clubs wear forest green T-shirts with No. 12 on the back and Dan’s familiar nickname Letch across the top of the shirt. We spent a good part of the night chatting with coaches and players on the livestream as we covered the action on the field.

In the fourth inning, we chatted with Reds bench boss Nolan Revin who gave a few thoughts about his team so far this year. He also talked about some of his memories of Dan and the renaming of the League Playoff MVP award.

“As a league, we wanted to find a way that we can honour Dan’s memory and having this award will help keep his legacy alive each year,” said Revin. “He was such a fierce competitor on the field and always gave 100% every time he played.”

Revin wrapped up his comments stating, “We love you, Dan, we miss you and we hope that Newmarket is healing during this difficult time”

In the fifth, we had a chat with Hawks bench boss Matt Richard. He talked about the state of the Newmarket club thus far in 2024 which included a tournament win at the CABC Gold Bat Tournament two weeks ago in Sarnia. He also shared thoughts about Dan and what he meant to him as a player and a close friend.

“Dan was such a competitor on the field but he was so much more than that to us,” said Richard. “He was a guy that the younger players on the team looked up to and wanted to be like when they got older. He had a true love for family, friends and the game of baseball and we will miss him dearly.”

As far as the action on the field, the Hawks got things rolling early in the first, using a pair of Thornhill errors and a Bryn Sanford RBI single to grab a 2-0 lead. The Reds added on in the second as CF Darcy Moore belted a three-run homer to left centre to extend the lead to 5-0. Troy McLoughlin drove in another Newmarket run in the fourth with a single to centre.

The Reds scored their only run of the game in the seventh on an Argenis Paz RBI grounder cutting the lead to 6-1. Newmarket tacked on two more runs in the eighth to extend the lead to 8-1 and that’s the way the score ended.

Andrew Raponi, second of five Newmarket hurlers, picked up the win, while Reds starter Chadwick Cameron took the loss.