Pegg: Colour Green gold for a second time

Letters From Ron

By Ron Pegg

Baseball Ontario Life Member

The story of the women’s Gold medals continues. Most of us never win a Canadian Gold Medal. To win two in two consecutive weeks is unbelievable but Mary Green achieved this.

She was joined by her fellow Fleshertonian Lauren Neil who also won a gold Canadian medal the second week. Lauren not only has deep Flesherton roots but she also has very significant Hopeville roots.

Lauren’s Mother, Tanya Mathers Neil, along with her sister, were the heart of many strongly competitive Hopeville fastball teams. This old guy tried on a number of occasions to get the girls to come to Flesherton to play on our Ontario Championship Junior girls baseball team. They never came. As the coach of the Hopeville team stated, they would not have a team in Hopeville without the two sisters. (This old guy thought they could have played on both teams.)

Anyway, the girls’ mother Marg would not hear of it. She had been a major force as a player in Hopeville ball in her own day.

Lauren’s mother, Tanya was amongst the elite players in Ontario. On Lauren’s Father’s side, Jason Neil is the grandson of one of Flesherton’s legendary players of another era. Harold “Hank” Best is that grandfather.

The Arthur’s girls team coached by Peter Post, won the Eastern Canadian championship in New Brunswick. The team won all six of their games. The majority of their wins were by mercy scores.

Travelling from Saskatoon to New Brunswick in one week, Mary Green won her second Canadian Gold medal. She was shortstop for both teams, and one of the top hitters on each team. Lauren Neil played left and was one of the team’s better hitters.

However, there was also a third girl on the Arthur team who has some significant Flesherton roots.

She is Elsie Post, daughter of Peter Post. She was one of the Arthur team’s leading pitchers. Peter was an important member of many Flesherton minor ball teams and the senior Flesherton Rangers who competed against the very best senior teams in Ontario.

Elsie’s grandmother is Mary Post who was the main coach of the Flesherton Junior Women’s team that won three consecutive Ontario championships in a row. This was at the highest level of Women’s Baseball in Ontario. There was no Canada competition. The team defeated teams from North Bay, Mississauga, Newmarket, Barrie and Agincourt.

The Flesherton Baseball heritage lives on!