2012 Softball Canada Hall of Fame Inductees
June 21, 2012
Ottawa, ON
2012 Softball Canada Hall of Fame Inductees
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 21, 2012
Softball Canada Announces 2012 Hall of Fame Inductees
(Ottawa, ON) Softball Canada is pleased to announce that Doug Chase (Athlete,
British Columbia), Stan Hay (Official, Alberta), Mike Piechnik (Athlete,
British Columbia), Brian Sosnowski (Athlete, Alberta) and the 1990-1993 Junior
Men's Lloydminster Liners (Team, Alberta) will be inducted into the Softball
Canada Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will take place on November 10th,
2012 in Calgary, Alberta.
Doug Chase's (Port Alberni, BC) playing career spanned 17 years, including 13
as a member of the Canadian Men's National Team. During that time, he won three
Pan American Games Gold medals (1991, 1995 and 1999), and Gold (1992) and
Silver (1996) medals at the International Softball Federation (ISF) Men's World
Championships. At the national level, Doug won three Canadian Championship Gold
medals (1991, 1992 and 1997), and was a three-time Canadian Championship
All-Star Catcher (1987, 1997 and 1998). He is currently an assistant coach with
the Junior Men's National Team.
Stan Hay (Calgary, AB) was one of the first umpires to receive his Level V
status in Fastpitch, earning this honour at the 1980 Senior Men's Canadian
Championship. On the field, he also worked the 1975 Senior Women's and 1982
Senior Men's Canadian Championships, before supervising 13 other Canadian
Championships between 1983 and 1991 (including two Championships per year from
1986-1989). Stan served on the Officiating Development Committee (ODC) from
1986 to 1991, and held numerous umpiring clinics in Alberta and throughout
Canada. He was also one of the first two Canadian umpires to pass the ISF
Recertification Clinic in 1987, and umpired at the 1981 ISF Youth World
Championship and the 1988 ISF Men's World Championship. He has also attended
every Softball Canada Blue Convention (1987-2010), and plans to attend the 2013
Blue Convention as well.
Mike Piechnik (Victoria, BC) played alongside Doug Chase both for Victoria
Payless and the Canadian Men's National Team for many years. He spent 13 years
with the Men's National Team, winning two Pan American Games Gold medals (1995
and 1999), and Gold (1992) and Silver (1996) medals at the ISF Men's World
Championships. He also won three Canadian Championship Gold medals (1991, 1992
and 1997), while earning four Top Pitcher awards (1990, 1993, 1995 and 1998)
and three Top Player awards (1992, 1993, and 2001). Mike also pitched
back-to-back perfect games at the 1993 Canadian Championship.
Brian Sosnowski (Leduc, AB) enjoyed a fantastic 25-year playing career at the
Intermediate and Senior Men's levels, earning three Gold (1980, 1985 and 1987)
and three Silver (1982, 1983 and 1986) medals at the Canadian Championships,
and was named an All-Star three times in three decades (1972, 1981 and 1991).
One of the most feared hitters of the 1980's, 'Sos' also represented Canada at
the 1983 Pan American Games, winning a Gold medal at the event as Canada sent
its first National Team to the tournament. He is already a member of the
Softball Canada Hall of Fame as a member of that team, but will be inducted for
his personal accomplishments.
The 1990-1993 Junior Men's Lloydminster Liners were only the second team to
win four consecutive Canadian Championships in the same age category, after the
Victoria Bates Construction (inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1993) did it from
1975-1978 in the Senior Men's category. The Liners' coaching staff of Ian
Belyea, Jim Harvie, Gary Thiessen and Manager Mike Lamb did a fantastic job of
finding a good core of local players while also attracting key pickups to help
them achieve the top spot in Junior Men's Fastpitch in the early 1990's. Key
players included Craig Crawford and Colin Abbott - each playing one season for
the Liners - who went on to play on the Men's National Team for 14 and 15 years
respectively. In addition to these two pickups, Kelly Thiessen was a member of
all four Gold medal teams, while Lorne Graham, Bradley Blackburn, Danny
Haygarth and Mark Hanson each played on three Championship teams.
Four of the inductees will join the Softball Canada Hall of Fame at an
Induction ceremony which will be held Saturday, November 10th, 2012. The
ceremony will be held in conjunction with Softball Canada's Annual General
Meeting and Congress in Calgary, Alberta, which will take place from November
8-11. Doug Chase will not be in attendance for the induction ceremony as he
will be serving as an assistant coach of the Junior Men's National Team at the
ISF World Championship in Argentina (November 1-10). Other arrangements for his
induction will be made.
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For more information, please contact:
Gilles LeBlanc
Manager - Marketing and Communications
Softball Canada
(613)-523-3386 ext 3105
glebl...@softball.ca
