Lewsaw back in baseball fold after hiatus
Posted June 1, 2011
It was good to see Larry Lewsaw standing by the visiting bench in Armena Tuesday night, keeping score as the Camrose Roadrunners rolled into Armena for a throwback game of sorts.
Some old faces dotted the diamond, including Lewsaw’s, and playing in Armena brought back some ol’ goosebumps that were still frozen the last few weeks from a long winter and lengthy spring.
It was 1999 when I broke into this league. Our midget team playing against men from Camrose, Tofield, Ryley, Lamont and Bardo.
“Where the heck is Bardo?” we all asked.
Yeah, it’s your calling card if you’re a rookie PBLer to ask questions like that. Whether you’re a player, fan or ump – you ain’t a veteran until you know how to get to Bardo.
Back then things were different.
When a bunch of 17- and 18-year-old kids showed up at the diamond for a PBL tournament, they stuck like a sore thumb. I’m guessing the average age in the league was 28. Thirty- and 40-year-olds were common.
But it was Lewsaw who helped guide (more like corrale) a young (even though by today’s standard they’d be average age) Camrose Roadrunners team to a first place finish in 2001, eventually losing an epic final series to a Ray Lehman led Ryley Rebels squad.
Lewsaw found his way into the presidents role after a tumultuous campaign began in 2009, which saw Armena almost die, and the league sitting on rocky ground. I don’t think anyone wanted the role when he stepped in and filled a void just to keep things going.
He helped organize what is today’s all-star challenge, now it’s 11th year, including the 2009 edition which was extra special as it marked Camrose’s founders day and 100 years of baseball.
Lewsaw called it quits when in 2010 his Roadrunners and a couple of the key leaders on the team went to play in the Battle River League. He suggested he probably wouldn’t be back and stepped down as president.
As luck would have it, Tofield would pack up and move to Camrose, and well, you can take the baseball away from the ol’ dog, but the dog has a hard time putting away the baseball.
Lewsaw isn’t making pitching decisions or giving signs like he was doing when I started in this league, but he’s behind the scenes still, booking diamonds, helping with the all-star game and keeping score. And Tuesday night it was good to get a little speck of what I remember 12 years ago when I entered the league.
A clipboard, a smile and some good baseball in Armena. Let’s keep it all going a few more years my friends.
Posted on June 1, 2011 by Jason Buzzell
