In March 2009, the location of the future “home” of the West Mountain Baseball Association suddenly became cloudy as three of their six diamonds at their present home park was sold to a developer by the Hamilton Board of Education. The land on which the diamonds were built was part of the Board’s deemed “surplus” Seneca School. While there was no great panic, there were a lot of concerned parents whose 280 children played baseball at West Mountain. The immediate concern was where would the West Mountain parents enjoy watching their children play the game they love. This was resolved when the developer, Carl Galli of Galli Homes, agreed to allow the Association to operate by continuing to use the diamonds. Negotiations were also started immediately between the West Mountain Executive and the Ward 8 Councillor Terry Whitehead. Both the Park Planning and Recreation Departments were involved with finding a solution. Finally, it was decided that by moving the soccer program to other areas, a “clover leaf” quad of diamonds could be installed at the Park to accommodate the Mosquito (10 & 11 year olds), Rookie Ball (8 & 9 year olds), Intermediate T-Ball (6 & 7 year olds) and Junior T-Ball (4 & 5 year olds).
A design concept was agreed to by the West Mountain Executive and the monetary approvals were soon endorsed by Council.

 

The Park Planning Department expedited all necessary drawings and the project was tendered this spring with a starting date of August 30th and anticipated completion in late November. A celebratory sod turning ceremony was held on Monday, August 23rd at the William McCullough Park where West Mountain presently plays. Mayor Fred Eisenberger, Councillor Whitehead, City of Hamilton staff, project Consultants and over 150 West Mountain players and parents braved the weather to witness the sod turning. In addition to the four new diamonds, a 72 car parking lot is being installed as well as upgraded drainage of the Park. The playground facilities will also be upgraded and relocated to accommodate the installation of the diamonds. An enhanced tree planting will ensure that the greenery of the Park is maintained along with new walkways between and around the diamonds. During the ceremony, one of the speakers, Matthew McAllister, presently a Bantam player that started T-Ball at the Park, expressed his enthusiasm as he looks forward to a new beginning for West Mountain in facilities that will be top of the line for the younger players that will be following him in enjoying the new diamonds. West Mountain is planning a huge “grand opening” of their new Park next spring.

     Dylan Clement scored the winning run as CM Printing edged Unity Lodge #47 by a 29-28 score to capture the West Mountain Baseball Association Intermediate T-Ball Division Park Champion this week. Xavier Silva hit a triple and had 2 RBIs for CM while David Rule was spectacular on defence. Matthew Underwood, Lucas Lisle and Justin DeZoete each hit a home run for Unity while Benjamin Randall was their defensive standout. Optimists Club of Hamilton took the Rookie Ball Division title as they defeated Triple F Paving 5-2 in a defensive battle. Brodie Dimmock made a couple great grabs for Optimists and was their defensive star while Brandon Kremenjas stood out on defence for Triple F. Nick Barber and Scott Jenkins each had 2 RBIs for Optimists while Abbey Dunn and Brady Bartolozzi each had 2 hits for Triple F. In the Mosquito Division Park Championship,

 

Optimists Club of Hamilton jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as they stopped Peter Martin Appliances 11 – 1 in displaying their “A” game during the entire contest. Noah Britt and Kyle Lord combined to pitch a 2 hitter in a dazzling performance. On the offensive side. Justin Evangelista was 2 for 2 at the plate while Derek Demmans, Logan Pirro and Michael Nelligan each scored 2 runs for Optimists. Royal Canadian Legion #163 claimed the Park Championship in the Peewee Division as they upended Alphagary Canada by a 10 – 7 score. Max Podedworny had a strong pitching performance for the Legion as Sean Manning got the save. Manning also helped the cause as he had 3 RBIs. Colin Marshall also had 2 hits and 2 RBIs for the Legion. McKenna Tosh, Francesco DiNardo and Alex Mirabelli each scored for Alphagary.