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st mhbitbetim sports squeeze play k i j aikens pharmacy first baseman justin lyons left couldnt quite hold onto this relay throw which enabled mrs widemans bakeshops baserunner mark hutchinson to reach first base safely during action in saturdays stouffvilie youth league baseball finals at the town park diamond photosjoerd wittevebn final summer volleyball tournament on sept 17 theyll be marking the end of the season with the end of summer volleyball tournament sept 17 at chariots family restaurant the all day event will be open to mixed teams of two male and two female players each cash prizes are to be award ed the first- and secondplace finishing teams teams will pay a 50 entry fee with three games guaran teed in the round robin pool play format organizers are looking to duplicate the success of the competition held at chariots in early august when 16 teams participated and pro ceeds went to markham- stouffville hospital the sept 17 tournament will see proceeds directed to the big brothers of york region bruins minicamp was a success a proposed niimcamp put view prospective young talent on by the uxbridge bruins to turned out to be more like a stampede over the weekend sixty bantam and midget aged skaters flocked to the uxbridge arena to strut their stuff for the junior c teams preseason auditions the players engaged in three scrimmage sessions last saturday and sunday bruins assistant coach gary forsyth said the team was pleased with both the turnout and calibre of the players don valley north lexus toyota athlete of the week lisasimes lisa simes came up with an excellent performance at the recent commonwealth games in victoria ac the markham winstonettes gymnast earned two bronze medals at the games in the individual vault and floor events the 17yearold native of rcgina also came close to winning two more medals as she finished fourth in the individual beam and allround events simes hopes to continue her success at the upcoming canadian national team trials in montreal a good performance there will enable her to represent canada at this years world championships in germany don valiey north lexus- toyota 3120 stecles ave e east of hie mmm aoaa 404pkwy 4750722 burkholder ball era comes to a conclusion sport notes bruce s tap i ey it may not exactly be the end of an era but howard burkholders decision to step down as coach of the stouffvilie merchants junior mens fastball team next season certainly marks a turning point in a coaching career that goes back to when he first assembled a group of youngsters to play squirt soft- ball here in town back in the early 1980s howard who has coached stouffvilie teams to ontario amateur softball association provincial titles at the ban tam and junior levels has earned his stripes both as a coach and as a sportsman with the merchants over the past four seasons competing at a level where most teams with an eye on a national championship use cash as an incentive to attract top players he succeeded on a strictly amateur basis he came within an ace of landing the canadian junior crown in st johns newfoundland back in 1991 when the merchants finished third there were some who ques tioned his loyalty to the play ers who had brought him as far as st johns that year but he said hed win or lose with his own players and thats exactly what he did howard came to the merchants a year after the team had been formed when he decided to take a sabbatical in 1990 after two years coaching the stouffvilie midgets the late carl myers lined up markhams fred crawford to coach a collection of stouffvilie and markham boys who had been arch rivals through their years of rep level minor ball over the years the team flourished with scott evans who had pitched and slugged the stouffvilie bantams to an oasa crown in 1987 combining with new comer hurler byron baranieski a newmarket area resident to give the merchants the provincial crown in their first try howard repeated the feat without evans the next sea son with baranieski emerg ing as one of the countrys top hurlers while pitching the team all the way to the nationals at st johns howard came so close to landing a third straight provincial title when junior mens eliminations in 1992 but lady luck turned her back in each of their last two attempts to regain the grail they fell just short of taking the title at the international softball congress junior mens fastball championships in rockford 111 earlier this summer as this season winds down howard can look back with pride at his coaching record and at the success of the merchants in their five years in the junior fastball scene he has had his disappoint ments to be sure a man for whom loyalty is everything he has had to endure players who dont always follow through to the end but despite what he referred to in a recent chat as the hills and valleys he said he feels very positive about the whole thing and while he likes to win as much as the next man and knows how to do it he has always insisted that winning is just part of what goes on out there on the ball field his fervent christian beliefs have always dictated his course of action and hes sim ply not given to compromise as for next season its up in the air as to just what will happen to the merchants but one thing is for sure this season will be the last year of minor ball for the four merchants who have been together since howard began coaching sons chris and rich burkholder jason yoshida and keith piette chris burkholder and yoshida are in their final years of junior eligibility this season as is baranieski howard is quick to point out that should a qualified coach come along the merchants will still have a nucleus con- sisting of quality players like rich and ryan burkholder bill pride darren crawford jason underwood and uxbridge residents bob ferguson and brent bonner they would have to come up with an ace pitcher however if they were going to have a crack at the oasa title and while hes adamant he wont be coaching next sea son howard hasnt ruled out the possibility of returning in another year or two to coach a mens team which could include all the old gang in fact given his own fast ball abilities and the shape howard has stayed in he could even find himself out on the field with the boys con tending for a championship some day id bet we havent seen the last of howard burkholder on