
With Bat and Ball
Boys and Baseball Battles
‘Both ladysmith and Nanaimo are looking for trouble; well let them all come; the Maroons have a team here that can make the best of them sit up and take notice and the local fans have some real coin ready with which to back the home team.’
The Cumberland Island (August, 1916).
By 1916 a local baseball league was established, with teams from Cumberland, Courtenay, Union Bay, and Royston all playing against each other. It was so popular that an ‘all stars’ team was selected from the league to tour the Island.
Baseball really took off in the Valley in the 1930s and was considered the sports ‘golden age’.
‘The baseball crown was awarded last season to the Courtenay nine. This year, the Cumberland Cubs, an aggregation of strong players, may coast to the championship. Other teams in the league include the Pirates (Cumberland), the Athletics (Courtenay), Union Bay and Royston.’
Comox District Free Press (September, 1932).
In the early 1930s Canadian Collieries (Dunsmuir) Ltd. built a grandstand around the home plate at the playing field in Union Bay. On long and hot summer evenings crowds would gather and cheer on their teams. As the sunset behind the Beaufort mountain range, and the golden glow was cast across the pitch, you could hear the distinct crack of a baseball being struck ring out across the field.
It wasn't all fun and games. In 1931 tragedy struck during a game between Union Bay and Courtenay in Lewis Park on the Dominion Day weekend. When Alex Auchinvole smashed the ball in the eighth inning Freddie Stephens dashed across the field to catch it and stop a home run. As he caught the ball it thudded awkwardly into his chest with a sound that could be heard in the grandstand. The strike stopped him dead in his tracks, where he fell to his knees, and perished.

For over twenty-five years the Japanese team from Royston were fierce competitors in the Baseball league. They often disturbed the status quo by beating the other local teams that were mostly made up of European immigrant players.
Locally known as the ‘Japanese Baseball Team’, the Royston Lumber Baseball team, was composed of local Japanese workers who were passionate about the sport. Being part of the team created a sense of belonging and comradeship for the players.

With the Second World War and the internment of the Japanese community, the Royston Lumber Co. baseball team was disbanded. Sadly it was never re-established.
