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Windsor’s John Upham is one of four new inductees to the Baseball Ontario Hall of Fame.
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Upham, 80, was an outfielder and pitcher in the majors before returning home to coach various amateur teams over the years.
Upham, a member of the Windsor and Essex Counties Sports Hall of Fame, signed with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1960 and joined the Chicago Cubs organization in 1966.
Upham, a left-hander, made his major league debut in 1967 as a reliever in a game started by fellow Canadian Fergie Jenkins.
His first at-bat in the majors was as a pinch hitter for the Cubs and he singled out Hall of Famer Don Drysdale. Upham would leave the game after the 1968 season after nine professional seasons.
Upham coached with the Riverside baseball organization for several years and guided the bantamweight team to a national bronze medal in 2000 and a silver medal in 2001. He served as pitching coach for Canada in three consecutive youth world championships, coached third base for Canada at the 1988 Olympics, he led Canada’s world youth team in 1989 and 1990, served as the country’s pitching coach at the 2011 Pan Am Games, and led the Canadian senior team in 1992.
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Baseball Canada Invitations
Rees Kozar of Amherstburg and Matteo Pare of LaSalle are among 34 players invited by Baseball Canada to attend a youth national team camp in Dunedin, Florida, October 13-24.
Kozar, a 6-foot, 200-pound catcher, plays for the Great Lakes Canadians program, while Pare, 6-foot-4, 190-pound, is a right-hander for the Windsor Selects. They both attend Villanova High School.
Baseball Canada will also hold camps in April and May in Florida and another in the Dominican Republic in May to determine a roster ahead of next year’s World Junior Championships, which is scheduled for September in Florida.
Saints finish second
The St. Clair Saints women’s soccer team lost a 3-0 decision to the Fanshawe Falcons in London on Thursday in a battle for first place in the OCAA West Division.
Wrapping up the regular season, the Falcons jumped to an early lead and never looked back.
With the victory, Fanshawe (5-0-1) closed first place in the division and a first-round goodbye in the playoffs. The Saints (4-1-1) lost for the first time and finished second in the division, but will host a crossover playoff game next week.
Reference-windsorstar.com