In 1975, Richmond Amateur Baseball Association (RABA) players were prominently involved in senior baseball competitions.
A senior elimination tournament was hosted by Arichat and Louisdale on June 21 and 22. The roster for the Richmond County team consisted of: Richie and Robbie Mann, Gilbert Boucher, Vernon Boudreau, Gerry Bourque, Gerard Landry, Gus Boyd, Bobby Samson, Barry Marchand, Gerry Burke, Wayne Forester, Gordie Turnbull, Leo King, Allan Gibson, Bucky Samson, Claude Boudreau, and Harold Samson. The managers were Adolphe Kehoe and Stan Pashkoski.
The Richmond team was impressive defeating Southwestern, Truro, Sydney, and Halifax, but lost twice to Truro. Robbie Mann caught most of six games, belted out 11 hits and was awarded Tournament Most Valuable Player. Barry Marchand had 17 hits in the six games, while Allan Gibson and Leo King each pitched a win.
At season’s end the St. Peter’s Royals entered their team in the provincial senior playdowns. The Royals faced the team from Sydney in a best-three-out-of-five series. St. Peter’s took the first two games by scores of 6-3 and 8-2. The Sydney squad stormed back taking games three and four 1-0 and 5-4. St. Peter’s punched their ticket to the finals in game five behind the four-hit pitching of Richie Mann and the offence provided by Billy Digout’s home run and Robbie Mann’s three singles. Final score: St. Peter’s 7-Sydney 2.
In the championship series for the Nova Scotia senior crown, the small town boys from St. Peter’s faced a powerful team from Halifax, Pelham Electric. The first two contests were played on September 24 and 25 with Halifax winning both by scores of 3-2 and 14-4. Game three went October 1, and though the Royals pushed the Halifax squad, they lost by 4-3 score.
In 1975 there were 11 teams in the RABA, divided into two divisions: five on Isle Madame: Alderney Point, Little Anse, Petit de Grat, Arichat, and D’Escousse and six on the mainland: Port Hawkesbury, St. Peter’s, Lower River, River Bourgeois, and two from Louisdale, the Baracos and the Mooseheads.
The respective managers were Jerry Samson, Alderney Point; Adolphe Kehoe, Little Anse; Bernie Samson, PDG; Vernon Boudreau, Arichat; Stan Pashkoski, D’Escousse; Gordie Embree, Port Hawkesbury; Phil Resch, Louisdale Mooseheads; and Art Samson, Louisdale Baracos.
The final standings for the season:
Mainland
St. Peter’s 18-2
Baracos 12-8
River Bourgeois 9-11
Port Hawkesbury 9-11
Mooseheads 9-11
Lower River 4-16
Island
PDG 14-6
Little Anse 13-7
Arichat 10-10
Alderney Point 7-13
D’Escousse 5-15
Individual statistics looked like this:
Mainland
Batting: Barry Marchand Baracos .508
Richie Mann St. Peter’s .451
Home Runs: Barry Marchand Baracos 9
RBI: Richie Mann St. Peter’s 31
Pitching: Richie Mann St. Peter’s 10-1
ERA: Barry Marchand Baracos
Island
Batting: Maurice Boudreau Little Anse .431
Claude Boudreau PDG .400
Terry Samson Little Anse .371
Home Runs: Claude Boudreau PDG 8
RBI: Claude Boudreau PDG 35
Pitching: Robbie Samson Little Anse 5-1
ERA: Cecil David Alderney Point 1.85