Ronald McKechney's stellar baseball career was recognized recently.
The Bienfait native was among this year's inductees to the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame, with the 29th annual induction ceremony taking place last month in Battleford.
McKechney, 77, joins his brother Gary (2009), Bob Burns (2003), Ray Frehlick (2005), Mel Murray (2006), the Ace Mud Mets (2008) and Don Dupuis (2011) as current or former local residents to be inducted to the Hall.
McKechney, who now lives in East St. Paul, Man., with his wife Margaret, said it was an unexpected honour.
"It meant a lot to me because I grew up in Bienfait and Estevan, played in tournaments there, had friends there. Baseball was a big part of being a Saskatchewanite."
He noted help along the way from the many coaches and volunteers required to make a baseball team work, calling the game "a labour of love."
McKechney spent nine years with the Estevan Maple Leafs in the Southern Saskatchewan Baseball League, a tenure that included winning the league championship in 1956.
He also won his first of two batting titles in 1959, receiving the Dave Dryburgh Memorial Trophy after sporting a batting average of .380.
The Maple Leafs folded in 1962, leaving McKechney without a team.
"We wrote a few teams and Swift Current said, 'Come on out and you can work and play ball here,'" he recalled.
McKechney would find more success with the Indians, winning two more league championships in 1963 and 1965. He tore up the league in 1965, posting a .403 batting average to win his second title. He was also awarded the Rogers Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player.
What was his secret at the plate?
"Batting rocks over the sheep fence with a stick," McKechney laughed. "I grew up on a farm, and that's what I did part of the time when I was bored. I wasn't a good runner, I was slow. I had a good arm. My dad taught us not to strike out, that was a shame to do that. He played a little baseball. It was just concentration, confidence and knowing the strike zone."
Along with his career in Saskatchewan, McKechney also spent two years playing with the Bemidji State University Beavers from 1959-61. He captained the team his second year and had also been captain of the BSU hockey team the previous season.
"I was a little older when I went down there. There were a lot of young players there. The calibre there was about the same as Saskatchewan. Bemidji was not a big baseball school," said McKechney, who switched from second base to catcher when he joined the Beavers.
"I enjoyed Bemidji and the area, and that set up my career in coaching and teaching physical education. I was very fortunate to have those experiences."
McKechney spent some time catching for his brother Gary in Estevan and later played some third base in Swift Current.
He later got into coaching, acting as a player-coach in his last year with Swift Current. A decade later he spent a year as a player-coach with the Thunder Bay A's, posting a batting average of .312 in the process.
Although there were certainly lots of achievements he could hang his hat on, McKechney said just the experience of playing at a high level is what stands out to him now.
"Everything was a highlight, just putting on the jersey every day."
McKechney was one of 17 individual, team, family and community inductees this year. The other players inducted included Jim Flynn (Carlyle), Larry English (Medicine Hat, formerly of Hazlet), Elwood Ferguson (Lloydminster), Garnet Hannon (Kindersley), Neil Hogg (Swift Current), Brian Lampitt (Battleford), Ira McKnight (Indianapolis, formerly of Saskatoon), Wayne Pusch (Regina Beach), Rodney Rhinehart (Maidstone), Bill Sittler (Wilkie), Rupert Talbot (Canwood) and Larry Tollefson (Parksville, B.C., formerly of Moose Jaw).
The Moose Jaw Regals and Jansen Red Sox were inducted in the team category, while the Kohlman family of Macklin and the community of Hazlet were also honoured.
