Kholton Shewchuk, a thirteen year old from Rama, Sask., is not only an avid athlete, he's also a very successful one.
He started to play baseball in Canora before moving on to play in Yorkton for three years. This past summer Shewchuk patrolled first base and pitched for the Yorkton Peewee AA Cardinals under head coach Tony Black.
The Peewee Cards played in the Regina Baseball League against Melville, the Regina Pacers, the Regina White Sox, Moose Jaw, Estevan, Weyburn and Swift Current. The team advanced to provincial playoffs in Lloydminster where they finished fourth.
During the regular season with the Peewee Cards, Shewchuk belted out nine homeruns, and pitched a lot of strikeouts.
With baseball season completed, Shewchuk turned his attention to his next favorite sport, hockey, when he received a call from the Lloydminster Twins.
Twins coach David Keck invited Shewchuk to join Team Sask. as a pick-up player for the Western Canadian AA Peewee Baseball Championships. Keck felt that Shewchuk, along with a player from Weyburn, would prove helpful in winning the Western Canadians in Surrey, B.C.
In preparing for the western title, Team Sask. practiced four or five hours daily and played a pair of exhibition games in Bonnyville, Alberta.
The team flew to Richmond for some exhibition games prior to the western playoffs August 13-15.
Team Sask came out on fire, sweeping the tournament in five straight games. They narrowly downed Team B.C. 5-4, then went on to defeat Newton, B.C. 11-8, triumph over Alberta 19-8, win a game against Manitoba, and mercied Team B.C. 15-5 in the championship final.
Shewchuk was called on to close the first and final games. Not only did he manage to hold B.C. off the scoreboard in the final, but Shewchuk also managed to hit a double in his at bat to bring in the three runs which mercied the opposing team and claim the Western Canada Championship.
Shewchuk hopes to play with a bantam team in Yorkton next summer.
He also enjoys school sports including track and field, volleyball and badminton.
When asked, Shewchuk admits his favorites sports are hockey and baseball. He likes to score goals and hit opponents. He enjoys pitching in baseball. He says he tries his best at both sports and would like to take either or both farther.
