Randy Munch
Athlete (2002)
Baseball
Playing either for the Saskatoon Commodores or the Saskatchewan All-Stars, Randy Munch competed in the Canadian championships six times and, in 1970, led the Commodores to a silver medal. He was further honored when he named to Canada's team at the 1971 world championships.
Randy was born in Esterhazy, was on ball diamonds by the time he was four and his dad formed a team so Randy had a chance to play by the time he was 11. One of the first signs of success came when the Esterhazy Legion Red Sox won the provincial Pony League championship.
While in high school, he played baseball and met Valerie, who became his wife and biggest fan. Randy joined the Melville Millionaires in the Southern Baseball League in 1966 and won the Father Athol Murray award as rookie-of-the-year.
He graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with an engineering degree in 1967 and started a long stretch with the Saskatoon Commodores, playing shortstop for Spero Leakos for 10 years. In 1968, he was picked up by the North Battleford Beavers for the Lacombe baseball tournament and the Beavers won what was considered the most prestigious of the Western Canadian tourneys.
His best performance in six appearances at the Canadian national tournament came in 1970 when the Commodores took the silver medal, thanks to Randy's .590 batting average and a six-for-six hitting performance during the two medal round playoff games.
Randy was selected to the Canadian team, which was going to play at the world championships in Havana, Cuba. The Canadians finished with four wins and five losses in Cuba, losing once by a single run in regular time and losing twice in extra innings. The performance by the Canadians was strong enough that in its re-evaluation process, Canada decided to stick with the national program.
Randy also played with the Unity Cardinals in the Northern Baseball League, a treasured time because his daughter, Morgan, was the batgirl and his constant companion on the road.
With his regular appearances at the nationals, including this 1974 team, which played in New Brunswick, Randy soon retired from the game and turned to coaching.
He was named to the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994, in recognition of his playing ability and the coaching roles he assumed with Saskatoon Miazga Nationals in 1985, the Canadian National Youth team in 1988, the Saskatchewan midget Selects in from 1990 to 1992, and two Saskatchewan teams at the Canada Summer Games. He is nationally certified as a master course conductor, designed a bantam baseball camp in 1989 and taught for 10 years and has also served on the Saskatchewan association's coaching and development committee.