Lisle Baseball History
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54 Years of Baseball in Lisle (2007) This year marks the 54th year of organized baseball in the village of Lisle. Lisle has always put forth a competitive senior team in both the South Simcoe League and in the North Dufferin League.Lisle started off with the South Simcoe League in 1953, but changed over to join the rival North Dufferin League in 1961. At present Lisle is the longest continuous running team in this league. Lisle has been known by various team names, starting with the White Sox in the 50's, the Red Sox in the 60's and 70's and finally, their present name the Astros since 1980. Name changes usually coincided with a change of uniform colour. The team's first home was a diamond built on land leased from Canadian Forces Base Borden. The field was located just north of the village directly across the road from the present day diamond. In 1979 the township purchased land and funded the construction of a new ball field. The new field opened in 1980 and was named The Ross Houston Memorial Park after a prominent Lisle citizen who was involved in baseball and community affairs for many years. Many community members have raised money and generously volunteered their time over the years to help build up and maintain the park as one of the nicest in the area. Lisle has won the Strother Cup, the trophy for the championship team of the North Dufferin league, many times including 1961, 1966, 1967, 1971, and 1974. With the team doing so well it wasn't surprising that there would be many fans to their home and away games. Even though the attendance of fans have dropped off over the last couple of years, Lisle is still fielding a competitive team. They haven't won the Strother Cup lately, but they have always played well in the regular season and in the playoffs. More recent success has come to Lisle in the Ontario Baseball Championships. The team was 3 times Senior 'D' finalists in 1991, 1995, and 1996 before finally winning the Ontario Senior 'D' championship in 1998. Since 1962 Lisle has also hosted their annual Victoria Day weekend tournament. It has varied over the years from a one day to a three day tournament as required to accommodate the number of teams entered. Weather has always been an unpredictable factor at this tournament and over the many years games have been played in weather ranging from snow flurries to stifling hot temperatures. The Lisle Baseball Club has been looked upon with envy by other towns, that are unable to field nine players to play the game. This is an accomplishment that Lisle can be proud of. Even though the club now relies on many players outside of the village, it is nice to see that players are excited to play for a team based in Lisle. The Lisle Baseball Club has had its ups and downs, successes and failures but baseball continues to be played in Lisle and hopefully the tradition of baseball in the community will continue. For dates and times of games please check out the "schedules" link. The team would certainly appreciate fan support, so come out to cheer them on.  FIRST HOMERUN OUT OF ROSS HOUSTON MEMORIAL PARK The first homerun (during a league game) out of the newly erected homerun fence at Lisle park in 1983 was by Paul Greer of Lisle in a game against Orangeville on May 28th.Wayne Rowe of the Dufferin-Simcoe Rockers and Tim Newlove of Stayner were the first to hit homeruns during the Annual Victoria Weekend Tournament on May 21, 22, 23. Ontario Baseball Senior 'D' Champs - 1998
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