Lorne Nielsen of Wilkie will be inducted into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame, Individual Category, as a Player/Builder, Saturday, Aug. 18 in Battleford.
Nielsen was born in Wilkie on April 12, 1963 and grew up on a farm just outside of Scott. Nielsen was competitive in all sports. As a youngster, he would hang a ball from the rafters of the old red barn and spend hours hitting it with a bat. To this day, Nielsen prepares himself to play Twilite baseball by hitting a ball on a tether.
He was a member of the 1972 Unity provincial mosquito champions. In 1973, Nielsen started playing with Wilkie in both peewee and bantam divisions. At 16, in 1979, Nielsen played with the Unity Cardinals in the Saskatchewan Major Baseball League where he got more than his share of playing shortstop. One of Nielsen’s favourite memories was when he hit a triple off an imported player, Pete Maus, pitching for Moose Jaw.
In 1980, Nielsen played with the North Battleford Bisons in the North Saskatchewan River Baseball League, playing against all senior teams. This was the best summer of his life. Coach Bob Colliar with John Ford assisting, took the team on a trip to Montreal, Que. where we saw the Expos play the Pirates and the Phillies.
The team then experienced competing in the Canadian Summer Games where they lost in the semifinal game. Hosting the provincial tournament, they were victorious, winning the tournament. This was the year Nielsen started hitting the ball out of the park, including the home run in the final game of the provincials. This victory allowed them to compete in the Westerns in Burnaby, B.C. where they lost the final to Burnaby. There he met with a Pittsburg Pirates scout, but never heard from him again. Nielsen suffered a broken ankle that second year, so did not play the last half of the season.
After two years in North Battleford, Nielsen returned to Wilkie to play with the Brewers. There were 18 players, so time on the field was limited. Players were not happy. The following year, some of the older players retired or played with Unity. Few were left to play as the Brewers. Nielsen, at the age of 20, took over coaching that team. The team did not do well enough to compete at the provincial level, so Nielsen joined the Neilburg Monarchs junior team for provincials. They lost in the provincial final.
In the winter of 1984, Nielsen married Donna Keller. In the years that followed, Nielsen was coach/player of the Brewers. Nielsen also assumed the duties of managing the team, taking care of the diamond and all that needs to be done for regular and tournament games. Donna assisted by doing all the things off the diamond. By the fourth year, the Brewers had developed into a much stronger team, winning many local tournaments, beating the North Battleford team and advancing to the Northern provincial playoffs in Muenster.
Year five saw the Brewers win the NSRBL championship and, for the first time, hosted the Western Canadian tournament. Coach/player, Nielsen hit two home runs and was selected as the second base all-star of the tournament.
Nielsen continued to play with the Brewers for a couple more years then played with the 35+ Twiliters. He then focused on coaching youth. He coached the local midget team and Zone 7 Bantam Selects. For the next 18 years Lorne coached minor ball, coaching each of his five children’s teams. He returned to coach in the Bantam Selects program with that team winning bronze in the 2004 Summer Games in Weyburn. He continued to run that program until 2012.
During those years Nielsen was instrumental in upgrading the ballpark that then allowed Wilkie to host annual tournaments and provincials.
After the westerns in 1987, Nielsen stepped down as coach but continued to play for several years, being one of the top hitters each year, winning the batting title in 1994.
In 1993 and 1994, Nielsen was picked up by the Kindersley Royals of the SMBL for provincial playoffs, going on to the nationals in Red Deer in 1994 where Nielsen was named Kindersley’s “player of the game.”
Nielsen was an SBA zone governor for 12 years and the chef de mission for teams attending the national playoffs.
Lorne and Donna continue to make their home in Wilkie.
