Muskoka Hornets to Retire Mike Holm's Number 25 – Bracebridge to Re-Name Kerr Park Diamond to Holm Diamond 

Monday, May 1, 2023

At its annual awards banquet held on Saturday April 29, the Muskoka Hornets formally announced that it will retire #25 in a ceremony to be held on Saturday, June 24 at 12 pm at Bracebridge's Kerr Park.   #25 was the jersey number worn by former executive, coach and baseball parent Mike Holm, who tragically passed away in 2017 at the age of 39.  Mike is survived by his wife Vicky and two sons still active in the program, Mark and Lucas, who were all present for the announcement.  The jersey retirement on June 24 will coincide with the formal ceremony to re-name Kerr Park's baseball field to Holm Diamond.

Mark Holm, who is in his last year as a Hornet, recently committed to continue his post-secondary baseball career at Niagara Community College in up-state New York while Lucas is a pitcher and starting center fielder on the Muskoka Hornets 15U AA team.  Lucas's 15U team will play at Kerr Park before the ceremony, while Mark's 18U Hornets team will play a doubleheader against Innisfil immediately following the retirement ceremony.

"Mike's contribution to our program cannot be measured in words.  He was a true jack of all trades coaching both of his kids, volunteering at house league, helping at fundraisers, raking diamonds at tournaments and participating in all other Hornets activities," commented Muskoka Hornets President Peter Haynes.  "Mike was the true definition of a Diamond Rat and his love of baseball was never ending.  I miss him every day but get some peace in knowing his legacy will live on forever both in our program and in Bracebridge at the re-named Holm Diamond at Kerr Park," Haynes added.

Mark Holm had a big night at the awards ceremony, winning MVP for his 18U AA team, while also taking home the award named after his father for dedication to the program.  On behalf of the Hornets program, we wish Mark the best in his future baseball endeavors.  Other winners of 2022 awards are listed on the Hornets social media pages and will appear on our website at www.hornetsbaseball.ca.  A video montage put together in honor of Mike which included well wishes from former Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons, former Blue Jays first base coach and now full-time resident of Muskoka, Tim Leiper, and Toronto Blue Jays World Series Champions Duane Ward and Devon White, will be available on our website in the near future.

About the Hornets

The Muskoka Hornets Baseball Association formed in 2009 as a program for kids in the Muskoka Region interested in playing competitive baseball.   In 2023, the Hornets will field five competitive travel teams at 11U (Mosquito) rep B, 13U (Minor Peewee) rep B, 13U (Peewee) rep AA, 15U (Bantam) rep AA and 18U (Midget) rep A.  In 2013, the Hornets took over day to day management of the Huntsville Minor Baseball Association and expect a record of over 250 players to register in the house league program this year.   For further information, please contact Peter Haynes, President of the Muskoka Hornets, at 416-818-3036.

Register now for the 12th Annual Muskoka Hornets Summer Camp led by Ryan Davis, Muskoka Hornets Director of Player Development.  Ryan will be joined at camp by former college and professional baseball players including Jeff Cowan and Brad Bissell along with existing and former Muskoka Hornets players now at college.

Details in the attached document below - please click here to register.

Muskoka Hornets house league registration is now closed.  We are adding players to wait lists in the following divisions:

11U, 13U, 15U

We have a few spots left in 5U, 7U and 9U.

If you wish to be added to a wait list or want to register for one of the younger divisions, then please contact Elyse Moodie at elysemoodie@gmail.com

Each year,  approximately 10-20% of the Muskoka Hornets house league players are female.  And yet until now you wouldn't know girls were part of our program unless you showed up on Wednesday nights at McCulley.   After all, there is no mention on our site about girls and no pictures of girls playing ball anywhere.  We need to do better to promote girls baseball and we will.   Watch our social media pages and our website for exciting stories about girls in our program as the year progresses, including more information on three of our proudest members, the Burse sisters pictured below, Claire on our 11U travel team and Ivy and Violet from our house league program.  The Burse sisters represent everything that is great about our community based program.  They are committed, enthusiastic, helpful and want to learn.  If you have a female child aged 3-15, sign them up for house league - no experience necessary.  If you want to check out our program first, then drop by McCulley on a Wednesday and see the kids in action, girls and boys alike, playing together and enjoying the great game of baseball.

February 4th - House League Registration Opens

February 28th - House League Early Bird Discount Ends

April 23  - Muskoka  Hornets Umpire Certification Clinic - location TBD

April 29 - Muskoka Hornets Spaghetti Dinner Awards Ceremony and Fundraiser - Legion In Huntsville - 6 pm start

Mid May - House League Season Starts and Runs Every Wednesday until end of August with Sunday evening practices 9U and up

July 3-7 - Muskoka Hornets 12th Annual Summer Camp - Welcome Back Ryan Davis 

For any additional Information, please contact Peter Haynes at hornetsbaseball.ca

click here to register for the 15th Annual Muskoka Cup

Dates and locations below:

9U A and below- Huntsville - July 28-30 - FULL

11U A  and below- Bracebridge - July 21-23

13U A and below - Bracebridge - July 14-16 - FULL

13 U AA and below- Huntsville - July 14-16

15U AA and below - July 28-30* - FULL

18U AA and below - June 9-11* - FULL

*games played in Huntsville and Bracebridge

Please contact Peter Haynes at muskokahornets@rogers.com to book a spot or be added to wait list for tournies that are full currently- note: you must have a spot reserved in order to register.  See tournament flyer below for additional information.

At its 2022 Annual General Meeting  held December 4, three new Board members were added to the Muskoka Hornets organization.  Keith Courville joins the Board as head of Sponsorship/Fundraising, Louis Beare joins as House League Skill Development Coordinator and Josh Shaw joins as Director.  Please join me in welcoming all three of the new members to our Board.

Peter Haynes

President

All games played at McCulley Robertson Diamonds - 300 William St - Huntsville

August 8, 2022:

We are a very proud organization today knowing that four Muskoka Hornets alumni played critical roles in helping  the Newmarket Hawks capture the 22U Junior Nationals in Halifax this past weekend.  Ethan Murdy from Huntsville (second from left) and Cody Thomas from Bracebridge (third from left) handled all the catching duties throughout the season, with Murdy a force all season at the plate - he even captured the Home Run Derby before the start of the Nationals tournament, beating out a local player from Dartmouth on his way to a D1 baseball scholarship. 

Meanwhile  on the pitching front, southpaw Jordan Howse  from Windemere (far left) pitched a complete game 2-1 victory against Kitchener in a must win round robin game on Saturday and Logan McKnight (far right) from Port Sydney scattered three hits over 6 shut out innings in a round robin victory over PEI and was given the honor of starting the gold medal game Sunday night against the host Dartmouth team in a packed Beasley Stadium.  McKnight did not disappoint, tossing a complete game gem giving up 5 hits and only one run in a 3-1 final win for the Hawks.  

Both Murdy and McKnight played their entire minor baseball careers with the Hornets and now ply their trade for Laurentian and Western University respectively.  Howse (who will also suit up for Western this Fall) and Thomas played most of their minor ball in Muskoka and all four alumni are still involved with player development in our program, helping future Hornets achieve their baseball dreams.

Congrats boys on a job well done!

The minor baseball programs of Midland-Penetang, Orillia and Muskoka are pleased to announce a collaboration to offer elite baseball locally.  Starting in the fall of 2022, the Northern Elite Osprey will join the Elite Baseball League of Ontario (EBLO), Baseball Ontario's highest level of competition, with a 15U team.  Over the following two years, the program plans to add 16U and 18U teams and expects that the Osprey teams will be made up primarily of the top-level players from each of the three local community programs.

For a copy of the complete release, please see attachment below or visit the new Osprey website at www.ospreybaseball.ca.

Please click here if you wish to register for our 12U (2010 Birth Year) Open tournament this fall.  First chance for 2022 teams to test out the bigger diamond dimensions in Muskoka at its most beautiful time of the year.

Please contact Peter Haynes at muskokahornets@rogers.com with any questions.

In the event that a family needs financial assistance with the cost of minor sports including baseball, there are local funding opportunities available.  Historically, Children's Foundation of Muskoka was an avenue available in our community.  However, the Foundation asked us to direct funding requests directly to Jumpstart and to connect with them only in the event an applicant is not successful or is in need of top up funds.  

To apply, please contact Jumpstart at https://jumpstart.canadiantire.ca/pages/apply

For more news click here

Congratulations to our 2020 Muskoka Cup Festival Winners:

9U - Barrie AA Baycats

11U - Collingwood Jays

13U - Valley East Jr. Voyageurs

15U - Muskoka Hornets

Congratulations to Hornets Alumni Amrit Brown who will suit up next year for Hood College, a division 3 baseball program in Maryland.  Amrit is a top student and corner infielder at his high school in North Carolina who has become an integral part of our Hornets program since arriving in Muskoka for summer ball some 5 years ago,  We wish Amrit the best in his academic and baseball future and hope he continues to spend time in Muskoka in his adult life.

Congratulations to Thornhill who won a close battle over Richmond Hill 21-20 in the final of the 9U Muskoka Cup.  For a complete list of scores for our tournaments, please search under the Tournaments tab.

Congratulations to Creemore, our 11U A champions for the 2022 Muskoka Cup.  Creemore went 3-0 in round robin play, then defeated London in a close semi final and disposed of a strong Niagara Falls squad 5-2 in the final.

Congratulations to the Oakville A's on capturing the 12U AAA Canada Day Weekend Muskoka Cup with an 8-3 win over Brantford in the final.  The A's went 5-0 on the weekend and looked every part a team that can compete for a championship at OBAs.    Please click here for complete tournament results.

Congratulations to Brantford for winning the 2022 13U Muskoka Cup championship game 8-5 over a strong team from Toronto Playgrounds.

Congratulations to Cambridge for winning our 2002 15U AA Muskoka Cup tournament in a thrilling 8-6 finals victory over Brantford.  A great tournament for all teams.

Congratulations to the Cambridge Cubs 18U AA team for its victory in the 2022 Muskoka Cup held June 17-19.  Great weekend of baseball all around - please click here to see scores for this event.

If you are interested in becoming an umpire for the Muskoka Hornets, then please reach out to our UIC Aiden Courville at  muskoka.umpire@gmail.com.   We are looking for umpires for both our house league and travel programs.  If you like baseball, then learning to umpire is a great way to get to know the game better, earn a little bit of extra cash and control your own schedule.  We look forward to hearing from you.

Northern Elite Osprey – Call for Baseball Coaches – 2023

The Northern Elite Osprey baseball program is looking for coaches for its inaugural baseball team at the 15U age category.

Coaches interested in applying for a position in the program can do so by completing the application form found on our website at www.ospreybaseball.ca.  We are looking for coaches to help in different capacities including head coaches, skill coaches and volunteers looking to lend a hand at practice or help in other team activities.

The Osprey program is also in the process of looking for lead sponsors.  If you know of any organizations that might be interested in helping out, then please contact Wes Winkel at wes@ellwoodepps.com.

Osprey executives are very excited for the prospects of our first team.  The program held skill assessment sessions in the fall of 2021 and the talent and interest level in prospective players was strong. 

"With any new program, there is always some uncertainty about whether the teams will be able to compete at the elite level in the early years," commented Osprey President Peter Haynes.  "After watching the prospects go through extensive drill sessions in the fall, it is clear the talent and athleticism with this group will be very capable of competing at baseball's highest level of play," Haynes added.  The Osprey expect to hold additional skill development sessions in the next couple months and tryouts will take place in August 2022.

To help promote elite baseball in our region and to increase awareness of the Osprey, the program plans to host an elite 15U fall ball tourney in Muskoka on the weekend of September 30 – October 2, 2022.  This weekend event will be a great opportunity for local baseball enthusiasts to come out and see the new team in action.

Please contact David Gemmell, Director of Player Development, at david_gemmell10@hotmail.com if your son or daughter is interested in being considered for a spot on the 2023 team or if you are interested in coaching in the program.

About the Northern Elite Osprey

The Northern Elite Osprey are an elite baseball program formed from players from the three minor baseball programs in Midland-Penetang, Orillia and Muskoka.  The Osprey will field a 15U team in Baseball Ontario's Elite Baseball League in 2023 with plans to add 16U and 18U teams in the years to follow.  To learn more about the Osprey, please visit our website at www.ospreybaseball.ca and follow us Twitter @ospreybaseball.

We are pleased to announce our head coaches for 2022:

9U A - 2013-2015 - Tyler Fields - tyler.everett.fields@gmail.com

11U B* - 2011-2012 - Cameron Boyd - muskokabaseball@live.ca

12 U AAA - 2010 - David Gemmell - david_gemmell10@hotmail.com

13U A - 2009-2010 - Greg Zedic - zedicgreg@gmail.com

15U AA - 2007-2008 - Joe Hickes - joe@muskokaoutlaws.com

18U AA - 2004-2006 - Joe Hickes - joe@muskokaoutlaws.com

* Cam Boyd is running 11U try outs - head coach not finalized

Please contact Peter Haynes at muskokahornets@rogers.com if you have any questions.