Player of the Year Victoria Curro (Etobicoke, Ont.) a gold medal winner at the Summer Games. Photo: Royal York Baseball League

November 15, 2025

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

Victoria Curro and Marquise Gordon earned Baseball Ontario players of the year honours at the annual OBA convention and banquet at the Sheraton Toronto Airport Hotel during Game 2 of the World Series.

Curro (Etobicoke, Ont.) batted third and helped the Ontario girls team win gold at the Canada Summer Games in Paradise, Newfoundland and Labrador. Curro won the senior award (for 14 years of age and older).

In a most memorable year, Curro played shortstop and third on three Team Ontario rosters: 16U, 19U and women’s. Besides winning the Canada Games, she earned a silver at the 19U Nationals in Calgary and was MVP at the women’s invitational, gaining the win and going 3-for-4 (hitting .500 for the tourney). Her Cardinals were TBA 16U champs and she was OBA semi-final player of the game, pitching a shutout.

Marquise Gordon (Oakville, Ont.) OBA junior player of the year with Justin Snively, OBA Rep Commissioner.

Gordon (Oakville, Ont.) helped Rick Da Costa’s Oakville A’s win the 13U Labor Day championships and was a pick up for the bantam eliminations champion Whitby Canadians, which won bronze in Woodstock at the nationals. The speedy Gordon, who won the junior award (13 and under), also won the COBA AAA 13U title.

On the season, he batted .552 with 12 home runs and a 1.498 OPS. He stole 100 bases en route to earning 13U AAA All-Star champion, as well as winning the Quebec Classique International and the Milton tournaments. He had 117 hit and scored 119 runs, striking out 12 times in 256 plate appearances.

On the mound he worked 75 innings, fanning 139, with an ERA of 1.77.

Their names are added to a list of players Ontario ball fans have traced for years after winning.

Former OBA players of the year:

Year Junior and Senior Players of the Year

1994 Chris Green, Mike Kusiewicz

1995 Paul Brown, Shawn Pearson

1996 Dan Hansen, Doug Vandecaveye

1997 Scott Thorman, Jason Mandryk

1998 Bradley Gould, Patrick Nailer

1999 Chris Emanuele, Tanner Watson

2000 Derek Lowe, BJ Richardson

2001 Dan Zehr, Chris Robinson

2002 Kate Psota, Jamie Romak

2003 Ian Choy, Cherie Piper

2004 Trevor Barton, Davey Wallace

2005 Cain Monaghan, Kevin Long

2006 Tanner Nivins, Greg Densem

2007 McCalla Sturgeon, Robert Cooper

2008 Geoffrey Seto, Larry Balkwill

2009 Nicholas Dimpfel, Ryan Zimmer

2010 Josh Naylor, Jake Lumley

2011 Connor May, Byron Reichstein

2012 Jason Stott, Matt Smith

2013 Noah Naylor, Justin Gideon

2014 Noah Roberts, Zachary Fascia

2015 Colin Mandarich, Jake Brennan

2016 Joe Kuin, Ty Schofield-Sam

2017 Carson Lumley, Josh Arce

2018 Brett Talbot, Carter Arbuthnot

2019 Jorja Sandilands, Scott Austin

2020 COVID

2021 Markus Woodley, Ryan McGivney

2022 Clive O’Brien, Darian Barnes

2023 Westin Merrit, Cameron Tully

2024 Zander Parsons, Isaac Cartier

2025 Marquise Gordon, Victoria Curro

(Pro players or those drafted listed in bold.)

With the Toronto Blue Jays hosting the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Rogers Centre, it was not normal banquet attire at the annual OBA banquet.

Total registration in the OBA for 2025 was 84,950 players — down 11,050 from 2024. Counting players, coaches and umpires the number comes out to.108,504.

* * *

The Class of 2025: Besides the players, coaches and umpires, four people were inducted into the OBA Hall of Fame: a former major leaguer, an ex-Team Canada stalwart, Canada’s leading historian and a tireless sandlot volunteer made up the HOF class.

Former Detroit Tigers infielder Reno Bertoia, Tommy McKenzie, who competed for Canada at five different international competitions, William Humber, respected SABR member, inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys in 2018 and Alan Waffle, who spent 37 years running the Royal York League in Etobicoke were inducted.

The inductees ...

Reno Bertoia

Bertoia, who passed away in 2011 in Windsor, Ont. at age 76, played parts of eight seasons across the border with the Tigers, as well as three seasons with the Washington Senators and part of one with the Kansas City A’s.

Of the 271 Canadians to have appeared in the majors, Bertoia’s 612 games ranks 26th all-time. He was a career .244 hitter with 27 homers, 171 RBIs and a .639 OPS. He made his debut as an 18-year-old on Sept. 22, 1953, striking out against Satchel Paige, Negro League Hall of Famer, in a 7-3 loss to the St. Louis Browns at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. And he was replaced in the lineup by Johnny Pesky.

Born in Italy, his family moved to Windsor when he was 18 months old. Father Ronald Cullen was his coach and mentor at Assumption High School. Upon retiring, he taught in Windsor and scouted for the Tigers and the Toronto Blue Jays. He was elected to the Windsor-Essex County Sports Hall of Fame in 1982.

William Humber

When Cooperstown needed someone to explain how its “National Pastime” grew north of the border, they asked Humber, 75, to speak at the conference. And like most Humber speaking engagements “he wowed the crowd.” When the Order of Canada was handed out to 40 people in 2023, the baseball man in the group was Humber. Governor General Mary Simon presented the prestigious honour at Rideau Hall in Ottawa for Humber’s “contributions as Canada’s premier baseball historian, who has highlighted the key ways in which the sport’s history is linked to our nation.”

When it came time to write about the first Canadian pro player -- right fielder Bob Addy of Port Hope, Ont. with the 1871 Rockford Forest Citys -- it was Bowmanville resident Humber who penned the book. A Toronto, native, Humber has authored several books, including Cheering for the Home Team, Let’s Play Ball: Inside the Perfect Game, The Baseball Book and Trophy, Diamonds of the North: A Concise History of Baseball in Canada and Old Ontario at Bat: An Unheralded Ancestry.

Humber helped create the Toronto Hanlan’s Point chapter of the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR) and played a role in the organization of Toronto’s first SABR convention in 1981. He is also the only Canadian to serve on the board of directors of SABR, having done so in 1982 and 1983 and then again in 1989.

Tommy McKenzie

There is a popular theory nowadays among scouts that Canada has a problem developing sure-handed middle infielders. Well, those scouts should have seen McKenzie in his prime.

The London-born, Kitchener resident, 83, was a member of the national team at the Pan Am Games in Winnipeg, Colombia and Puerto Rico, as well as being a member of Canada’s entry at the 1970-71 World Series. McKenzie also represented Ontario at the Canadian nationals in 1970 and 1976. In 18 full seasons in the Intercounty League, McKenzie was an all-star shortstop 12 times, plus a two-time batting champ, retiring with a .315 lifetime batting average and won MVP honors in 1970. He was all-star manager six of the seven years he managed, giving him the most selections in the league history with 18.

After retiring, the Kitchener Collegiate Institute and Eastwood Collegiate teacher gave back, coaching the Kitchener Panthers, the Orillia Terriers and the Intercounty Terriers. McKenzie was inducted into the Waterloo Region Sports Hall of Fame. In 1963 he was the leading scorer and MVP in the ORFU playing for the London Lords. He has played on six national slo-pitch championship teams. As a coach, he won eight high school football championships, six high school basketball titles, one provincial midget OBA championship and three IBL championships.

Alan Waffle

Waffle has contributed for almost four decades as an OBA volunteer, running the Royal York League, and its various predecessors – now one of the largest grassroots youth leagues in Canada. Among its alumni are Joey Votto, the future Hall of Famer.

As Royal York president, he envisioned an Etobicoke-based league and amalgamated, strengthened and grew various local community clubs that were internally competing for players and having succession issues. Waffle developed and coordinated grassroots ball for all ages (4-to-18), at all levels (house league, select, rep and development) to both boys and girls in Etobicoke. Based on 2023 data, the league included over 151 teams and over 1,500 registered players.

Waffle was a pioneer of girls and women’s ball, opening the door for young girls and women trying to participate in a traditionally male sport. He was also the initial champion for a Jays Foundation grant allowing for the building of the first new bantam-sized ball diamond in Toronto in the last 25 years _ Connorvale South in 2018. He was elected to the Etobicoke Hall of Fame in 2019. Waffle, 78, passed away in June of 20.

* * *

Player’s Awards Name Winner

Rep Player of The Year 13U & Below _ Marquise Gordon

Rep Player of The Year 14U & Above _ Victoria Curro

Select Player of The Year 13U & Below _ Wyatt Colton

Select Player of The Year 14U & Above _ Reed Yarrow

Rep Pitcher of The Year 13U & Below _ Clark Robinson

Rep Pitcher of The Year 14U & Above _ Jadyn Sagert

Select Pitcher of The Year 13U & Below _ Brody Bale

Select Pitcher of The Year 14U & Above _ Colby MacDonald

Select Team of the Year _ Brampton Royals 13U Select

16U Provincial Team Award of Excellence _ Zoe McGregor

17U Provincial Team Award of Excellence _ Ramsey Chung

19U Provincial Team Award of Excellence _ Mackenzie Allen

Women’s Provincial Team Award of Excellence _ Mona Floria and Brittany Chan

* * *

Team Awards

Rep Team of The Year _ Whitby Canadians 15U AAA

Women’s Provincial Team Award of Excellence _ Mena Florio

Association of the Year _ ICBA

Provincial Award _ 16U Girls Team Ontario.

* * *

Executive awards

Don McKnight Memorial Awards Affiliate Volunteer of the Year _ David Margetts, COBA, Adam Martin, EOBA, Nico Pacifici, HDBA, Shona Majuery, ICBA, Diane Wakefield, LDBA, John Pezacki, NCOBA, Chris Green, NDBA, Brad Walt, WOBA and Vicki Kring, YSBA.

R. Jack Middlemass Memorial Award for Provincial Volunteer of the Year _ Carene Davey

Director of the Year _ Randy Reid

President’s Award _ Adam De Caire

Commissioner’s Award _ Diane Wakefield.

* * *

Coaching awards

Rep Coach of The Year 13U & Below _ Steve O’Neil

Rep Coach of The Year 14U & Above _ Matthew Cade

Select Coach of the Year _ Richard Alay-Perez.

* * *

Service Awards

20 Years _ James Gibbons

25 Years _ Ric Duwyn, Rob Companion, David Margetts. Chris Wilhelm

30 Years _ Mark Orton

45 Years _ Bernie Soulliere

Umpires

Dick Willis Junior Umpire of The Year _ Brynlee Tufford

Dick Willis Senior Umpire of The Year _ Dave Freeman

Don Gilbert Umpire of The Year _ Tosha Hains

Elliott: Curro, Gordon, OBA's best of best, HOFers Bertoia, Humber, McKenzie, Waffle -- Update