Inverness Oran Sports

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Older and wiser, Sheldon MacDonald finds new way to win

Sheldon MacDonald, of Judique, is giving the Sydney Sooners another shot at a Nova Scotia Senior Baseball League title as one of the league’s top pitchers.


-by Bill Dunphy

    Sheldon MacDonald has been a baseball pitcher for 30 years now, and like most of us in life, he wishes he knew at 11 what he knows now.
    At 41, MacDonald is once again in position to win another Nova Scotia Senior Baseball League championship with the Sydney Sooners.
    The Sooners wrapped up their best-of-five semifinal series with the Halifax Pelham Molson Canadians last week with a 9-4 win in game five at the Susan MacEachern Memorial field in Sydney.
    MacDonald pitched the opening game of the series, a 6-2 win in 10 innings. He took the mound again in game three with the series tied 1-1 and tossed a three-hit 3-0 win, striking out seven.
    The Sooners now face the powerful Dartmouth Moosehead Dry in the best-of-seven league final. Dartmouth was 31-1 in league play this season and swept the Kentville Wildcats 3-0 in the other semifinal series.
    MacDonald had a little soreness in his shoulder when contacted at home in Judique on Monday, but was eagerly awaiting the release of the playoff schedule.
    “I’m surviving – it’s hard to believe we’re getting another shot at it,” he said.
    Leading up to the league playoffs, the Sooners represented Nova Scotia at the national championship in Victoria, B.C., in August. Sydney were 1-3 in round-robin play and missed the playoffs.
    And prior to that, MacDonald teamed up with Darson Murphy, Guy Pellerine, the Lockhart brothers from Kentville and several other top players from Nova Scotia to play in the over-35 nationals in Charlottetown. Calling themselves the Mariners, they defeated the Woodslee Orioles, of Ontario, 9-0 to capture the title. The Mariners took top honours in the national tournament on the strength of solid defence and pitching.
    And when he’s not playing baseball, he’s coaching baseball. His son Reid, 9, plays on the Cape Breton West under-11 AA team in the provincial Bluenose League.
    “It’s been a busy summer. I got back into baseball because I love it. I go back to the kids at practice and tell them this is what I learned today. The guys in Sydney are young, in their 20s, but I still learn from them. You have to accept that you can’t shut any doors on learning.”
    MacDonald pitched for Halifax from 1999 to 2004, won nationals in his final year, then left baseball behind to start a family. Along with Reid, he and his wife Dayna have two daughters: Mollie, 7, and Clara, 4.
    “In 2015, Collie Hayes in Port Hawkesbury asked me to play in the over-35 nationals with the Old Bucs. The rest was good, and I felt like I could get back in shape again and pitch again.”
    So he contacted Sydney coach Rico MacEachern, who helped him ease back into the game in 2016. The Sooners lost to Dartmouth that year then won the league title in 2017.
    “It was hard on the body at first, hard on the arm. The strength in my arm wasn’t there initially, but once I got it back, I didn’t want to let it go.”
    In league play this season, MacDonald is tied for third in win percentage with a .667 average and a 4-2 won-lost record.
    Now in his second year of coaching, MacDonald said he wants to pass on the lessons he learned, some the hard way, during his years as a player.
    “It comes down to what you were taught as a kid. You need to have a warm-up routine and learn about arm care, even as an 11-year-old. I was throwing curve balls at 11 when that’s something I should have been doing four or five years down the road. At 21, my arm wouldn’t bounce back like it once did.”
    As a coach, MacDonald stresses proper release to his pitchers, arm curls, and shoulder strengthening. “It’s not so much about winning games than it is of getting them into a routine and to continue doing it when they’re 16 and beyond.”
    MacDonald used to throw a splitter but has now developed a change-up to go along with his fastball and curve.
    “The splitter really affected my elbow. Even playing in Port Hawkesbury it was all I could do to just get by with a fastball. You have to be a pitcher more than a thrower.”
    (Editor’s note: Don’t be fooled by Sheldon’s modesty. I can attest to his fastball being quite good in 2015. I was umping a game behind the plate in Inverness during his ‘comeback.’ I took a foul tip, with an exit velocity of 100 miles per hour – maybe not but it felt like it – that broke my collarbone. I finished the game but it was a year before I could lift my arm over my head without pain).
    While focussed on the upcoming series with Dartmouth, MacDonald said he’s not sure how much longer he will continue to play, though...
    “Life gets a little easier and I’m very lucky to have Dayna’s support in resuming my baseball career. Senior nationals are in Chatham, New Brunswick, next year. It would be nice to go as a pitcher.”
    However, the desire to continue coaching is strong, as is his desire to fuel baseball’s growth in Inverness County.
    “Baseball is slowly starting to come back, and it wouldn’t be if it wasn’t for guys like Smokey MacNeil and Lester Campbell, who kept it going all these years. There should be baseball all through Route 19. Kids need to play different sports other than hockey.
    “Is there anything better than a baseball game on a nice summer evening?”
    MacDonald is the son of Joan and John J., and when they’re not at his games, you will find them at a field in Creignish, Judique, or Port Hood, cheering on their grandchildren.

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 


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