User:Halvorsen brian/History of baseball in Ontario, Oregon

The history of baseball in Ontario, Oregon dates back to 1909. The first recorded team in the area, simply name "Ontario", played a team from Roswell, Idaho. In 1913, Ontario had a team in the Oregon–Idaho League.

1909 season
The first recorded baseball game that took place with a team from Ontario, Oregon occurred on June 10, 1909 when the Ontatio club took on a team from Roswell, Idaho. Ontario won the contest, 14–7. A write up in The Ontario Argus notes that Ontario's manger and town physician, Sharp, nearly collided with a Roswell played. After the game, the teams scheduled another match-up to be played at a later date. The second recorded game took place on June 20, 1909. Ontario faced the team they beat previously, Roswell, Idaho. The match took place on the latter town's baseball field. Ontario's pitcher Draiper held the Roswell club to just one run against their four runs.

A game was set to be held involving the Ontario club and a team from Parma, Idaho on June 25, 1909. The Ontario Argus noted that manager Sharp wanted the game to start at "twilight". The paper commented "he's getting fancy". A game was held on June 27, where Ontario defeated a club from the town of Weiser, Idaho. Ontario was victorious with a score of 5–3. A news report about the game in The Argus noted that the Ontario team was 5–0 on the season.

The Ontario team was set to play the Payette, Idaho baseball team on July 4 and 5. The teams game was held at a baseball field in Payette. The first game between the two clubs was pushed back to June 5. Ontario won by a score of 3–1. The second game took place on Monday, June 7 in Payette. The Idaho club won, 6–2. The Ontario Argus criticized the umpire of the game, writing "his first base decisions were bad, very bad".

1913 season
In March 1913, Bob Duncan, who was attempting to create a baseball league in the area, visited Ontatio with the prospect of establishing a team in the town. The proposed league, which would later be named the Oregon–Idaho League, was planned to feature teams from Vale, Oregon; Payette, Idaho; Emmett, Idaho; and Weiser, Idaho, as well as Ontario. On April 15, the Ontario club was officially created during a meeting of local baseball fans. Players in the area were issued to report to the Malheur County Fairgrounds. The first game of the season for the team took place on May 4 against the Payette club. In front of 100 spectators, Ontario was defeated by a score of 13–3. The battery for Ontario was Brunning and Smith.

On June 19, 1913, the Ontario baseball team played a Forth of July game at the Malheur County Fairgrounds where admission was 25¢ ($ adjusted for inflation). In July, Ontario manager Ralph W. Swagler left for St. Peter, Minnesota to recruit new players for the 1914 season. The final game of the 1913 season was played in Ontario on July 13, against the Vale club. Ontario won the game, knocking Vale out of the first place spot in the Oregon–Idaho League. Ontario finished with a 2–10 record.

1914 season
The first game of the 1914 season was played on April 19 against the Weiser, Idaho club. The game was protested, but still played. Ontario protested the game to league officials claiming that the Weiser club used players who were not on their official roster. Weiser won the match, 3–1. On April 26, Ontario played a re-match against Weiser where the latter team won, 7–6. A second game was played that day as Ontario matched-up against the Payette, Idaho club. Ontario took the game, 8–6. On April 21, Ontario lost to a team from the town of Fruitland, Idaho. Ontario played Payette on June 7, 1914 and came out victorious, 9–8. It was said that is was a "record crowd" at the game. With the win, Ontario was in first place in the Oregon–Idaho League.

1915 season
On February 18, 1915 a Mr. Clemo announced he was organizing an amateur baseball team for Ontario high school players. It was announced in March that there was a plan to organize a city-wide team in a league that consisted of teams from Boise, Idaho; Nampa, Idaho; Caldwell, Idaho; Vale, Idaho; Payette, Idaho; Weiser, Idaho, as well as Ontario, Oregon. A committee, composed of R. W. Swagler, Len Christiansen, Fred Rice, Wilmer Boyer and A. Anexdale, was formed to establish the team. The first baseball game of the season took place on April 11, with the Ontatio club facing the Payette team.