Renfrew – The annual end-of-season baseball tournament this past weekend at Renfrew’s Ma-te-Way baseball fields was overshadowed by the loss of close to $2,000 in cash and products after an outdoor canteen used by the local baseball association was broken into.

Kasia Maves, President of the Renfrew Minor Baseball (RMB), told the Leader she was heartbroken when she received a telephone call from a Renfrew Recreation staff member informing her the canteen used by the league for both storage and confectionary sales had been broken into and the majority of stock items and cash from the sale of 50/50 tickets were stolen sometime late Saturday night or early Sunday morning.

“It was before seven o’clock this morning (Sunday) and I was awake and planning to go in early to check out the fields when I received a call from a town staff member asking me if we had removed all the contents from the canteen,” she said. “I think he knew the answer and we both knew someone broke in and stole everything.”

A quick physical inspection of the building confirmed it was a break-in and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) were on site gathering information for a formal report.

“It looks like they tried the main door and the two pull-down sliding doors over the food counter looked a bit off,” she said. “There is a back door that is not used and that was definitely kicked or something like that because it was in rough shape.”

Ms. Mayes said the tournament is a chance for Ottawa Valley kids to play each other at least once. Renfrew, Eganville, Madawaska Valley, Pembroke and Petawawa were among the communities represented by teams made up of 14 players, aged 10 to 12 years with boys and girls taking their turns at the plate.

It was the faces of the players who showed up on Sunday morning and told the story the canteen had been broken into and it would remain closed for the day. The tournament resumed play on Sunday and all the players who walked on to the field glanced at the two OPP vehicles parked at the entrance to the canteen.

“What makes this even worse is the canteen is run by volunteers, made up of parents or older siblings who were volunteering to count for their required school hours,” Ms. Maves said. “They took about $2,000 in both monetary and items for sale like ice cream, popsicles and others and we were not in a position to go out and restock.”

She said the RMB sustained an incredible loss both monetary and in terms of material items.

“We had our player-of-the-game prizes stolen and almost all of our canteen items,” she said. “The loss is substantial to our association. Our raffle baskets, donated by our local teams, were pilfered and the building sustained damage.”

She explained the money raised in the canteen is used to offset the costs that go along with being part of RMB.

“We want to make baseball affordable and accessible for any child who wants to play baseball,” she said. “We try to make some kind of subsidy available for our players who need a little extra help. But now that is going to be tough to do. We already have some incredible sponsors and we don’t want to ask them so we use whatever we raise through canteen sales.”

Ms. Maves said she didn’t wake up expecting to hear about a robbery, nor did she expect to be answering so many questions as she was looking forward to actually relaxing and enjoy watching some of the games.

“I have had so many people coming up and asking me so many questions and they are all pretty much the same,” she said. “We all want to know who did this and why. We have been told by police it was forced entry but they were not specific but one of the doors did look like it was kicked.”

She and the other parents are realistic in knowing it is doubtful any of the money or confectionary stolen will ever be recovered. They were going to discuss next steps after the tournament.

“Our canteen is 100 per cent volunteer run with 100 per cent of proceeds going back to our program. With some very kind donations we are hoping to continue running for the remainder of the season but please bear with us that we may not have all our usual treats.”

The Leader interviewed Ms. Maves during the final innings of the championship game, which was taking place about 20 feet in front of her. The host team, Renfrew, was going up against a team representing Madawaska Valley. Ms. Maves sat back to watch the finals and said despite all the negativity about the canteen break-in, baseball is doing well this year.

“We have about 150 kids registered this year and that helps break down our league so that we have teams in all age groups with both boys and girls playing this year,” she said. “The weather has been great. We had a good turnout and the kids got to play seven games. Without the canteen robbery, I would say it was pretty good weekend.”

Anyone with any information are asked to contact the OPP at 613-432-1122.

The Final Match

With the interview complete, it became apparent the final game was not going to be a rout for either side. With very few errors committed, the teams played a barnburner as the score went back and forth during the five-inning game.

The games are played time sensitive so all the pitchers can rest their arms in between games when they are the starter.

During this final game, Renfrew’s starting pitcher, Tucker Scheuneman, was getting close to his 85-pitch maximum during the top of the fifth inning. When the third out was called against MV, they grabbed their gloves and took to the field hoping to preserve the lead and take home the championship.

Renfrew was not done yet and managed to come back and tie MV. The Renfrew squad made it a tense final minutes for the players and parents. With two outs recorded, it turned into a battle between the MV pitcher and Renfrew hitters.

In the end, the Renfrew squad was able to score another and close out the inning winning the championship. It was the best news the host community could receive after the was the day began.