MOOSE JAW — As the 2025 golf season winds down at Lynbrook Golf Course, general manager Ray Wareham is celebrating a different kind of sporting milestone — one that takes him back to the baseball diamond and a championship-calibre season a quarter-century ago.
Wareham’s 1999 Mayville State University Comets baseball team was officially inducted into the Mayville State University Athletic Hall of Fame in North Dakota on Sept. 26. The honour recognizes the Comets’ outstanding season that Wareham remembers as “a pretty cool year” with a special group of players.
“When I got the email to let us know that we were getting in there, that was exciting,” said Wareham. “It’s always nice to get recognized for something like that.”
In 1999, the Comets posted a 42-5 win-loss record, finished No. 22 in National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) rankings, and were second in the United States with an earned run average of 3.39. They also ranked sixth nationally in batting average with .370.
“We had quite the team,” Wareham said. “Then we ended up losing in the Super Regional that year to Bellevue, Nebraska, and they went to the NAIA World Series. We didn’t quite make it — but we were pretty darn close.”
Several teammates received All-Conference and All-Region honours, and the Comets were named the College Male Team of the Year by the North Dakota Associated Press Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. Wareham earned recognition as an NAIA Scholar-Athlete.
The route that led Wareham from Moose Jaw to Mayville was far from ordinary.
“I went down there to see Scott Berry, the head coach (of the Comets) at the time. He recruited me out of high school to go play at Mayville State University, but I went the hockey route instead,” he recalled.
“(When) I was about 28 years old, he asked if I had any interest in going down there to help him (as) an assistant coach to work with the pitchers, so I did that.”
What began as a chance to coach soon had Wareham back on the mound.
“A couple of our pitchers got hurt in fall ball and he asked if I wanted to actually pitch. I said, ‘Yeah, I could throw a few innings if we need it,’ because I had … eligibility,” Wareham said. “I ended up pitching that year and working as an assistant coach. We ended up having a pretty cool year and the team was really good.”
That season earned Wareham an affectionate nickname: “Grandpa.”
“I was 28 at the time, and all these guys were 19 or 20,” he laughed. “I was supposed to be an assistant coach, and then all of a sudden, now I’m working out with the pitchers as opposed to telling them what to do. But it was good — they still respected me as a coach and I fit in as a player as well.”
Wareham stayed with the Comets for several years, recruiting players from Moose Jaw who later made their own mark. “The guys who went down there ended up playing college baseball and getting a degree, and a couple of them are back here in town teaching,” he said.
Among them were Moose Jaw natives Aaron Foster, Geoff Zimmerman, and Lee Smith, along with Trevor Bishop from Assiniboia.
A few years later, the connection Wareham helped establish paid off. The 2002 Mayville State team, which included several recruits from Moose Jaw, advanced to the NAIA World Series and was later inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Though no longer coaching, Wareham’s efforts to bring Moose Jaw’s talent south of the border helped build a legacy that still shapes the program today.
Wareham remains grateful for the recognition and for the coach who gave him a second chance.
“Scott Berry saw something in me when I was still in high school,” Wareham said. “I thank him for the opportunity because it was a special time. I got to meet a lot of good people and work with some good kids.”
For a man who’s spent his life between the rinks, diamonds, and fairways, the Hall of Fame nod is another reminder that great seasons, and great teammates, never fade.
