2011 was a year to remember.
Here is the third annual look at the top 10 Listowel Banner sports stories of the year.

10. WILDCATS’ WILD RIDE
For the first time in club history, the Monkton Wildcats made it to the WOAA Senior AA finals.
They eventually lost to the Saugeen Shores Winterhawks. Saugeen clinched the title in Game 5 on April 19 in Port Elgin.
Monkton started the playoff run with a loss to the Thedford Dirty Dogs on Feb. 4. They eventually won the series in five games.
The Wildcats dusted off the Petrolia Squires in six games, then advanced to the final with a six-game victory over the Tillsonburg Thunder in the semis.
Monkton actually lost Game 6 but the game was overturned because the Thunder iced a suspended player.
The Wildcats finished second in the South division with a 20-3-0-3 regular-season record.

9. NEW JACKSON PARK UNVEILED
The newly rehabilitated Jackson Park in Listowel was officially re-opened this summer.
The effort to construct a custom ball diamond for Mosquito and Peewee-aged teams, and add new playground equipment, took a year to complete.
The finished project was unveiled on Aug. 12.
The Trillium Foundation, the Listowel Kinsmen Club, the Municipality of North Perth and the Listowel Minor Baseball Association all played their part in achieving the park’s vision, but there was one man in particular that took the project by the horns, Listowel’s Marc Bowman.
“There’s one person who deserves special recognition: Marc Bowman. Marc started the whole process applying to the Trillium Foundation, researching, designing, doing physical work. Marc has spent many hours working on this field, many more hours than any of us could imagine,” explained LMBA president Jan Kellum.

8. JR. BOYS END
21-YEAR DROUGHT
Listowel Lightning head coach Bill Nauta brought a special piece of clothing to the sidelines as his club hosted the Huron-Perth high school junior boys soccer championship. It was Nauta’s 1990 conference championship jacket from when he was a player, the last time Listowel captured the junior boys crown. It took 21 years, but the Lightning returned to the top in 2011.
Listowel, ranked first during the regular season, won the title game in thrilling fashion over the St. Marys Salukis at home on June 1. The final score was 2-1, but it took penalty kicks after 20 minutes of overtime failed to break the deadlock.
“It’s not my favourite way to do it. You like to win it on the field, but that’s soccer,” Nauta said.
Listowel began the day with a 2-1 semifinal win in overtime against the St. Anne’s Eagles.

7. MILVERTON BANTAMS WIN TWO MEDALS
The Milverton Bantam girls softball team, playing its inaugural season, won provincial gold and finished third at the Eastern Canadian championships.
At the Easterns – held in St. Basile, Quebec in late August – Listowel’s Maggie Martin was solid in left field and added one double and four singles.
Milverton’s Brooklynn Leis was 5-0 over 27 innings pitched, racking up 31 strikeouts against just one earned run. At the plate, Leis had three doubles and eight singles.
Poor weather caused by the remnants of a hurricane prematurely ended the tournament, so Milverton was awarded bronze based on the standings. They felt they had a chance to beat the remaining teams.
Milverton won the gold medal at the Ontario Bantam Tier II provincial championship over Kitchener. The tournament was hosted in Kanata Aug. 5-7.
Not only was it the first year Milverton entered a team, but all except one of the players were in their first season of Provincial Women’s Softball Association of Ontario’s two-year Bantam age group.... Please read more in this weeks Listowel Banner