It’s now been 16 years since the dominant run of the Winnipeg South Chiefs AAA minor baseball team.
From 2008 to 2010, the Chiefs were what kids today would call a “wagon.”
Their dynasty saw them go undefeated in league play for three consecutive seasons, from the peewee to bantam levels, with much of the same roster remaining together throughout that span.
The team was built primarily of Winnipeg players. However, a pair of brothers from the Interlake found themselves on the roster after their family moved from Lundar to Oak Bluff, which fell within the Chiefs’ catchment area.
The Millar brothers, Derrick and Chad, previously played community baseball in the region before making the move.
Derrick went on to play all three years with the team, while Chad played two seasons, winning a championship in each year he was with the club.
The team not only captured city and provincial titles, but also made trips to national championships, including one appearance in the medal round.
Each year, a Chiefs player was named Baseball Manitoba Player of the Year for their age group, including Derrick, who earned the honour in 2010.
The team was also a two-time recipient of Baseball Manitoba’s High Performance Team of the Year award.
Now, all these years later, the team was officially reunited on June 13 when it was inducted into the Baseball Manitoba Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026.
“Just to see these guys — a couple of them I haven’t seen in a good 10, even 15 years — it was really nice to catch up with them and kind of rekindle that connection,” Derrick Millar said on Friday.
Derrick was one of six members of the 2008-10 Chiefs in attendance at the induction ceremony.
Another attendee was former Chief and 2026 Montana’s Brier champion curler Matt Dunstone, who was a part of the team during its dynasty run.
Another notable former Chief who was unable to attend was Madison Bowey, a member of the Washington Capitals’ 2018 Stanley Cup championship team.
Bowey was a standout during his time with the Chiefs, earning Baseball Manitoba Player of the Year honours at the 13U level in 2008.
Another top player from the team was Nelson Quark, who went on to play for Campbellsville University following high school.
“It was an honour. The team that I was on, with our success, we had a lot of good players on the team,” Derrick Millar said. “Just to stand out on that team alone gave me a very big boost of confidence. I was happy to make my family and everyone else proud, along with my teammates, because for the three years that we got inducted for, there were three players on my team who won Player of the Year in Manitoba.”
He also credited the Chiefs’ coaching staff for keeping the players humble throughout their years of dominance.
“With our success, it would have been very easy to kind of get on a high horse, but it was our coaching that kept us humble and kept us happy and respectful toward the other teams,” Derrick Millar said.
In 2026, Derrick is playing senior baseball with the Stonewall Blue Jays alongside many of the players he grew up with in the Interlake.
He joined the team a few years ago after taking time away from the game following Grade 12, a year he spent playing at a baseball academy in St. Albert, Alta.
The 31-year-old now works as a power line technician for Manitoba Hydro and is nearing journeyman status.
