Cleary leads Bulldogs to senior fastpitch crown
They hand Hitmen their lone defeat in final of provincial tournament
The Kelly’s Pub Molson Bulldogs had sort of a scuffling performance in the preliminary round of the Molson provincial senior men’s fastpitch tournament, but proved to be at their best in the Page playoff portion of the event, winning all three of their playoff games, including a 3-1 victory over the NTV Hitmen in Monday night’s final at Lions Park in St. John’s.
The Bulldogs finished third in the preliminary round with a 1-2 record, but defeated The Bigs in the 3-4 Page playoff game and the defending provincial champion 3 Cheers Pub Bud Light Dodgers in the semifinal.
The Hitmen, meanwhile, had gone undefeated, winning their three preliminary games and the 1-2 Page playoff against the Dodgers. But their streak ended Monday at the hands of a familiar nemesis, Bulldogs’ and Team Canada ace pitcher Sean Cleary.
Cleary (2W, 1HB, 14K) allowed just two hits in a complete-game performance that nailed down the tourney’s MVP award. He was the winning pitcher in all four of the Bulldogs’ victories, striking out 45 batters in 25 innings while fashioning a 1.67 earned-run average. He also went five-fornine at the plate.
On Monday, Cleary was backed by a couple of home runs from teammates, a twoout, two-run shot by Jon Kelly in the top of the first inning and a solo blast by Daniel Dalton in the fifth. The two long shots were the only real mistakes by losing pitcher Robbie Greene (6H, 2W, 11K), who also went the distance.
Kelly (6-16, 2HR) was named most sportsmanlike player of the tourney, while Chris Murphy of the Hitmen was top batter (8-14, .571 average).
Members of the winning team include Cleary, Kelly, Dalton, Blair Ezekiel, Scott Myers, Liam Myers, Mark Lewis, Jeremy Hickey, Stephen Strapp, Patrick O’leary, Steven Dobbin, Liam Shea, Justin Doyle, Joel Whelan and coach Jim Dunphy.