Halfway Cafe wins 1st ever Canton Men’s Softball title

By Mike Berger

The Canton Men’s Softball League has a new champion, and for the first time in the league’s 66 seasons, Halfway Café has captured the crown. Halfway, which finished third in the regular season at 15-5, won the title in a back-and-forth seven-game series over Hannington’s, a perennial past champion of the league.

Hannington’s won the first game 23-16, but Halfway tied the series by forfeit and then took the third game 22-7. The two teams alternated wins from there on out, with Hannington’s winning games four and six and Halfway winning game five and the deciding seventh game 8-5 to take the title.

The series MVP award was shared by Steve Shaughnessy and Joe Mula, both of Halfway Café. Paul McAuliffe was voted MVP of the league by the umpires.

“We were missing a big player that has been on our team since we started playing together nine years ago,” said Ryan Shaughnessy. “Noel Shaughnessy joined the Air Force and wasn’t able to see the team win their first championship.”

Other Halfway players included Joe MacDonald, Pat Ward, Pat McCloud, Fred Peccia, James Green, Kevin Shaughnessy, John Shea, Brady Martin, Paul Medeiros, and Josh McKelligan.

Hannington’s, which has won the title six of the past eight seasons, finished fourth in the regular season with a 14-6 record.

“It was a very exciting series that went back and forth,” said head coach Mike Devoll. “Ultimately, the hitting and defense of Halfway was the difference. They made very few defensive errors. Josh McKelligan was the offensive hero.”

Hannington’s roster included Devoll, Tony Falco, Dan Falco, Jay Metzger, AJ Nichols, Kevin Aufiero, Jarod Cowens, Andrew MacKerron, Bryan Holtzman, Jim Peters, Dave Tocchio, Mike Zani, Jeff Winnick, Pat Leahy, and Steve Gilmore.

Both teams would like to thank their team sponsors: Attorney Glen Hannington and the Halfway Café Restaurant, led by general manager Tom Cahillane.

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