Hannington’s repeats as men’s softball champs

(Front row l-r) Bill Murray, Paul Medeiros, bat boy Jackson Medeiros, Jon Medeiros, Kevin Aufiero; (back row l-r) Jessie Goodrich, Matt Wedge, Geoff Curtis, Greg Lyons, Greg Driscoll, Jeff Shea, Josh Goodrich, and team sponsor and founder Glenn Hannington; (missing from photo) Donald Daley

For the second year in a row and the eighth time in the last 10 seasons, Hannington’s has been crowned the champion of the Canton Men’s Softball League after outdueling rival Halfway Cafe in a thrilling best-of-seven final series.

Once again the series lasted all seven games, and once again Hannington’s came out on top, winning the final two games by a combined score of 23-20 to capture the title in dramatic fashion.

All season long, the two squads had been neck and neck, finishing with identical records of 18-1 before Halfway prevailed in a one-game playoff to claim the regular season title.

The battle then continued into the playoffs, with the two sides trading victories through the first six games. Halfway took games one, three and five, and Hannington’s responded each time, winning games two, four and six to even the series at 3-3.

In game six, Halfway took a 10-5 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning before Hannington’s exploded for seven runs in an eventual 12-10 win. Jeff Shea had the play of the game in the seventh inning with a diving stop up the middle that led to a double play.

In game seven, Hannington’s came up with another big inning in the top of the fifth to take a three-run advantage. However, Halfway would come back to tie the game up in the home half of the inning with three runs of their own.

In the sixth inning, Hannington’s regained the lead when player/coach Greg Lyons led off with a base hit and then came around to score on a single by Jessie Goodrich. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Shea made another outstanding play as he once again robbed a Halfway hitter of a base hit up the middle, sprawling to his right and then flipping the ball to Murray for the out.

Lyons was named league MVP but said he could not have won it without every other guy stepping up at some point throughout the season.

“Our defense was stellar all season and playoffs,” said Lyons. “Without Jeff Shea, Bill Murray, and Jesse Goodrich making the plays they did, we would have had no chance. And every other guy had their moments where they came up to the plate or made a play defensively that was huge for us. So it was really a team effort this year.”

The team would like to salute team sponsor Glenn Hannington for his support throughout the season.

“He helped fund us to play in the [Sandy Hook Memorial Tournament] and support a great cause, and he also of course helps us with league fees, uniforms, and basically anything else we could ever ask out of the guy,” said Lyons. “So on behalf of the whole team we say thank you to Glenn. Hopefully we can have many more memorable seasons together and win many more championships.”

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Posted by Mike Berger on Sep 19 2013. Filed under Beyond CHS, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.