Hannington’s wins 3rd straight men’s league title

Hannington’s won the Canton’s Men’s Softball League title last week after beating Canton Junction four games to one in the best-of-seven final series. This marks the third consecutive season — and ninth time in the last 11 years — that Hannington’s has won the men’s league championship.

2014 Canton Men’s Softball League Champions

Hannington’s was dominant yet again this season, finishing 19-1 in the regular season and 29-2 overall. The team also claimed their second regular season championship in the last three years, with their only loss coming in the final game of the season.

In the championship series, Canton Junction opened with a 15-13 win, but Hannington’s came back to win the next four, capped off by a 22-18 thriller in extra innings on Wednesday, September 10, at Messinger Field.

In game 2 of the series, Bill Murray sealed the victory in the bottom of the seventh with a 6-4-3 triple play on a hard-hit groundball to third base. Murray tagged the runner going to third, quickly flipped the ball to second base for the force out, and then Jeff Shea made the quick turn and throw to first for the game-ending triple play.

The third game required some more late-game heroics as Hannington’s found itself trailing 19-12 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning before exploding for 10 unanswered runs to take the lead. The defending champs would then hold Junction scoreless in the top of the seventh on their way to a crucial 22-19 victory and a 2-1 series lead.

Momentum proved to be on Hannington’s side once again in game 4 as they flexed their muscles and rolled to a 22-6 victory, putting them in the driver’s seat with a 3-1 series lead. However, Junction refused to go out without a fight, and in game 5 they put themselves in a great spot with an 18-11 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning.

However, as they had done all season long, Hannington’s battled back, eventually tying the game with a two-out single by Greg Driscoll to send the game into extra innings.

In the eighth inning, Greg Lyons led off with a double over the right fielder’s head, and Kevin Aufiero followed with a single. Junction then intentionally walked Jon Medeiros, which brought up Murray, Hannington’s cleanup hitter, with no outs and the bases loaded. And Murray did not disappoint, as he hit a towering grand slam over the right field fence, putting an exclamation mark on Hannington’s season with a walk-off win for the league title.

Hannington’s showed a tremendous amount of power as a team, hitting over 60 homeruns in 11 playoff games. Medeiros was voted playoff MVP as he batted well over .700, hit 15 homeruns, and scored 33 runs — all while playing a stellar left-center field.

Other top performers included Murray, who batted just below .700 with 13 homeruns while making great plays at shortstop, and Aufiero, who hit over .700 with 11 homeruns. The team voted Paul Medeiros and Lyons as co-MVPs for the regular season.

Hannington’s players would like to thank Attorney Glen Hannington for going above and beyond as the team sponsor.

Hannington’s 2014 roster: Joe Annunziato, Kevin Aufiero, Jake Bennett, Bill Curry, Pat Curry, Greg Driscoll, Josh Goodrich, Greg Lyons, Jon Medeiros, Paul Medeiros, Bill Murray, Jeff Shea, and Matt Wedge

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Posted by Mike Berger on Sep 18 2014. Filed under Beyond CHS, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.