Updated
Call it the exclamation mark at the end of an emphatic statement.
The Galway Hitmen, representing Newfoundland and Labrador, are once again Canadian champions after defeating the Sooke Loggers of British Columbia in Sunday’s final of the national senior men’s fastpitch softball tournament in St. Croix, N.S.
It gives teams based out of the St. John’s Senior Men’s Softball League six of the last seven Canadian senior men's crowns, the exception being 2017, when the Hitmen finished second.
This year, there was no doubt about their gold-medal pedigree. The Hitmen went 9-0 in the championship, including 3-0 in the playoffs, while outscoring the opposition 68-2.
“I’ve never seen a team this dominant in my years around the ball park,” said Hitmen coach Mark Dwyer.
“And this was said to be the deepest pool in the last decade at the senior nationals because all the national team guys were paying. But when you talk depth, there was no getting around our lineup. Our No. 8 (Kyle Ezekiel) and No. 9 (Colin Walsh) hitters are leadoff hitters for top teams on the ISC circuit.
“That tells you of the depth on our team.”
The Loggers finished 7-3 in the 10-team event, with all three of their losses — one in preliminary play and two in the playoffs — coming at the hands of the Newfoundland team.
That familiarity looked to have created some contempt as there were two bench-clearing incidents in their second meeting, including one that saw former Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams, the Hitmen’s sponsor and general manager, on the field.
“This was said to be the deepest pool in the last decade at the senior nationals because all the national team guys were paying. But when you talk depth, there was no getting around our lineup.”
Galway Hitmen head coach Mark Dwyer
Ryan Boland’s fifth-inning grand slam home run brought the Sunday's final to an end by triggering the seven-run mercy rule. That was a common occurrence for the Newfoundland team; seven of its nine games had been abbreviated by implementation of the mercy rule.
Jason Hill also homered for the Hitmen in the final, while Kyle Ezekiel drove in two runs with a fourth-inning triple.
Sean Cleary allowed just a single hit while striking out nine and allowing just two walks. He was the winning pitcher in five of the Newfoundlanders’ nine victories. In all, Cleary struck out 54 batters in 28 innings over the course of the tourney, an average of almost two per frame, while allowing just 14 hits and five walks.
“The Toronto Gators in the 1990s were great teams — they’re in the Hall of Fame — but softball people say this may be a better team,” Dwyer said. “We only gave up one unearned run in the entire tournament.
“This may be a once in a lifetime team.”
The Hitmen had six batters who appeared in all nine games and hit .400 or more, led by Brad Ezekiel (.476), Hill (.455) and pickup Mathieu Roy of St. Gervais, Que. (.429).
Brad Ezekiel and Hill each drove in a team-leading 12 runs, while Roy topped the team with a dozen runs scored.
Boland, who had seven RBIs in the playoffs on a three-run home run and Sunday’s grand slam, was named MVP of the championship round.
Roy, Blair Ezekiel, Stephen Mullaley and Colin Walsh, who hit .500 as a batter and recorded two pitching wins in the preliminary round, were named to the tournament all-star team.
Members of the Hitmen include Ryan Boland, Shane Boland, Sean Cleary, Daniel Dalton, Blair Ezekiel, Brad Ezekiel, Kyle Ezekiel, Jason Hill, Peter Kavanagh, Sheldon Keough, Ryan Kirk, Stephen Mullaley, Jeremy O'Reilly, Nick Pittman, Jordan Pomeroy, Mathieu Roy, Colin Walsh, Luke Newton (bat boy), Mark Dwyer (head coach), assistant coaches Les Howey, Eddy McDonald, Sean Cadigan and Brian Roche, and Danny Williams (general manager and sponsor).
