Colin Walsh had a night to remember at Lions Park Tuesday evening, slamming three solo home runs as his team, 3 Cheers Pub Dodgers, grabbed a 2-0 series lead in the St. John’s Molson Senior Men’s Softball League semifinal.
Walsh became the first player to hit three home runs in a playoff game in senior league history (1957-2020) as 3 Cheers beat The Bigs 6-2.
For good measure, Walsh also came on in relief to pick up the save for starter and winning pitcher Jason Hill (4.2IP, 2R, 5H, 1BB, 4K).
In the first game of a twinbill at Lions Park, a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning by Stephen Strapp was the difference, knocking home the winning run as Kelly’s Pub Molson Bulldogs tied up their best-of-five semifinal 1-1 with a 5-4 win over NTV Hitmen Tuesday night.
In the nightcap, Nick Pittman (4IP, 5R, 7H, 3BB, 8K) started for The Bigs and was tagged with the loss. Mark Power (3IP, 1R, 3H, 0BB, 2K) pitched in relief. Pittman and Power both hit solo home runs.
Mark Stack and Doug Marshall both had two hits for the Dodgers. Nathan Kenny hit a solo home run, his first career playoff homer.
In the first game, Liam Shea hit a two-run home run for the defending champion Bulldogs. Ryan Boland hit a two-run shot for NTV, and was three-for-three. Brad Ezekiel hit a solo blast, his third of the semifinal series.
Both series resume next Tuesday at Lions Park. The Bigs and 3 Cheers Pub meet at 6 p.m., followed by the Hitmen and Bulldogs at 8:15 p.m.
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The 2020 John Gorman Memorial softball tournament is set to get under way today at Lions Park in St. John’s, with each of the four teams from the St. John’s Molson Senior Men’s Softball League semifinal set to compete.
The championship trophy from the provincial senior men’s championship is named the John Gorman Trophy. There is no provincial tournament this year because of COVID-19.
Participating teams are 3 Cheers Pub Dodgers, Kelly's Pub Molson Bulldogs, NTV Hitmen and The Bigs.
Championship game is 3 p.m., Sunday Sept. 20.
