The Bulls started their 2008 campaign with the addition of Jeff King (DH/2B) who came over from the Durham Chiefs. King had played with the Bulls in the Brooklin/Whitby tournament the previous October and was one of the leading hitters. The off-season also saw the return of Chris Hayes who had last played in OSBA fulltime in 2005 (though he’d attended tournaments with the team in 2006 and 2007. Initially, the Bulls didn’t think they were losing anyone, but the week before the season started, team MVP Andrew Swagers announced he’s been offered a coaching position with Bacone College in Oklahoma and left the Bulls prior to the start of the regular season.. The Bulls opening day vs the Twins was washed out and the opener would get pushed back to the following weekend when the Bloor Jays came to play a home game out of Dundas. The Jays were short players and the Bulls were forced to lend them a few from their GHBL team (a move that would hurt later as Cameron Kirby became unavailable to play as a callup due to OSBA rules) Leyland and McKnight started the games for the 4th straight year and the Bulls went to a perfect 8-0 on opening day with a 6-2 Game 1 win and a 14-0 mercy win in game 2. The long weekend came and the Bulls made up their games against the Twins. Kozak got the game 1 win, Hayes played his first game and homered in his first at bat. In game 2, Conlon and Hayes combined and the Bulls won 8-2. Hayes would make his first start the next weekend vs the Indians and he came away with an 11-1 win. Leyland won game 2 8-2 for another Bulls sweep. The following weekend up in Durham was a wild one, with the Bulls close to closing game 1 despite a strong McKnight effort, until the Bulls put up a 15 run inning in the 6th to win 19-5. Game 2 was a much closer Conlon win in a 4-1 game. At 8-0, the Bulls took to their first tournament of the year. A rep tournament in Strathroy. It was a double knockout and Kozak got the first game vs Strathroy. The bats of Strathroy were too much an the Bulls lost 12-2. Facing elimination vs Dundas, the Bulls felt good about sending Hayes back to the mound. Recurring arm problems from school, however, made it the last innings he would throw all season. With the Bulls trailing, McKnight came in relief and shut down Dundas and the Bulls came back for a 4-2 win. Game 3 sent Willitts to the mound vs Martingrove. He pitched an effective 4 innings, but left with Martingrove on top. Again McKnight shut the door and the Bulls came back to win a tight 4-3 game. Down to 3 teams, the Bulls had a rematch vs Strathroy with Leyland on the mound. Thing were no different than game 1 and the bats of Strathroy were too much and the Bulls lost 10-0 and finished 3rd in the tournament. The Bulls returned to OSBA action vs division foes in the Majors. Leyland threw a shutout and the Bulls won 14-0. Game 2 was rained out. The Giants came to town next and the Bulls needed their last at bat for a walk off 2-1 win behind Kozak. The Bulls would leave no doubt in game 2 winning 10-0 in a McKnight CG shutout. The following weekend the Bulls went up to the OSBA tournament at Clarington where they had been in the finals 3 years in a row (winning in 2006) Leyland could only make 1 game, but he made it a good one with a 10-0 blanking of the Brampton Diamondbacks. Conlon got the game 2 start against a tough Ottawa team. A crucial fielding decision let Ottawa take the lead late and the Bulls dug down deep for a big rally in their last at bats to win 11-5. Hired gun, Tommy Malyk, finished off the round robin and the Bulls lost 4-1 to the Talons. By 1 run, the Bulls were able to get the bye and avoid a quarter final game. A wet semi-final vs Ontario Diamondbacks (formerly RH Phoenix) saw the Bulls again pull it off in their last at bat after blowing a 4 run lead. McKnight got the win, Kozak the save in a 7-6 win. Kozak rolled into the finals against a Brooklin/Whitby amalgamation and a McKnight inside the park home run put the Bulls up to stay with a 12-2 mercy win and tournament championship. A few days after the tournament, the Bulls and Majors locked up for their makeup game. Conlon got the start and a mercy 11-0 Bulls win. To round out the first half, the Bulls behind Kozak in game 1 and McKnight in game 2, dominated the Tigers, 7-0 and 12-1. The sweep put the Bulls at 14-0 with half a season under their belts. Back to tourney action, the Bulls returned to Ottawa to defend their title. Game 1 pitted them against the Ottawa Sweat Sox on Friday night. The Bulls sent Cam McKnight to the hill and he was staked to a 6-0 lead before having to throw a pitch. The Bulls ran the lead to 14-1 through 3 innings and removed McKnight from the game, bringing in Dave Willitts to finish off the game. The Bulls won the game by a final score of 18-7. In Game 2, the Bulls faced off against their 2007 tournament semi final opponents, the New Lowell Knights. Jon Leyland went the distance, giving up only 1 unearned run as the Bulls scored in the 7th inning as Leland helped his own cause with an RBI SAC to break a tie, winning the game 2-1. In Game 3, the Bulls faced the Ottawa Crushers who were 1-0. Because of runs allowed in previous 2 games (8) the Bulls still needed to win. Brian Molloy got the start. He went 4 innings allowing 2 runs, and Leyland took over in the 5th with the score tied 2-2. The Crushers put up 2 unearned runs in the 5th. In the bottom of the 6th, down 4-2 with a very real possibility of being knocked out with a 2-1 record, the Bulls bottom of the order responded. Pitman led off with a single. Lord reached on error and then another error on a SAC bunt gave the Bulls the start they needed as the top of the order came though with some big hits to give the Bulls a 6 run inning. Leyland held the lead for his second tournament win as they Bulls won 8-4 and finished at 3-0 to win their division. Returning to OSBA’s second half, the Bulls had a lot of makeup games to play to get around their tournament weekends. They were slated for 4 on the weekend, but only got the first one in vs the Pirates where Leyland won in a slugfest 11-8. The Bulls travelled to the Giants the next day and took game 1. 8-3 behind McKnight. In game 2, Conlon took to the mound and struggled. The Bulls were down 4 when Kozak hit a slam to tie it. Kozak came in to pitch and the Giants took the lead again. Howden tied it with a homerun, but in the 7th, the Giants scored off Kozak to give the Bulls their first loss of the year, 9-8. New Lowell tournament was up next. Game 1 saw the Bulls matched up against the 16-5-1 Bolton Brewers. The Bulls were away team and wasted no time. Kip Keith and Jamie Kozak led off with walks and then Hayes hit a towering HR to give the Bulls a 3 run lead. They would add 3 more in the inning with a McNair 2 run single. Kozak cruised through 4 striking out 6 and allowing 1 hit, before Molloy took over and shut Bolton down to give the Bulls a 7-0 mercy win. Game 2 matched the Bulls against 2 time tournament winners Team ING. The Bulls started strong again with a 3 run first, but ING battled back and game was tied 3-3 going into the top of the 6th when McNair singled in a run. Conlon pitched for the Bulls and went 6 innings allowing 3 runs. Because of tournament tiebreakers, no extra innings, the Bulls went into the 7th up 4-3, but if ING scored they would win by having left more men on base. Kozak came in for the save and with tying run at 3rd and 2 out struck out the last batter and put the Bulls into the final 4. In the semi’s the Bulls matched up against Creemore. (18-4 in NDBL) McKnight got the start and pitched well. He ran into some trouble in the 4th and a missed 3rd out call at 2nd base allowed Creemore to score 1 run. With the score 1-0 in the 7th, the Bulls were looking for another comeback (though in this case – having left 9 men on base) all they needed to do was tie it. The Bulls were unable to mount any offense and fell 1-0 getting knocked out of the tournament. Next up was the upstart Twins who had quietly put together a great season and swept. Game 1 was all Bulls as they put up an early 6 runs and never looked back cruising behind Leyland to a 13-4 win. McKnight took the ball in game 2 and it was close for most of the games, but McKnight was unhittable and the Bulls won 5-0 to move on the finals. The Pickering Pirates came to Burlington to start the series off and the Bulls defense let them down leading to an extra inning 8-7 loss. The Pirates were 1 out away from losing the game, but came back to tie it and win it in the 8th inning. In game 2, McKnight picked up where he left off against Majors and dealt another shutout. The Bulls scored a few in their last at bat to put it away and win 6-0. Regular Season : 24-4 For a total record of 45-11 and a wining percentage of .804 The Bulls end of season award were awarded to: Silver Slugger : Chris Hayes The Bulls would like to thank their sponsor, Burlington Bowl. Their loyal fans, led by the essential scorekeeper , Cindy Lord who has become as big a part of Bulls baseball as any non-player coach could be.
|