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The Bulls would like to announce their first 2010 Roster change as Kyle Pitman will be leaving the team to study in Australia for the year..
Pitman joined the team in 2006 as the Bulls first ever roster addition and one of two players to ever play for another team in OSBA before the Bulls (Jeff King being the other) Though Pitman played in OSBA with the Talons in 2004 and 2005, he played in 2005 with the GHBL Burlington Bulls and was a big OSBA Bulls supporter as he was in attendance for the final game of the Bulls 2005 Championship.
Pitman’s contribution to the team was immense, both on and off the field.
Off the field, he and McKnight were instrumental in website updating, jersey ordering, picking up bats and the list goes on and on. It takes a lot of behind the scenes effort to keep a team going strong and Pitman was a huge contributor to that.
On the field, Pitman was a big bat for the Bulls and posts a lifetime Bulls average of .299 with 158 games with 4 HR’s and 81 RBI’S. He was also 3-1 as a pitcher during that time frame. His biggest season was 2007 when he finished with a .376 AVG bolstered by a .512 mark in 16 tournament games.
Pitman was often hurt, but never unable to play, he battled through many injuries and always did what he could to contribute defensively as both a catcher and 1st baseman.
Impressive numbers aside, however, Pitman’s biggest contributions came in the most important situations. He is one of the best clutch hitters the Bulls have ever had. Key hits in the 2007 Ottawa tournament and against the Diamond Jacks in the 2008 OSBA tournament are just a couple of examples of times when the Bulls simply would not have won games (and tournaments) were he not in the lineup. Pitman had an intense knowledge of hitting and was able to game plan to hit many of the oppositions best pitchers when others in the lineup were struggling.
Pitmans contributions to the team, both on and off the field, will be missed in 2010, but the team wishes him well in Australia and hopes to see him in uniform again for the 2011 season.
Bulls 1 player away from finalizing 2010 Roster
With every Bull except for 2 returning for 2010, the Bulls are seeking to add one player to their roster for the upcoming season.
With the pitching staff pretty solid with McKnight, Leyland, Kozak, Hayes and Kip - the Bulls are primarily interested in another 3B/SS/2B/C type.
Anyone interested in the spot, can contact coach Mike Masters at mikemasters1@cogeco.ca
Bulls Make News
The Burlington Bulls have made the news once again. The Bulls as well as a local soccer team has been named the best amateur teams of 2009 by the Burlington Post. The Post generally keeps up with the Bulls as seasons start, progress and end but with all the great amateur sports that go on in Halton, Hamilton and the Golden Horseshoe, this is a great honour.
Champions
For the 3rd time in 5 years, the Burlington Bulls are OSBA Champions. With rain threatening the Bulls travelled to Kinsmen Park for Game 3 of their series with the Dodgers. Cam McKnight got the ball for the Bulls for the first time in the playoffs and faced off against Dodgers ace and hard luck loser in Game 1. Wayne Wickens. The Dodgers got on board in the first with a run and then the Bulls scored 1on a Kip Keith triple scoring Guy. Kip scored to make it 2-1. A Bulls error led to the Dodgers scoring 2 more to make it 3-2. In the 6th inning, Mousseau reached to start in the inning and got to 2nd on an errant throw. Willitts bunted him to 3rd. Tennant walked.Guy hit a grounder to SS and the Dodgers went home with it. Moose scored. Kip hit a sac fly to give Bulls 4-3 lead and then Hayes walked and Hogan cleared bases with a double. Hayes came in to pitch leading 6-3. Bulls would score one more in 7th and Dodgers got 1 back in 7th making it a 7-4 final. McKnight gets the win making him 9-0 on the season and Hayes picked up his 3rd save(2nd in playoffs)
Congrats to the Dodgers on making it back to the finals and playing a good series. Other than game 2, all the games were close and a few key plays were the difference. With the Dodgers and Bulls now having exchanged 3 game sweeps in their championship meetings, a 3rd meeting somewhere down the road would be a nice tiebreaker.
With the win, the Bulls now pass the Stars and Dodgers for most ever titles(3) and do so in convincing fashion with a 7-0 playoff run (the only time a team has gone undefeated in OSBA playoffs since the round robin was eliminated) The Bulls are also riding a 9 game playoff winning streak going back to last year finals vs Pickering.
The win caps off a remarkable season for the Bulls with a combined record of 34-4-2 -- a franchise best winning percentage.
The Bulls would like to thank their sponsor, the Burlington Bowl as well as BOMBA, Dave Buckley, Linda Johnson and scorekeeper, Cindy Lord, all of whom have been big supporters of the Bulls since 2005.
As well. a thanks to the league exective (Steve Smith, Ron Smith, Rod Holinaty, Brian Booth) for all the work they do behind the scenes in keeping the league running strong.
So, with the final out of 2009 recorded, the Bulls happily go into the off season expecting a few minor changes, but hoping that they can keep the teams core intact and have another strong showing in OSBA's 10th year.
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