The Burlington Bulls were accepted into the OSSBA before the 2005 season and had a roster of 15 before losing Jeff Cain, Kip Keith and Chris Sheriff before the season even started. This left the Bulls with a roster of 12 as they began play on May 7/2005 playing a home doubleheader against a familiar team from SOBA’s, the Pickering Pirates.

The Bulls made an immediate impact and showed what would be their strength all season. Game 1 saw Leyland pitch a shutout behind some strong defense as the team won 3-0. McKnight would be no less spectacular in game 2 as he too pitched a complete game and the Bull won 2-1.

This set up a Bull run that would see them go 8-0 after sweeping the Stars (4-3 and 3-2) the Tigers (7-1 and 9-1) and Jays (9-0 and 13-3)

This set up a match up with the Whitby Chiefs and the Bulls won game 1 (3-0 behind a Hayes Shutout), but then lost a lead in the last inning to lose Game 2 (3-2)

At 9-1, the Bulls then began play against some of their tougher rivals. They lost the first game of a doubleheader to the Phoenix (6-5) and came back to win Game 2, 1-0 behind another Hayes shutout.

The Bulls then had their rematch against the Stars and the offense guided them to a sweep (5-1 and 12-0)

The Bulls then traveled to Oshawa and played their first bad game of the year losing 10-9 in a game McKnight had under control until a line drive to the knee forced him out of the game. The Bulls responded to win Game 2(9-8).

The Bulls would then face the best of the East in the Durham Chiefs. Hayes pitched them to a game 1 victory (8-3), but dropped a 4 inning rain shortened game 2 (6-0)

This marked the All Star Break for the 14-4 Bulls and they sent Dave Willets, Chris Hayes, Brad Guy and Jon Leyland to the All-Star game. Leyland would be named All Star MVP for pitching the final 2 innings.

The Second half began with another tight double header split with the Phoenix. Bulls win 5-4 and then lose 3-1.

Next up was the Tigers who the Bulls swept. (17-2 behind a Lord Grand Slam and 10-8)

Bulls dominated Red Sox and swept them. (9-1 and 7-3)

The Bulls took to the Barrie tournament with a record of 19-5 and won all 3 round robin games (including beating a tough Ottawa team in the 3rd game) The Bulls cruised past Whitby in the semi’s and lost a tough game to the Durham Chiefs to finish 2nd in tournament. This tournament marked the last games Chris Hayes would play for the team as he went off to school following the tourney.

A depleted Bulls lineup faced the Bloor Jays. Though the Bulls need only 1 win to clinch the division. They had to rely on a few callups to get them to nine and were swept for the only time during the year (6-4 and 3-1 in a rain shortened second game)

The Bulls finished in 2nd with a 19-7 record. It was the same as Richmond Hill and since they split regular season next tie breaker was record against Bloor, which the Bulls were 2-2 and Richmond Hill 4-0.

The Bulls moved on to face Bloor in the first round of the playoffs and got off to a disastrous start. Bart Haberling baffled the Bulls bats and they dropped Game 1 (5-0). Game 2 was tense and it took the Bulls extra innings and a late Conlon homerun to win it 9-8 forcing a game 3 the next day in Bloor. McKnight took to the Hill and pitched the Bulls to a 7-5 victory and the series win.

Next up was Richmond Hill. Game 1 was in Burlington and the Bulls won 5-3 behind a McKnight complete game, Game 2 saw the Bulls face nemesis Samonas and battle back to win in the 7th 3-2. Conlon picked up the win and the Bulls moved on to the Finals.

The Championship series would see Game 1 played in Durham where nothing went the Bulls way. From a few questionable calls on the base paths to Durham’s bats roughing up McKnight to the late arrival of several Bulls which ruined the batting order. The Bulls lost 5-2 and were up against the wall.

Rain hit on Sunday and the finals were moved to the following weekend. This was bad news for the Bulls who were missing Guy for both games and Leyland would have to pitch for his university team on same day. Durham, despite claims that they too would be missing players, showed up with virtually a full 15 man squad and looked poised to put an end of the Bulls season. The Bulls bats had something to say about that and they dominated Game 2 behind Eric Conlon’s pitching and solid contribution from the 9 guys in their lineup leading to a Bulls 10-2 win.

Game 3 was all Bulls early, but Leyland (already having pitched that day) couldn’t hold the lead and Durham kept close for the whole game. McKnight came on in relief (pitching against a Durham team who had owned him all year) and worked hard to keep Durham in check. The Bulls pulled out a 9-8 victory which was surprise to Durham who had incorrectly scored the game and thought it was tied. A ground ball to second with the tying run in scoring position ended the Durham season and brought home the first title to the Burlington Bulls.

The Bulls came to the OSSBA in search of better baseball and they got it. Of the 34 games (regular season and playoffs) the Bulls played 12 one run games (9-3 record in them) The shutout their opponents in 5 games. Of the 13 double headers the Bulls swept 7, split 5 and were swept only once. Overall record of 25-9 (plus 4-1 in Barrie Tournament).

End of season awards go to:

Offensive MVP – Eric Conlon
CY Young - Jon Leyland
Gold Glove/Defensive player of year – TIE Brad Guy and Bryan Blasko
Most Improved player – Matt Langford
Team MVP – Eric Conlon

The OFFSEASON – all 12 original Bulls will be returning and they’ve added 2 more offensive threats in Kyle Pitman (who played on Bulls ICBL team) and Michael Howden (who played as a call up and in the Barrie tournament). They are also looking to add 1 more to get up to 15, and Kip Keith seems to be the guy. Kip was the teams best hitter in 2003 and 2004. Hits for power and average and will have one of the best OF arms in the league.