Walsh And O’Keefe 2022 Provincial Award Winners

Cadigan And Galway Hitmen Named Top 3 Finalists

Softball NL Would Like To Take This Opportunity To Congratulate Colin Walsh On Being Named The SportNL 2022 Senior Male Athlete of the Year And Kearney O’Keefe On Being Named The SportNL 2022 Official of the Year.

Colin Walsh Was Named The SportNL 2022 Senior Male Athlete of the Year And Was Presented With The Ferd Hayward Memorial Award.

Walsh Joined Colin Abbott (1989), Robbie O’Brien (1992), Stephen Mullaley (2007) And Sean Cleary (2014, 2015, 2016) As Softballers Who Have Captured The Ferd Hayward Memorial Award.

Congratulations Colin!

Colin Walsh – Softball
Colin Walsh enjoyed a successful fastpitch softball season on the Local, National and International diamonds in 2022. At the local level, Colin turned in two MVP performances leading 3 Cheers Pub Miller Lite to two Championships during the regular season with a 15-4 record and the playoffs with a 7-3 Record. He also captured several awards for his performance during the regular season including Top Batter, eight pitching wins, All-League Team (Utility) and Player of the Month honours for September/October. On the National level, Colin captured Gold with Galway Hitmen at the Men’s Nationals and was named to the All-Star Team as an Outfielder. On the International level, Colin captured two Silver Medals with the Men’s National Team at the Pan American Championship and the World Cup. For his performance this past season, Colin was named the 2022 Softball NL Senior Male Player of the Year.

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Kearney O’Keefe Was Named The SportNL 2022 Official of the Year.

The SportNL Official of the Year Award Was Established In 2015 And Kearney Is The First Softball NL Official To Capture The Award.

Congratulations Kearney!

Kearney O’Keefe – Softball
Kearney O’Keefe enjoyed a successful year on the softball diamond at the Local, Provincial, Eastern Canadian and National levels. On the field, Kearney worked games in the Senior Men’s and Intermediate Men’s Leagues, while also taking on the assignment of scheduling umpires for both Leagues. She also worked League Tournaments, as well as other tournaments such as the Pre-Canada Games Tournament, Lloyd Poirier Tournament and Women’s Canadian Fastpitch Championship. Kearney was the Umpire- in-Chief for the U15 Female Eastern Canadian Softball Championship and worked 11 of 19 games at the Master Men’s Canadian Fastpitch Championship. Off the field, Kearney helped run Umpire Clinics in person and online and helped to form the new Umpire Development Committee with the focus on the recruitment and retention of umpires. It was Kearney’s performance at the 2022 Women’s Canadian Fastpitch Championship in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and the recommendation from the events Umpire-in-Chief and Deputy Umpire-in-Chiefs that the Softball Canada Board of Directors approved her Nomination for Level V Fastpitch Umpire Certification in the Softball Canada’s National Officials Certification Program. Kearney is the 1st Female Umpire and 8th Umpire Overall in the Province to Obtain Level V Designation. Kearney was named the 2022 Softball NL Umpire of the Year.

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Softball NL Would Also Like To Take This Opportunity To Congratulate Sean Cadigan And Galway Hitmen On Being Named Among The Top 3 Finalists For The SportNL 2022 Provincial Awards.

Sean Cadigan Was Named A Top 3 Finalist For The 2022 Executive of the Year Award And Galway Hitmen Was Named A Top 3 Finalist For The 2022 Team of the Year Award.

Congratulations Sean And Galway Hitmen!

Sean Cadigan – Softball
Sean Cadigan has been on the Softball NL Board of Directors as the Minor Director since 2017. He oversees U9 all the way up to U19 male and female fastpitch and slo-pitch competition which includes school athletes, all the way up to national level athletes. He established the Softball NL Minor Symposium which focuses on all issues that impact Minor Softball and is a member of multiple Softball NL Committees including Coaching, Finance, High Performance, National and Eastern Canadian Championship Host Committees, and the Performance Plan Project Sport Excellence Committee. He also is a Committee Member for Timbits Softball with Softball Canada which demonstrates his commitment and dedication to grassroots softball in not just Newfoundland and Labrador, but all of Canada. Sean was a key factor in the formation of the Minor Male and Female Fastpitch Leagues, and continues to share his sport knowledge amongst his fellow Committee Members and Softball NL Members.

Galway Hitmen – Softball
The Galway Hitmen embarked in 2022 by defending the Men’s Canadian Fastpitch Championship title on home soil, completing the tournament with a 7-1 record outscoring the opposition 68-14. The team finished with an impressive .409 Team Batting Average, a 1.95 Team Earned Run Average and a .975 Team Fielding Percentage. With team success came individual success and the Galway Hitmen displayed plenty of that in 2022 with players earning individual awards such as MVP Qualifying Round, Top Batter Qualifying Round and 4 players being named to the All-Star Team. When the dust settled, the Galway Hitmen captured the provinces 8th Men’s Canadian Fastpitch Championship.