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ORIGINAL STORY with photo - Story by Dale Clifford, Peterborough Examiner
 
The Cobourg Murphy's Windmillers had no intentions of playing another game in the Peterborough Men's Softball Association city league final.
They won the best-of-seven series 4-1 over defending champion P.G. Towns Store/Kawartha Roofing, taking Game 5 in convincing fashion before about 600 fans at George (Red) Sullivan East City Bowl on Tuesday night.
Cobourg scored early and often and went on to win 8-1, in a game called by the mercy rule after the final out was made in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Steve McNaughton battled his way through a couple of tight places to earn the victory while Brad Meldrum suffered the loss.
Cobourg got out of the gate quickly, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning then added two more in the second for a 5-0 advantage. Douro got one back in its half of the third but the Windmillers sealed it with a three-run top of the fifth.
"We played good defence and pitched well as a team,'' said McNaughton, who shared pitching duties with veteran Ian Knott. "We didn't make errors and got the bat on the ball early. Getting the quick lead was big. We felt good but Douro was thinking about it, too.''
It was also special for the 23-year-old McNaughton as it was the first time he has played on a champion in his four years in the league.
"It felt good,'' he said. "We had a good team.''
McNaughton flirted with danger a couple of times but got of the innings relatively unscathed.
He loaded the bases with one out in the third and gave up only the one run, on a single by Meldrum.
Douro had runners on first and third with none out then second and third with one out in the fourth but McNaughton worked his way out of it. He enjoyed an easier bottom of the fifth to end it.
"I'm used to it,'' he said with a smile. "We had a big lead and I had a good ball club behind me. I bore down and stayed calm. I tried to stay cool.''
Cobourg scored in the first inning on a single by Jake Taylor, a couple of walks and two errors. Dan Burnham delivered a two-run single in the second.
The champs closed out the scoring in the fifth on a two-run single by Scott Leblanc and base hit by John Langley.
"Our bats came up silent but I give full credit to Cobourg,'' said Douro coach Ed Maloney. "They have many top level players. They put the ball in play. We made some errors and couldn't get any momentum.''
Granted Douro was missing players, with some gone back to school or out with injuries and some playing out of position.
But no one argue the depth of talent or veteran leadership on Cobourg. They also had names like Aaron Trude, Garry Manley, Mark Langley, Jason Cane, Craig Buttar, Shane Taylor, Riley Minifie, Rob Ellis and Wayne Wells on the roster.
