Mike Cassidy is quite the pumpkin-hunting sleuth.

When it comes to the annual Great Pumpkin Hunt contest, he’s been able to successfully ascertain the clues leading to the whereabouts of the hidden orange gourd on numerous occasions.

This year, Cassidy, accompanied by his son Matthew Oliver and their pet dachshund Hulk, came across the find at Big League Dream.

The clue was: Play Ball.

“I found it at the end of the road next to a pole,” he said.

With it came the $100 prize. He plans to share it with Oliver.

The Great Pumpkin Hunt offers one winner per household during the duration of the contest, which runs once a week during the month of October.

Four clues are given each week on the Pumpkin Hunt page that appears on Saturdays.

The clues this week were:

uSomething to howl about: A reference to the proposed Great Wolf Resort.

Play ball: The Big League Dreams sports complex.

The end of the road: The end of Daniels Street.

Those field lights are bright: A reference to the nearby lights at the BLD complex

Cassidy believes that the early bird gets the worm. That’s been part of his success during the past few years.

During the weekend of the contest, he makes it a point to get to the newsstand when most people are still asleep, picking up a copy of the Manteca Bulletin to check out the clues.

Cassidy knew of the area as to where to find the pumpkin in one of the previous clues, but not the precise location.

This time, he drove around BLD before coming up across the prized discovery at the end of the road.

Cassidy found one last year in the area of a church on Moffat Boulevard and, prior to that in a previous year, he came across another winner at the animal shelter.