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It was a gold performance by the St. Clair Saints baseball team, while the softball team won a silver medal at the OCAA championships on Saturday.
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Playing in Oshawa, the men’s team finished the tournament undefeated in three games and capped it with a 7-1 victory over the Humber Hawks, who had won the previous two championships, to secure the team’s sixth title in the past eight years and first. under freshman coach Roberto Duncan.
“At the end of the day, everything went as planned,” Duncan said. “The guys took a step forward and improved a lot in the short period of time. It was a lot of work, but I’m happy it was worth it. “
The women suffered just one loss in the regular season, but lost a one-run decision to Durham on Friday that sent the winner straight into the gold medal game. After beating Humber 10-0 in a five-inning game of mercy early Saturday to reach the championship, the Saints trailed five runs early and rallied to force additional innings before losing 8-7 to Durham in nine. tickets.
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“I’m happy with our season,” said Saints head coach Doug Wiseman, whose team went 17-1 in the regular season. “We don’t give it away. We struggled and when I reflect on it, I’m still happy with it. “
Returning to the field after a lost season from the COVID-19 pandemic, there were many challenges for Duncan and his squad.
Right-hander Evan Ferguson, who was slated to be the team’s number one starter, missed out on an arm injury along with left-hander Cameron O’Reilly, who was the OCAA pitcher of the year, suffered an arm injury. just before the tournament. Starting outfielders Brendan Renaud and Austin Tilson also missed out on injuries during the season.
“We had some guys get hurt, but the youngsters stepped up,” Saints first baseman Colin Robinson said.
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After opening the tournament with a 5-4 victory over Durham, the Saints advanced directly to the final with a 7-5 victory over Humber. That forced Humber to beat Seneca to return to the final, but St. Clair jumped to a five-run lead and clinched the victory.
“It’s good to win, but nothing is guaranteed in those tournaments,” Robinson said. “It was definitely a satisfaction for what we were working on.
“The whole program, they win baseball games, they treat their players well and the common goal is to make us better players. Being from Windsor, we know how often they win. It is a tradition that they win games in October. “
Right-hander Michael Hamlin allowed just five hits in five innings and one run, while Robinson had two hits and drove in two runs with Henry Real and Hunter Appleyard also contributing two hits.
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Real was named the Championship MVP, while Robinson and Austin Olds were named to the All-Star team.
“We don’t feel it as pressure,” Robinson said. “We take it as a group of guys who merged with the same goal. We all wanted to win and we pushed each other to be better. “
Hosting the softball championship, St. Clair couldn’t get over the slow starts against Durham. After trailing 5-0 in the gold medal game in the second inning, the Saints scored three runs in the seventh inning to force additional innings before falling.
Shae-Lyn Murphy and Judy Lafleur each had three hits for the Saints. Amy Claydon and Jacklyn Yewchyn each had two hits and Murphy and Claydon were named to the all-star team of the tournament.
“Overall, it was good,” Wiseman said. “We played extraordinarily well with 13 or 14 players in his first year and we only lost one player. I think many felt privileged to play this year and to return to the diamond. We have some really good players. “
Reference-windsorstar.com