October 15, 2021
Banner Season: Baseball's qualified quartet come together for final championship push
Burlington, Ont. - It's down to four, as the qualified quartet in Ontario University Athletics (OUA) baseball are heading to the Ajax Sportsplex looking to cap off their banner season run with a championship in hand. With semifinals and medal games awaiting, the host Toronto Varsity Blues will be joined by the Carleton Ravens, McMaster Marauders, and Western Mustangs on Sunday, October 17 for the final championship push.
OUA Baseball Championship | Fan Guide | Scores/Results
Starting off the day's slate is a pair of semifinal tilts, with the McMaster Marauders clashing with the Carleton Ravens and the Western Mustangs matching up with the Toronto Varsity Blues.
McMaster enters the final four with an emotional weekend of qualifier play under their belts. After going winless in their opening two round robin games and losing a pair of players - Mark Zanette and Nicholas Velocci - who collided trying to make a play in the field, the team's championship aspirations seemed to be fading. But not only did the Hamilton squad bounce back, they stood alone after the final out was made as the qualified crew, taking down Guelph 10-8 in the semifinals and defeating what was, at that point, an undefeated Brock squad in the finale.
Unsurprisingly, the Marauders saw contributions from a number of key players throughout the weekend, including a four-hit game from Maclean Van Raay in the semifinal win, as well as timely hits from the likes of Michael Ong and Ethan Seymour. Following these sizzling semifinal performances, McMaster carried the momentum into their rematch with Brock with another nine-run outing. Pitcher Matt Tyas secured the win for the maroon machine therein after going four innings of three-run ball, before turning things over to Nate Hamel for five innings of solid relief.
If the Marauders are to continue that momentum even further, they'll need to do so against a team that saw very little in terms of bumps in the road en route to claiming their final four spot. The Carleton Ravens sailed smoothly through their respective qualifier, going undefeated against Ottawa and Queen's in round robin play, before beating the latter once more in the finale.
Seeing strong support on both sides of the ball, the black birds turned to timely hitting and shutdown pitching to secure their championship spot and they'll look to make their second straight appearance in the gold medal game this weekend.
The first of Carleton's clutch contributions came off the bat of Eric Blamauer, who drove in his second and third RBI of the afternoon to help the Ravens walk off their cross-town rivals in the opener. A six-run outburst in the fourth inning of game two carried them to a convincing 10-1 victory, before they handed the ball over to Jayson Moss in the finals. Firing a complete game therein, giving up just one run and striking out six, the Ottawa, Ont. native carried his end of the bargain, while offensive leader Max Johnston got the Ravens flying at the plate, giving them a lead with which they would never look back.
Joining the pair for an 11:00am first pitch are the Blues and Mustangs. Both teams enter without a loss from their qualifier play - albeit one that was shortened due to weather for Western - and both will look to ride their unblemished records for two more games on Sunday.
No team brought the offensive firepower during qualifiers like Toronto, as they averaged nearly 14 runs per game in their four contests. After cruising through their round robin schedule with three lopsided wins, the Blues were in tight with a trip to the championship on the line, as the Rams were able to hang around in the final game for much of the contest. Much like they had the rest of the weekend, however, the Blues' offence swung into action with a six-run eighth inning to cap off their qualifier run with a 13-3 victory.
While the team boasts plenty of talent on the mound, including Dean Christidis, another offensive output like this past weekend from the likes of Niko Kekatos, Owen Taylor, and Michael Deluca - the latter taking home OUA athlete of the week honours after his qualifier efforts - will go a long way toward the Blues claiming their sixth conference title and first since 2017.
The only OUA program with more than those six Toronto titles is the Mustangs (six), who will look to shut down the potent Toronto lineup when they clash on Sunday. After seeing their qualifier cut short due to weather, Western faced two must-win games to punch their ticket to this weekend's finale. After dismissing the two-time defending champion Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks 7-3 in their semifinal clash, the London squad then turned their attention to the Waterloo Warriors. A five-run third inning helped propel the 2016 champions in that one and they carried that lead into a championship berth.
To break through on Sunday, continued contributions at the plate from Bryce O'Farrell, who hit the team's lone long ball last weekend, along with Austin Wilkie, among others, will go a long way to support a starting staff that features the capable arms of Logan McKnight and Joshua Krautner, both of whom took the ball for Western's qualifying games.
Winners from these semifinal matches, being played at 1:00pm and 4:00pm, respectively, at Ajax Sportsplex, will go on to play for the Jason Guindon Trophy as the conference's top team on the diamond. First pitch for the gold medal game is scheduled for 7:00pm.
OUA Baseball Championship | Fan Guide | Scores/Results
Starting off the day's slate is a pair of semifinal tilts, with the McMaster Marauders clashing with the Carleton Ravens and the Western Mustangs matching up with the Toronto Varsity Blues.
McMaster enters the final four with an emotional weekend of qualifier play under their belts. After going winless in their opening two round robin games and losing a pair of players - Mark Zanette and Nicholas Velocci - who collided trying to make a play in the field, the team's championship aspirations seemed to be fading. But not only did the Hamilton squad bounce back, they stood alone after the final out was made as the qualified crew, taking down Guelph 10-8 in the semifinals and defeating what was, at that point, an undefeated Brock squad in the finale.
Unsurprisingly, the Marauders saw contributions from a number of key players throughout the weekend, including a four-hit game from Maclean Van Raay in the semifinal win, as well as timely hits from the likes of Michael Ong and Ethan Seymour. Following these sizzling semifinal performances, McMaster carried the momentum into their rematch with Brock with another nine-run outing. Pitcher Matt Tyas secured the win for the maroon machine therein after going four innings of three-run ball, before turning things over to Nate Hamel for five innings of solid relief.
If the Marauders are to continue that momentum even further, they'll need to do so against a team that saw very little in terms of bumps in the road en route to claiming their final four spot. The Carleton Ravens sailed smoothly through their respective qualifier, going undefeated against Ottawa and Queen's in round robin play, before beating the latter once more in the finale.
Seeing strong support on both sides of the ball, the black birds turned to timely hitting and shutdown pitching to secure their championship spot and they'll look to make their second straight appearance in the gold medal game this weekend.
The first of Carleton's clutch contributions came off the bat of Eric Blamauer, who drove in his second and third RBI of the afternoon to help the Ravens walk off their cross-town rivals in the opener. A six-run outburst in the fourth inning of game two carried them to a convincing 10-1 victory, before they handed the ball over to Jayson Moss in the finals. Firing a complete game therein, giving up just one run and striking out six, the Ottawa, Ont. native carried his end of the bargain, while offensive leader Max Johnston got the Ravens flying at the plate, giving them a lead with which they would never look back.
Joining the pair for an 11:00am first pitch are the Blues and Mustangs. Both teams enter without a loss from their qualifier play - albeit one that was shortened due to weather for Western - and both will look to ride their unblemished records for two more games on Sunday.
No team brought the offensive firepower during qualifiers like Toronto, as they averaged nearly 14 runs per game in their four contests. After cruising through their round robin schedule with three lopsided wins, the Blues were in tight with a trip to the championship on the line, as the Rams were able to hang around in the final game for much of the contest. Much like they had the rest of the weekend, however, the Blues' offence swung into action with a six-run eighth inning to cap off their qualifier run with a 13-3 victory.
While the team boasts plenty of talent on the mound, including Dean Christidis, another offensive output like this past weekend from the likes of Niko Kekatos, Owen Taylor, and Michael Deluca - the latter taking home OUA athlete of the week honours after his qualifier efforts - will go a long way toward the Blues claiming their sixth conference title and first since 2017.
The only OUA program with more than those six Toronto titles is the Mustangs (six), who will look to shut down the potent Toronto lineup when they clash on Sunday. After seeing their qualifier cut short due to weather, Western faced two must-win games to punch their ticket to this weekend's finale. After dismissing the two-time defending champion Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks 7-3 in their semifinal clash, the London squad then turned their attention to the Waterloo Warriors. A five-run third inning helped propel the 2016 champions in that one and they carried that lead into a championship berth.
To break through on Sunday, continued contributions at the plate from Bryce O'Farrell, who hit the team's lone long ball last weekend, along with Austin Wilkie, among others, will go a long way to support a starting staff that features the capable arms of Logan McKnight and Joshua Krautner, both of whom took the ball for Western's qualifying games.
Winners from these semifinal matches, being played at 1:00pm and 4:00pm, respectively, at Ajax Sportsplex, will go on to play for the Jason Guindon Trophy as the conference's top team on the diamond. First pitch for the gold medal game is scheduled for 7:00pm.
