Final four set for the 2024 OUA Baseball Championship
Burlington, Ont. – Four teams punched their tickets to the OUA Baseball Championship next weekend in Ajax, Ont. The Queen's Gaels claimed the spot from the East, with the Toronto Varsity Blues taking the Central, the Brock Badgers the West, and Waterloo Warriors the Far West. The championship semifinals will be on Friday with the Bronze and Gold medal games to take place on Saturday.
East Qualifier Results
Scores
Friday, October 4
Queen's 1 Ottawa 4
Ottawa 10 Carleton 9
Queen's 8 Carleton 1
Saturday, October 5
Carleton 6 Ottawa 3
Queen's 5 Carleton 1
Max Lanoue delivered a dominant performance on the mound, striking out 12 batters to lead Queen's Gaels to a 5-1 victory over the Carleton Ravens in the OUA Baseball East Regional Finals. With the win, Queen's advances to the OUA Championship, hosted by the University of Toronto Varsity Blues at the Ajax Sportsplex on October 11-12.
Lanoue, who allowed just three hits and one run over nine innings while walking five, capped a remarkable weekend for Queen's pitching. Each of the Gaels' starters tossed a complete game throughout the tournament, showcasing their endurance and consistency.
The Gaels broke open the game in the fourth inning, with Owen Sartor driving in a run on a single, followed by a clutch two-run double from Benjamin Snider to give Queen's a 3-0 lead. They added two more runs later to secure the victory.
Despite the win, Queen's defense was shaky, committing four errors throughout the game. While they managed to overcome those mistakes against Carleton, they'll need to tighten up as they head into the OUA Final Tournament, where the competition will be less forgiving and more likely to capitalize on defensive miscues.
Mike Millross took the loss for the Ravens, surrendering five runs on eight hits over five innings, while striking out four and walking two. Nathan Van Putten pitched two scoreless innings in relief, allowing just two hits and striking out one.
On the offensive side, Queen's collected 10 hits, with Snider and Nicholas Hum leading the charge, each contributing two hits and two RBIs. For Carleton, Pat Mulligan, Rian Malig, and Owen Constantineau each managed one hit, with Mulligan showing his speed by stealing three bases.
Carleton's defense also turned a double play, but it wasn't enough to stop Queen's from securing their spot in the OUA Championship, where they'll look to clean up their defensive game and continue their strong pitching performances against the best teams in the province.
Central Qualifier Results
Scores
Friday, October 4
Toronto 6 York 0
Laurentian 7 TMU 4 (10 innings)
Saturday, October 5
TMU 9 York 6
Toronto 9 Laurentian 0
Toronto 5 TMU 4
York 23 Laurentian 19
Sunday, October 6
Toronto 3 York 2
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues baseball team finished 4-0 at the OUA Central Qualifier, securing wins over Laurentian, Toronto Metropolitan (TMU) and York, before defeating York again in the final. With the tournament victory, the Varsity Blues advance to the 2024 OUA Baseball Championship, which they will host at Ajax Sportsplex on the weekend of Oct. 11-12.
The Varsity Blues began the weekend with a 6-0 victory over York on Friday night, followed by 9-0 and 5-4 wins over Laurentian and TMU, respectively, on Saturday. Their undefeated round-robin record earned them a berth in Sunday's final, which they won 3-2 over York.
Josh Neposlan took the mound for Toronto in the final, tossing 6.1 innings, allowing only two runs (one earned) on five hits while striking out two. Paul Kosztowniak and Ethan Kwong combined to close out the game, holding York hitless. Offensively, the Varsity Blues were led by Ryan Hsu and Kirk Gibson who each produced two hits, including one double apiece. Jakob Cellupica also played a major role in the win with a solo home run.
Cellupica was a force at the plate all weekend, going 6-for-15 with a double, a home run and two walks over the four games. Despite an 0-for-3 performance in the final, Cellupica's teammate, Owen Taylor, was the offensive catalyst for the Varsity Blues in the tournament. He hit 9-for-14 with two doubles and five walks from the number three spot in the lineup.
In addition to their offensive prowess, the Varsity Blues' pitching staff also delivered outstanding performances. On Friday, Kevin Angers struck out 13 York batters during his 7.0 scoreless innings. On Saturday, Connor Broughton followed suit with 7.0 scoreless innings and nine strikeouts against Laurentian.
The Varsity Blues will look to defend their 2023 OUA Championship title when they compete against the winners from the three other OUA regional qualifier tournaments next weekend.
West Qualifier Results
Scores
Friday, October 4
McMaster 17 Brock 11
Guelph 13 McMaster (7 innings)
Guelph 20 Brock 16
Saturday, October 5
Brock 8 McMaster 6 (10 innings)
Brock 7 Guelph 5
The host Badgers came out to an early 2-0 lead in the first as they looked to build on their momentum from their semifinal win. Not backing down, the Gryphons kept pushing back, reducing the Badgers' lead multiple times including bringing it as close to 5-4 after seven innings of play.
A single from Tyson Gomm gave the Badgers a two-run top of the eighth as they extended their lead to 7-4.
Fighting for their championship lives, the Gryphons attempted to come back again, scoring one run off a Gillis sacrifice fly to reduce the lead to two. This is as close as they would get as Noah Chang popped out to give the Badgers the victory and a ticket to the provincial championship.
Riley and Pasco led the Badgers with three hits each while Gomm was the leader in RBI with four. Kowara had three hits to lead the Gryphons.
The Badgers outhit the Gryphons by a total of 14-8 but also gave up more errors (3) compared to Guelph's two.
Charlie Hughes delivered six sensational innings for the Badgers, giving up two runs (zero earned) and only four hits for the win. Jason Montgomery was tabbed with the loss for Guelph.
Far West Qualifier Results
Scores
Friday, October 4
Laurier 4 Waterloo 1
Waterloo 5 Western 1
Windsor 2 Laurier 1
Saturday, October 5
Waterloo 5 Windsor 2
Waterloo 12 Windsor 2
The Waterloo Warriors finished a dominant performance in the OUA Far West Regional Final, scoring 6 runs in the bottom of the 6th inning to take a 12-2 win.
Waterloo came out of the gate with solid offensive pressure in the bottom of the first inning, putting up 4 runs to start the game.
After a lead-off walk, Cody Hagerman would hit a single to left field which drove in a run to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead.Two batters later, with runners on first and second, Sam Shephard hit a line drive to right field, scoring Hagerman and pushing the lead to 2-0 Waterloo.The Warriors would round out their scoring in the inning on a ground ball, which Sean Skorupski would reach on an error, and a pair of runs would come into score, giving Waterloo the 4-0 lead after the opening inning.
Windsor responded in the top of the second with a pair of runs on a Stephen Whalen line drive to right-center field which cashed in Kyle Jones & Tennyson Seguin and cut the Waterloo lead to 4-2.
Waterloo would add to their lead in the bottom of the third, Adam Rusch bunted to the pitcher who made the play to home, but Shephard would come in to score and give the Warriors a 5-2 lead. Two batters later Waterloo would strike again, this time on a Sam Grant line drive that scored Sean Skorupski and pushed the Warriors lead to 6-2.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, Waterloo's 24 would line a ball to the Lancers third baseman who made a heads-up dive to tag the base and double up the Warriors and end the inning, keeping the score at 6-2 for Waterloo. Waterloo added 6 more runs in the bottom of the eighth, to put the 10-run mercy rule into effect and finish the game.
Aidan Armitage brought the intensity on the mound in the start for Warriors, pitching 5.2 innings, striking out four, while allowing zero earned runs. He was followed by Max Todd who pitched 2.1 innings, striking out four while allowing just one hit.
Zach Verzosa took the loss for Windsor, pitching 5.2 innings, striking out four while allowing one earned run.
Waterloo moves on to play in the OUA Baseball Championship that will be played at the Ajax Sportsplex starting Friday, October 11.