The Ontario Conference

At Kinsmen Field, Oshawa (October 8), the Durham Lords pulled out all stops to crush the weary St.Clair Saints in a 14-0 and 12-0 sweep.  In game one, perennial rubber arm James Rowe stymied the Saints with a two-hit 7-inning shutout.  At the plate, Dan Alayon cracked out 2 hits, a double and 5 rbi; Tyler Mitchell also belted out 2 hits, a double, 4 rbi, and Troy McLoughlin slapped out 2 hits, a double and 2 rbi. In game two, it was Julian Daligadu who once again showed his mastery on the mound, also throwing a complete game 2-hit shutout.  At the plate, it was again Dan Alayon with 2 hits, 2 rbi; Michael Del Fuoco snapping 2 hits, 2 rbi; and, Tyler Mitchell contributing 3 rbi.

The Windsor/Humber series it was a lot closer and took the three games to determine the winner.  The two teams split the first two games on Saturday, at Mic Mac Park in Windsor.  Windsor won the opener by a score of 4-3 in a game decided in the bottom of the ninth with 2 bunts and a single.  However, the Humber Hawks regrouped and rebounded with a strong 8-1 victory, forcing a third and deciding game back at the friendly confines of Connorvale Park in Etobicoke on Sunday. Shawn Watt pitched the first three for Humber and Dylan Waterman continued to close the door for the last 4 innings. And it all came down to the Humbers last at bats - Rich Rausch led off with a double off the right field fence. After DH Russ Hazen sacrificed him to third, Thomas Litvinskas delivering a long sacrifice fly ball to plate Rausch – Humber had the run they needed for the 1-0 victory and their undeniable ticket to Moncton for the CIBA National Championship. Although great play and a great game all around by both team, the main story would appear to be Humber turning an amazing four (4) double plays.

The Northern Conference

The big story in Northern is the emergence of the Carleton Ravens as solid baseball power.  Last year Ben Rich ran a revived and a well-oiled team but they were often on the wrong side of some close one-run games. However, this year under gritty new coach Rick Young, rumour has it that “they come to play hardball.”  That was evident Saturday when the Ravens swept the Ottawa GeeGees 5-2 and 3-1 in a doubleheader at Hamilton Yards. Carleton’s Charlie Crabb pitched a complete game in game one and had to bear down on occasion to pitch his way out of a few bases loaded jams. In the second game, batting sensation Evan Hammond hit a two-run bomb in the first inning of the second game. Over the two games Evan had four RBI’s.  Rick says, “This young man should be in the running for top hitter in the league. He’s hitting about .430 with 5 homers and 19 RBI's for the season.” The Carleton Ravens have now earned the right into the league finals next week and their ticket to the CIBA National Championship in Moncton, New Brunswick. 

On Sunday at Trudeau Parc, the McGill Redmen and the Concordia Stingers split a double header. In the opener, McGill rallied from a 2-0 deficit with Chris Ames and Robert Garven each smashing home runs that led to a resounding 9-3 victory over Concordia. McGill starter L.J. Aguinaga picked up the win and Landon Moore finished up in relief. The Redmen lost the nightcap 5-2, forcing a rubber match on Thanksgiving Monday. In the second game, Stingers starter Matthew Jacobson picked up the win, while McGill starter Conrad Hall took the loss. Catcher Chris Haddad was McGill's only multi-hit performer. Batting from the seventh hole in the order, he went 2-for-3 with a double.

In the rubber match on Monday, Concordia played tough defeating McGill by a decisive 9-0 score.  The Stingers pounded out 13 hits led by Marco Masciotra who went 4-4 with a double and 4 rbi.  On the mound, Brandon Berkovits tossed a complete game shutout, striking out nine in what some described as a “masterpiece.”

The Concordia Stingers from Montreal will now host the Carleton Ravens for the Northern title starting Saturday October 15 at 12:00 and 3:00 p.m. at Trudeau Parc. Should a game three be required, both teams will head for the Hamilton Yards on Sunday where Carleton will host.

By virtue of their win over McGill, Concordia will once again make the trip to the CIBA Nationals. The Northern Conference has proven to be very strong of late – Concordia were CIBA National champs in 2009 and last year in 2010, the McGill Redmen took the prize.

The Atlantic Conference    

The big anticipated match up in the Atlantic Conference was the fierce rivalry between Cape Breton Capers and the University of New Brunswick Cougars. They have a long history and there’s no love lost between the two clubs.  T.J. Colello of the Cape Breton Post pressed the question to the Capers’ coach, “Needless to say, we don’t go out to dinner with each other after the game, that’s for sure,” answered Shubie Shibinette. Game one: Justin Brewer picked up the win for CBU (12-2) and Phil Merrill hit a long dinger for UNB. However, the Cougars were not going away without a hard fought game in the second frame. The Capers bunted four batters in a row to pick up 2 runs and the score was tied at 4-4 at the end of seven innings. The 8th was scoreless but UNB plated one run in the top of the 9^th to make it 5-4.  But, with a runner on 3^rd base and two out, last year’s CIBA batting champion Daniel Lewis hit a walk-off two-run bomb. Justin Brewer relieved his brother Nathan in the eighth inning and completed the game for his second win of the doubleheader. Phil Merrill went the distance, pitching a gem for the Cougars in the losing cause and he also added another home run to make it two (2) for the day. 

At Crandall, the heavily favoured Chargers (13-3) opened the semi-final doubleheader against the (5-7) Dalhousie Tigers. Game One: 4 Tiger errors in the first 2 innings and a home run from Luc Vautour put them behind the eight ball early.  However, they rallied late with the bases loaded but just couldn’t pull it off. Jordan Wilson (Dalhousie playing-coach) had very high praise for both pitchers -Chargers Chris Leger and the Tigers’ Luke Carmichael.  Final score: Crandall Chargers 5 and Dalhousie Tigers 4 with Leger picking up the win. Game Two: After trading runs (2 apiece) in the first three innings, Dal started to figure out Luc Vatour and roughed him up a bit.  Great pitching from Scott Lee (six innings and the win) and Jason Davis came in and closed it down. Final score ended up 8-3 for Dalhousie.  This moved the series to Halifax for a showdown on Sunday.  Game Three: Both teams traded runs back and forth without either team having a “big inning.” Wilson noted that, “Crandall’s big three (Serge Vautour, Adem Campbell, Luc Vautour) were not going to be stopped – they reached base nearly every at bat.”  Final score was 9-5 for Dalhousie.  It should be duly noted that Jason Davis certainly did ‘yeoman’s service” on the mound for the Tigers as he pitched in every game including a full seven innings on Sunday for the win.  The Atlantic final will start on Saturday, October 15 in Sydney for two games and then move to Halifax for a game three should it be necessary.  The winner will advance to the CIBA National Championship in Moncton, New Brunswick on October 21 to 23.