KITCHENER, Ont. - The Durham Lords women's softball team reached a pair of milestones on Saturday in winning the 2018 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) championship.
 
Durham not only became the first program to win a 20th OCAA league sport championship, it became the first women's softball team to win four straight OCAA gold medals.
 
The Lords went undefeated in the four-team championship, defeating Humber 8-3 before defeating St. Clair twice by scores of 4-1 and 6-2.
 
"The girls played well and when you have eight freshmen come in and everyone gets on the same page like they did, that is something special," said Durham College head coach Jim Nemish. "To do it this way with a mix of 50/50 (half returning players and half first-year players) it was amazing. They never wavered all year and all weekend, leading to a positive result."
 
Ashley Black (Waterloo, Ont.), who was named OCAA pitcher of the year on Thursday, was awarded championship MVP. The fourth-year human resources student went 2-0 pitching a pair of complete games. She allowed five earned runs in 14 innings of work while going 1-for-1 with a walk, run and RBI in Saturday's gold medal game.
 
Pitching was a strength of the Lords during the regular season and in the championship. Emily Glendinning (Plattsville, Ont.) threw a complete game of her own against St. Clair allowing an unearned run on three hits and two walks in a 4-1 decision on Friday. She was named a championship all-star for her efforts. Durham had a league-best 2.10 ERA during the regular season.
 
"Looking at Ashely's stats and performances this season she was deserving of pitcher of the year," said Nemish. "She pitched great all season and had another great showing this weekend. Emily also pitched great all year. Both (Black and Glendinning) are 1A and 1A. They've both been aces for us this year. Emily knew going home for the summer that she wanted to improve. She dedicated herself to that and came back a completely different pitcher. She came into camp in great shape and from Day 1 took off as one of the best pitchers in this league. Her success this season is attributed to her dedication to working hard to get better and become a leading pitcher in the OCAA."
 
Durham scored early and often in the championship finale, scoring a run in each of the opening two innings before a two-spot in the third. The only inning the Lords didn't score was in the fifth, not needing a final at-bat in the seventh in the 6-2 win.
 
OCAA all-star Alexis Pereira (Newmarket, Ont.) finished 3-for-4 with two runs in the gold medal game, while 2017 OCAA all-star Jaimie Clarke (Elmvale, Ont.) finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored.
 
"This was a complete team effort from the outfield, to the infield, to our role players off the bench," said Nemish. "Everyone wanted to do their best for each other and that's special. I'm proud of the girls and what they accomplished this season."
 
 

QUICK LOOK AT THE LORDS

Overall Record: 26-9
Conference Record: 18-6

For all your Durham Lords updates make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram