BAKER'S DOZEN

The defending OCAA champion St. Clair Saints have yet to lose through eight games this year, although their last one was a close call.

Closing out the fourth game of a weekend road trip to Toronto, St. Clair's Taylor Pappin (Brantford, Ont.) and Humber's Brandon Habibulah (Brampton, Ont.) locked horns in a pitcher's duel. Tied 1-1 in extra innings, Eric Cunningham (LaSalle, Ont.) scored on Rob Cooper's (Belle River, Ont.) sac fly as the Saints prevailed 2-1.

St. Clair has now won 13 straight OCAA contests, dating back to last season. This includes three post-season victories.

FALCON RISING

St. Clair's closest competitor continues to be the new kids on the block.

The Fanshawe Falcons have improved to 6-2 in their inaugural men's baseball season. This includes doubleheader splits against Durham and Humber, last year's OCAA silver and bronze medalists, respectively.

Fanshawe shortstop Paul Lytwynec (London, Ont.) leads all OCAA players with 14 hits, and is one RBI behind league leader Derrick Fortier (Windsor, Ont.) of St. Clair. Lytwynec's 10 runs are also among the top players. From the mound, Brett Sabourin (Ottawa) leads the OCAA with 13 strikeouts, averaging one per inning.

Fanshawe faces a litmus test this Wednesday as the Falcons travel to Lacasse Park in Tecumseh, Ont., to face the Saints.

SEPTEMBER RAIN

While St. Clair and Fanshawe have managed to get eight games in the books, the rest of the league will be playing catch up over the next three weeks.

The remaining four OCAA teams have played just four games each, or half of St. Clair and Fanshawe's total. The weather gods have not been kind, with rain interfering with playing conditions in the GTA.

Durham, George Brown, Humber and Seneca have combined for just two wins as St. Clair and Fanshawe have perhaps taken advantage of some rusty squads.

The weather outlook in Toronto looks good until the weekend, when potential rain could threaten even more games. Such is life in OCAA baseball.

LAW OF AVERAGES

As a result of playing four extra games, the OCAA statistical leaders are, not surprisingly, littered with St. Clair and Fanshawe players.

That's why baseball created batting and earned run averages.

George Brown first-year player Andrew Murrell (Markham, Ont.) leads the OCAA in batting average at .636 with seven hits in 11 at bats. Three of those hits are doubles.

Second-year pitcher Ilija Bozinovski (Ajax, Ont.) is second in the OCAA with a 1.29 ERA, allowing one earned run in seven innings of work.

RECENT RESULTS

UPCOMING GAMES

Source: OCAA Communications