OSHAWA, Ont. - The top four men's baseball teams in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) are set to square off in a double-knockout tournament to determine the 2014 OCAA champion.

The 2014 OCAA Men's Baseball Championship takes place Friday and Saturday at Kinsmen Memorial Civic Stadium in Oshawa, Ont. The event is being hosted by Durham College.

St. Clair College won the inaugural OCAA championship last year, and remain the team to beat after a near-perfect regular season. All three of last year's medalists have advanced to this weekend's tournament, including 2013 runner-up Durham and defending bronze medalist Humber College. This trio will be joined by upstart Fanshawe College, advancing to the final four in its debut season in men's baseball.

In the double-knockout tournament, teams play a minimum of two games. Clubs are eliminated from the competition after their second loss. Schools are seeded based on regular season record.

The team that wins both games in the opening day of the tournament advances directly to the gold medal game, with two chances to win the championship. The team that avoids a second loss wins the tournament and the OCAA title.

St. Clair Saints (19-1, 1st OCAA)

St. Clair has lost just three games in two OCAA regular seasons. Not surprisingly, the Saints have finished on top of the OCAA standings in consecutive years.

Offensively, St. Clair led OCAA in several offensive categories, including runs, hits, RBI, stolen bases and team batting average. Defensively, the Saints led the OCAA in ERA, shutouts, batting average against and runs against.

The Saints have three players with better than .400 batting averages, including team leader Eric Cunningham (LaSalle, Ont.) at .458. Teammates Derrick Fortier (Windsor, Ont.) at .432 and Joel Cooper (LaSalle, Ont.) at .410 are key reasons why St. Clair batted .339 as a team.

Once on board, the Saints would take extra bases at will, with four of the top five OCAA players in stolen bases. Cunningham led the league with 16 steals.

St. Clair also features a duo of starting pitchers with earn run averages under two. Taylor Pappin (Brantford, Ont.) was second in the OCAA with a 1.11 ERA, while Kyle Breitner (Mississauga, Ont.) was fourth at 1.48. Both players combined for over 58 innings of work. St. Clair had a 1.44 team ERA, over 2 1/2 runs better than the next best team.

St. Clair's lone loss of 2014 came against Durham, a 3-2 outcome. Fittingly enough, these two teams open the OCAA tournament against each other. St. Clair defeated Durham 5-2 in last year's gold medal game.

St. Clair is 11-1 in games against Durham, Fanshawe and Humber this season.

Humber Hawks (12-6, 2nd OCAA)

The Humber Hawks finished in second place for the second straight season, but enter the tournament having lost three of their last four games.

Outfielder Brian MacDonald (Markham, Ont.) has powered the Humber attack this season, leading the OCAA with four home runs and 25 RBI. Teammate Sean Mattson (Scarborough, Ont.) was fourth in OCAA batting with a .438 average. Humber was second in team batting at .334.

Second-year pitcher Brandon Habibulah (Brampton, Ont.) led the OCAA with a 0.88 ERA in 16 innings of work. Humber was fourth with a team ERA of 4.62 during the regular season.

Humber's opening opponent of the 2014 championship is Fanshawe. These teams only met twice in the regular season, with a doubleheader between these clubs being rained out on two separate occasions. The teams split the regular season season series 1-1.

Humber is 4-6 against Durham, Fanshawe and St. Clair this season.

Fanshawe Falcons (11-7, 3rd OCAA)

Fanshawe's debut in OCAA men's baseball can already be deemed a success, but no doubt the Falcons want to win a medal for their efforts. Fanshawe enters the OCAA tournament having won three of its last four.

The Falcons feature a pair of players with batting averages over .400. At .468, shortstop Paul Lytwynec (London, Ont.) was second in batting and the OCAA co-leader in hits with 29. Teammate Sean Refflinghaus (London, Ont.) was sixth overall in batting with a .417 average. As a team, Fanshawe was third in the OCAA with a .313 average.

Fanshawe has spread out the workload on its pitching staff, with four players throwing more than 20 innings, more than any other OCAA team. Braeden Ferrington (London, Ont.) led the staff with a 2.25 ERA, 22 strikeouts and just two walks. Fanshawe's team ERA of 4.04 was second in OCAA only to St. Clair.

Fanshawe is 3-7 against Durham, Humber and St. Clair this season.

Durham Lords (11-9, 4th OCAA)

OCAA tournament host Durham Lords are 7-3 at Kinsmen Stadium this season. The Lords will not get last at bat in either of their games on Friday, however, weakening their home field advantage.

Durham is the hottest team outside St. Clair winning five of its last six games. Ilija Bozinovski (Ajax, Ont.) was the Lords ace this season with an OCAA-high 41 innings of work. He led the OCAA with 35 strikeouts, and was third with a 1.37 ERA. The Lords were third with a team ERA of 4.17.

Durham is led offensively by outfielder Aaron McQuillen (Ajax, Ont.) and his .339 batting average. He contributed a team-high 19 hits. Durham was fourth in batting at .294.

Durham is 4-8 against Fanshawe, Humber and St. Clair this season.

Live Webcast: www.ocaatv.com

Championship Schedule
Friday, October 17
Game 1: Humber vs. Fanshawe - 11 a.m.
Game 2: St. Clair vs. Durham - 1:30 p.m.
Game 3: Losers of Games 1 and 2 - 4 p.m.
Game 4: Winners of Games 1 and 2 - 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, October 18
OCAA Bronze Medal Game
Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 - 10 a.m.
*Loser awarded Bronze, winner advances to Gold Medal Game

OCAA Gold Medal Game(s)
Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Bronze Medal Game - 1 p.m.
*A second Gold Medal Game will be played at 3 p.m. if necessary

- OCAA -

ABOUT ONTARIO COLLEGES ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

The Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) is a recognized leader in intercollegiate athletics in the province, dedicated to student athlete and sport development. The OCAA has 30 members sponsoring 11 sports.

For additional information please contact:
Josh Bell-Webster
Marketing and Communications
Ontario Colleges Athletic Association
Tel: 416-426-7041
Fax: 416-426-7308
E-mail: bell-webster@ocaa.com