UP FOR GRABS

With the OCAA women's softball regular season schedule nearing the middle point, first place in the league standings is still wide open.

The St. Clair Saints currently hold the top spot with a 7-2 record, but two teams are on their tail. The Conestoga Condors are in second place with a 6-1 record, but with two games in hand. The Humber Hawks at 5-2 also have two games in hand.

The common denominator for all three teams? All three earned OCAA medals last season.

The schedule maker has put Conestoga in the best position to gain ground over the next three days. The Condors host Humber on Thursday, then travel to St. Clair on Saturday.

THE HIT MACHINES

With the addition of the Fanshawe Falcons and three additional games per team to the schedule, it was a given that old OCAA records were set to fall.

St. Clair first baseman Skyler Patteson (Guelph, Ont.) is doing her part. At the halfway point of her season (nine games), Patteson leads the OCAA with 19 hits and 17 RBI. The OCAA regular season record of 31 hits and 29 RBI (both set in 2012-13) are well within in reach.

Teammate Sarah Bondy (Amherstburg, Ont.) is also looking to enter the OCAA record book. Bondy has scored 15 runs, eight shy of the record of 23 (also set in 2012-13). Bondy is one hit behind Patteson this season, and will challenge the hits record as well.

PITCHER'S DUEL

Despite some of the gaudy offensive numbers put up thus far, there have been some great pitching performances as well.

Take Conestoga's 2-0 win over Seneca on Tuesday. Both starting pitchers pitched a complete game seven innings, with Lauren Ruf (Cambridge, Ont.) picking up her fifth win of the season. She allowed eight hits, but struck out seven while allowing no walks (and more importantly, no runs).

The hard luck losing pitcher was Seneca's Lauren McLaughlin (Oakville, Ont.), who allowed eight hits, walked none, and struck out four. Two earned runs in the top of the sixth inning was her only blemish in the game.

McLaughlin was let down by a lack of run support earlier in the season, losing a 3-2 decision against defending champion Humber. She picked up her only win against St. Clair in an 8-5 win earlier in the month.

LET SLEEPING LORDS LIE

A quick glance at the OCAA standings show that the Durham Lords are on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoffs. This is not due to a lack of effort, rather, a lack of opportunity.

At 2-2, Durham trails fourth-place Fanshawe by two points. The Lords, however, have six games in hand. The Falcons are 3-7, having played a league-high 10 games.

Durham swept a season opening doubleheader at Fanshawe, and dropped two close games at St. Clair, losing 4-3 and 8-6. The Saints earned the walk-off win in the opening game with a four-run rally in the seventh, otherwise the Lords could easily be 3-1.

The Lords are scheduled to play seven straight games at home, as they look to make up ground on the frontrunners.

RECENT RESULTS

UPCOMING GAMES

Source: OCAA Communications