BRAMPTON, Ont. - From 1997 to 2012 the Durham College women's softball team made it to the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) final each season - 16 straight years.
Over that time the Lords won the OCAA championship back-to-back years six times, not including being two-time defending champions heading into this weekend's OCAA softball championship after an absence from the final in 2013 and 2014.
All that said, Saturday's gold medal game will not be a rare place for Durham College to be, but winning three-straight championships - that is rare. They have had the opportunity six times, converting only twice.
The Lords did it from 1982-84 and 2002-04, while the Seneca Sting (1985-87) and Conestoga Condors (1988-90) are the only other programs to also win three straight titles.
Durham has an opportunity to do that again after defeating the 2017 championship host Humber Hawks 8-5 and the top-seeded St. Clair Saints 11-0 to advance to the gold medal game Saturday in Brampton.
"As two-time defending champions everyone wants to beat you and they step up their game, so there was some pressure on our girls," said Lords head coach Jim Nemish. "They rose to the occasion and everyone did their part. Myself and the coaching staff couldn't be more proud of the girls. I just want to say the support of all the parents and their cheering was a great support for the team. Going into tomorrow we just want to maintain this level and keep working hard because we know it won't be easy."
Their route to this year's final was unlike finishing fourth and third in the standings over the last two seasons. Durham entered this weekend just six points out of top spot in the conference, seeded second, to make them the home team against the host Humber Hawks in the opening game of the 2017 championship, which the Lords won 8-5.
Durham's Emily Hill (Ohsweken, Ont.) matched up against Humber's Rachel Matheson-Green on the bump. Both pitchers would go deep in this one, with Hill getting the upper hand - earning the win over the full seven innings, allowing only four earned runs. Matheson-Green took the loss going 5 1/3 innings and allowing six runs, only one of which was earned.
The Lords took the lead in the first inning, putting up three runs thanks to RBIs by Sarah Seifried (Drayton, Ont.) and OCAA batting champion Marina Christie (Pickering, Ont.). Ashley Wallace (Coldwater, Ont.) tacked on another run in the second inning for Durham to make the game 4-0.
Aaliyah Davidson put Humber on the board in the top of the third inning, driving in Jenna Hillman from second base with two outs. The Hawks closed the gap to just one run by the top of the fifth as Kate Kostuch hit a solo home run in the fourth and Sarah Franchetto drove in the third run for Humber with a sac fly to left.
That score would hold until the bottom of the sixth, as Durham chased Matheson-Green from the game with runners on second and third.
Wallace and Sabrina Stalteri (Vaughan, Ont.) combined to drive in four runs in the inning to give the Lords a five-run lead. The Hawks scored two more runs in the top of the seventh, but that would be as close they would get, falling to the Lords in seven.
Durham ended the day with a mercy of the top-seeded St. Clair Saints, 11-0 in six innings.
The game was highlighted by a Wallace grand slam in the top of the sixth, which scored Cassidy Scott (Brampton, Ont.), Stalteri and Jaimie Clarke (Elmvale, Ont.) to put the game out of reach at 10-0. Christie drove in Hill for the final run of the game before Ashley Black (Waterloo, Ont.) shut down the Saints in the bottom half of the inning.
She allowed only five hits and a walk in the shutout over six innings.
Durham chased Olivia Elliott after three complete innings, which she allowed four runs on five hits and a walk. Allison Telfer gave up seven earned runs on eight hits and a walk over the final three innings.
Although Wallace led the team in RBIs, Clarke had the best overall outing going 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored.
The Lords now await their opponent in the final as St. Clair will face the Mohawk Mountaineers at 10 a.m. in the bronze medal game, with the winner advancing to face Durham College in the final.
All games are being streamed on the Humber Sports Network.
Source: Durham College