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 competition, defeating Humber 8-3 before defeating St. Clair twice by scores of 4-1 and 6-2. St. Clair earned silver for the third straight season.
Ashley Black (Waterloo), who was named OCAA Pitcher of the Year and an OCAA League All-Star on Thursday, was awarded Championship MVP. The fourth-year hurler 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) 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.
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.
St. Clair made the gold medal game by defeating Fanshawe twice by scores of 5-4 and 15-5. The former was a nail-biter with first-year player Mary O'Neil (Oldcastle) scoring the game-winning run on a walk off hit by Kim Moroun (Windsor). O'Neil was 3-for-6 including a double in two games against Fanshawe, scoring three runs and driving in two. She was named a Championship All-Star along with teammate Jordan Taylor (LaSalle) who was 5-for-12 at the championship, walking scoring four runs and driving in one. She walked four times.
Fanshawe rebounded from the heartbreaking opening loss to eliminate Humber 10-2. Fourth-year player Jacey Lochert (Bellwood), who had two hits and drove in a run in each of Fanshawe's three games was also named an OCAA Championship All-Star. Fanshawe received the OCAA bronze medal for the third time in four seasons.
Championship Website: www.ocaa.com/championships/soft/2018-19/index
OCAA Medals
Gold: Durham
Silver: St. Clair
Bronze: Fanshawe
OCAA Championship MVP
Ashley Black, Durham
OCAA Championship All-Stars
Ashley Black, Durham
Emily Glendinning, Durham
Jacey Lochert, Fanshawe
Mary O'Neil, St. Clair
Jordan Taylor, St. Clair
OCAA Championship Results
Friday, October 19
Game 1: St. Clair def. Fanshawe 5-4
Game 2: Durham def. Humber 8-3
Game 3: Fanshawe def. Humber 10-2
Game 4: Durham def. St. Clair 4-1
Saturday, October 20
OCAA Bronze Medal Game
St. Clair def. Fanshawe 15-5
Fanshawe awarded OCAA Bronze Medal
OCAA Gold Medal Game
Durham def. St. Clair 6-2
- OCAA -
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E-mail: bell-webster@ocaa.com