The George Brown Men's Baseball team (9-9) lost in the quarterfinals of the 2022 OCAA Men's Baseball Championship to the Fanshawe Falcons (11-7) from a cold and damp Lacasse Park in Tecumseh, Ont. With the loss, the Huskies baseball season officially comes to a close.
HOW IT HAPPENED: Finlay Butler (1st Year) got the start for the Huskies in the team's second consecutive visit to the OCAA Men's Baseball Championship. Butler pitched 2.1 innings earning 2 strikeouts, giving up 3 walks, 3 hits and 5 runs. Fanshawe held a 2-0 lead into the 3rd before Huskies DH Robert Vavaroutsos (1st Year) stepped up to the dish and drove in Daniel Farrace (2nd Year) and 2022 OCAA Men's Baseball Player of the Year and 1st Team All-Star, Brady Wagenhoffer (2nd Year), to tie the game 2-2.
In the bottom half of the 3rd, after allowing two more runs, Butler was replaced by Nathan Long (1st Year) who gave up 1 run and 3 walks before Hayden Wesseling (2nd Year) would come into the game in relief. Wesseling threw 3.1 innings, collecting 2 strike outs, allowing 3 walks, giving up 6 hits and 2 runs.
In the top of the 6th inning, George Brown's Carlos Acosta (2nd Year) grounded out to the short stop but not before scoring Braeden Tremblay (3rd Year), making things a 8-3 game. Acosta drove home another run in the top of the 7th, bringing home Brendan Nolet (1st Year), but it was as close as the Huskies would come with Fanshawe winning the ball game by a final score of 8-4. Fanshawe moves on to face the St. Clair Saints in the semi-finals.
Under the direction of first year head coach Josh Appel, this season marks the first time in the program's history finishing the season with a win percentage of .500 or better. Appel reflecting on the Huskies season said, "I couldn't be prouder of this group. We all bought in on building a winning culture here at GBC and the players held each other accountable from day 1. To see the bonds that were built amongst the group and watch them go out there and compete for one another truly made me a proud coach. We made some serious progress this year and there's a lot of excitement for what's to come moving forward."
In their 18 regular season games played, the Huskies were an offensive force scoring 127 runs - with six coming from home runs. The team held a combined batting average of .323, good for third overall in the league, an on base percentage of .430 for fourth overall, and a slugging percentage of .437 also putting them in fourth in the OCAA.
When asked about the future of the Men's Baseball program, Appel continued, "There is a lot of excitement within our program. We have a tight knit group here that is hungry to win, and many of our players will be returning to GBC next year. We will look to grow as a group and continue developing ourselves as a contender within the OCAA."
George Brown also headlined the Men's Baseball Championship awards banquet with catcher Brady Wagenhoffer taking home the Player of the Year award while also being recognized as a 1st Team All-Star. It is the first time in the program's history that a Husky has won this major award. Teammate Tyler Romandel was also rewarded for his stellar play this year, being named as a 2nd Team All-Star.
Visit the Men's Baseball Schedule page for full season results.
