The OCAA made it until Sept. 25 before men's baseball games were forced to be postponed because of inclement weather. Three doubleheaders in the GTA got washed away, including games involving the two top teams in the league.
Last year's OCAA finalists, the Humber Hawks and defending champion St. Clair Saints, are once again battling it out atop the standings. These teams split their doubleheader back on Sept. 11 and since then, neither has lost a game. In fact, they have been eerily similar. Both have 7-1 records; St. Clair has scored 84 runs compared to Humber's 80; while the Hawks have allowed 28 runs against compared to 29 for the Saints. Both teams also claim the only no-hitters of the season, with Humber's pitched by Aidan Murphy and St. Clair's by Brock Whitson.
The team with the most wins are neither of these clubs, however. The Fanshawe Falcons are the first to win eight games, and have actually allowed less runs (27) playing two extra games. Fanshawe's eighth victory surpassed its total of seven in a shortened 2021 campaign. Two losses, however, puts Fanshawe behind the OCAA co-leaders.
Fanshawe's strength is pitching with a league-leading 2.38 ERA and 17 earned runs allowed. Caleb Burleigh has allowed no earned runs over nine innings of work, striking out nine and walking just one in two appearances, both victories.
The Falcons have yet to face either Humber or St. Clair, which will be a significant litmus test for the team. Fanshawe visits Humber in a twin bill on the final day of September, and visit St. Clair to close the regular season on Oct. 13.
The teams with the best turnarounds from last season happen to reside in the same city. Both Centennial and George Brown were 3-11 in 2021, and now share identical records of 7-3. George Brown shares the longest current winning streak with Humber at five games.
Three players with the top batting averages in OCAA just happen to be George Brown Huskies. Brady Wagenhoffer leads all with a .556 average (20-for-36), followed by Tyler Romandel's .545 (12-for-22) and Brendan Nolet's .500 (11-for-22). Wagenhoffer is certainly in reach of the OCAA single season record of 30 hits currently shared by two players.
Like Fanshawe, the Centennial Colts are doing it by pitching with the league's second-best ERA of 2.94. Liam Oates has pitched a league-high 18 innings, allowing just three earned runs for a 1.17 ERA, helping him to a 3-0 record.
Most of the 10 teams competing on the OCAA circuit have passed the midway point of the regular season. The top six will compete at the OCAA championship, hosted by St. Clair from Oct. 20-22.
Source: OCAA Communications
Photo Credit: Diego Guillen