TORONTO - The Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Women's Softball Championship takes place this Thursday through Saturday at Connorvale Park in Etobicoke, Ont.
The last three championships have seen the same trio of teams atop the podium, each taking a turn as champion. The St. Clair Saints are the defending gold medalists, the Durham Lords have won 21 OCAA titles in total, while the host Humber Hawks are two-time bronze medalists after winning it all in 2019.
Three other teams - the Fanshawe Falcons, Mohawk Mountaineers and Seneca Sting - will try to break the axis of softball powers atop of OCAA over three days of competition.
A total of six teams will compete for a chance to take home the crown. Eight or nine games will take place between Thursday and Saturday in a modified double knockout tournament. Thursday's games will be sudden death affairs with the losing teams being eliminated.
Thursday's winners will join Durham and St. Clair to begin the double-knockout phase of the competition, playing two games each on Friday. Teams are eliminated from the competition after their second loss. Schools are seeded based on regular season record.
The team that wins both games on Friday advances directly to Saturday's gold medal game, with two chances to win the championship. The team that avoids a second loss wins the tournament and the OCAA title.
Sunday is reserved as a rainout date if necessary.
Durham Lords (22-2, 1st OCAA)
The Durham Lords look poised to take back the crown that they lost in 2022, and will automatically open their double knockout competition against a sub-.500 team.
Durham enters the post-season with a OCAA-high eight-game winning streak. The Lords were second in the regular season in a number of offensive and pitching categories as they gave chase to the rival Saints. Although tied in the final standings, Durham won the season series against St. Clair 2-1 to win the tiebreaker.
Third-year player Grace Hearns (Napenee) led all OCAA players with 46 hits, 10 triples and 26 stolen bases without being caught. Fifth-year right-hander Emily Glendinning (Plattsville) holds a league-best 0.53 ERA, allowing just three earned runs in 40.0 innings of work.
The Lords love to run the base paths, stealing an OCAA-high 77 bases, only being caught four times.
St. Clair Saints (22-2, 2nd OCAA)
Although losing the tiebreaker to the Lords, the St. Clair Saints led the OCAA in many offensive and pitching categories, including runs scored, RBI, doubles, home runs, batting average, earned runs allowed, hits allowed and ERA. St. Clair also established a new OCAA record with 321 hits.
Fifth-year player Amy Claydon (Cambridge) was tops in the OCAA with a .551 batting average, while fifth-year infielder Bryanna Kressler (Kitchener) drove in a league-high 45 RBI. Second-year hurler Mckenna Copley (Dover Centre) led the OCAA with 13 wins and was second with 68 strikeouts.
St. Clair's only two losses in the regular season came against the Lords, ending a 43-game winning streak spanning two seasons. As the top two teams in the final standings, both teams earn a bye straight into the double knockout bracket.
Humber Hawks (19-5, 3rd OCAA)
Despite a strong regular season record and having an automatic berth as host, the Humber Hawks are facing elimination on the first day of the championship.
These Birds are not to be taken lightly, however, with team statistics comparable to both the Saints and Lords. The Hawks were second behind St. Clair with a .370 team batting average, while boasting the league's third-best ERA at 2.22. Humber pitchers struck out a league-high 181 batters, while allowing the fewest walks at 22.
First-year pitcher Shade Hansen (Etobicoke) is the leader of the Humber pitching brigade. The right-hander threw 73 2/3 innings in a dozen appearances, striking out 127 while limiting batters to a league-low .123 batting average. Offensively, fifth-year player Alexis Ferreira (Mississauga) was second among OCAA players with a .529 batting average.
Notably, all of Humber's regular season losses came against the Lords or Saints.
Fanshawe Falcons (11-13, 4th OCAA)
The Fanshawe Falcons enter the post-season winners of two straight and eight of their last 10 games.
Second-year player Jada Doxtator (Southwold) led the Falcons with 25 hits and 17 RBI, and finished the regular season with a slash line of .379/.434/.545. Doxtator also threw 70 innings for the Falcons, striking out 62.
In a similar position last year, Fanshawe advanced to Day 2 before dropping out of medal contention. The Falcons last won a medal (bronze) in 2018.
Mohawk Mountaineers (10-14, 5th OCAA)
The Mohawk Mountaineers have won four straight to enter the post-season on a high. This marks their first trip to the championship since 2017.
First-year infielder Danika Millen (Milton) put together a strong season at plate for the Mountaineers with a slash line of .419/.486/.694. Millen had a team-high 26 hits and 21 RBI.
Fanshawe takes on Mohawk in one of the sudden death qualifying games. Despite the different in regular season records, the Mountaineers won all three of their games against the Falcons.
Seneca Sting (7-17, 6th OCAA)
The Seneca Sting have lost six straight heading into the championship but managed to win just enough games before this to earn an invite.
Second-year player River Johnston (North York) has been a bright spot for the Sting, leading the team with 31 hits and a slash line of .419/.436/.608. Johnston scored 14 runs and drove in 18 RBI in 24 games.
Seneca will need to knock off Humber in a sudden death game to continue its season.
Championship Website: www.ocaa.com/soft
Live Webcast: www.ocaalive.com
Thursday, October 19
Game #1: Seneca (6th) vs. Humber (3rd) - 3 p.m.
Game #2: Mohawk (5th) vs. Fanshawe (4th) - 5 p.m.
Friday, October 20
Game #3: Lowest Remaining Seed vs. Durham (1st) - 11 a.m.
Game #4: Highest Remaining Seed vs. St. Clair (2nd) - 1 p.m.
Game #5: Loser Game #3 vs. Loser Game #4 - 3 p.m.
Game #6: Winner Game #3 vs. Winner Game #4 - 5 p.m.
Saturday, October 21
OCAA Bronze Medal Game
Game #7: Winner Game #5 vs. Loser Game #6 - 12 p.m.
Losing team presented OCAA Bronze Medal at conclusion of game
OCAA Gold Medal Game(s)
Game #8: Winner Game #7 vs. Winner Game #6 - 2 p.m.
Game #9*: Winner Game #7 vs. Winner Game #6 - 4 p.m.
*If necessary
OCAA Gold and Silver Medals presented at the conclusion of final game
- OCAA -
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