Skip To Main Content

University of Toronto Athletics

OUA CHAMPIONS
Alex D'Addese

Baseball

BASEBALL CROWNED OUA CHAMPIONS

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues baseball team won their first OUA title since 2012 following an 8-3 victory over the Laurier Golden Hawks on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 15) in Ajax, Ont.
 
The win marks Toronto's fifth OUA banner in program history and first for first-year head coach Mike Didier.
 

 

A relentless Toronto offence, that led the OUA in runs, took advantage of a tired Laurier pitching staff and a strong pitching performance from Peter Nash handily defeated the Laurier lineup.

Toronto got to Laurier starter Austin Hassani two batters into the game, as Michael Deluca drove in the lead off triple by Gabriel Nakonechny.  In the second, Deluca would single home two more runs in the three run inning. That hit would end Hassani's afternoon on the mound.

Golden Hawks relievers Nick Murray and Christian Pandoff would surrender one run over two innings, on the single by Toronto second baseman, Marco Bandiera.

Laurier got on the board in the bottom of the third on a deep double to centre field by number three hitter Jeff Hunt. It scored two and after three innings Laurier trailed 5-2. 

A key point in this game came in the bottom of the fourth. With no one out, a runner at first and Nick Cook at the plate, Nash and Tanner Young-Schultz combined to catch Kai Harris trying to steal second, followed one pitch later with a strikeout of Cook. An inning beginning with what looked to be a rally, became an easy 1-2-3 inning for Nash.

In the following half inning, the Blues put the game out of reach. Laurier used the quarter-final and semifinal winners, Kyle Symington and Christian Hauck, to get through the inning, but with two runners in scoring position and two out, clean up hitter Bradley Bedford singled through the right side, scoring both base runners and make it 7-2 Toronto. 

That would be enough for Nash, who went go six innings, surrendering two runs on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts. 

Toronto head coach Mike Didier was pleased with his starter's performance but wasn't surprised. 

"Nash came in and shoved, he is never a guy that lacks for confidence and he has got great stuff," said Didier. "He was unanimous choice for this start by all the coaches."

Top OUA pitcher in most categories, Graham Tebbit, came in to close things down for the championship. He would go three innings surrendering one run. This came two days after pitching Toronto to their quarter-final win, with eight almost unhittable innings against the Guelph Gryphons. 

In the seventh, Roy Suzuki added a run for Toronto with his speed. On what would be the best display of good base running in the tournament, Suzuki scored all the way from second on an infield single by Nakonechny. That play was a perfect example of how fundamentally sound the Varsity Blues players play the game.

"They hustle, they don't give up, they don't take things for granted and they see themselves doing well and they perform," said Didier.

Source: Sean Addis

For more information, scores and highlights on your favourite U of T athletes and teams, please visit www.varsityblues.ca. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat and Facebook for the latest and greatest in Varsity Blues intercollegiate athletics. 
 
Print Friendly Version