As announced by Ontario University Athletics (OUA) on Friday afternoon, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues baseball team claimed four major awards, along with seven all-star selections.

Beginning with the OUA's most valuable player, third-year Blues outfielder and pitcher Owen Taylor shared the honours alongside Waterloo's Evan Morrison. This season Taylor was a valuable piece of the Blues OUA championship winning puzzle, delivering solid defence in centre field, along with timely hitting at the plate. The commerce student was most impressive when it counted most, delivering key RBI's during the Blues run of wins at the OUA Championship in Hamilton, as well as delivering back-to-back strikeouts to close out the provincial gold medal final from the mound.

Shifting to the OUA most valuable pitcher honours, Blues third-year veteran Kevin Angers was honoured along with Waterloo's Jake Roberts. A U of T engineering student, Angers led the Blues in innings pitched and strikeouts this season. Additionally, Angers helped Toronto book their ticket to the gold medal game with an 11 strikeout and one earned run allowed performance in the Blues semifinal victory over McMaster.

Another Blues pitcher recognized; first-year life science student Clayton Winteler was chosen as the OUA rookie of the year. This fall, Winteler ranked third on the Blues in innings pitched, second in total strikeouts, and second amongst pitchers with more than 10 innings worked for ERA. During the OUA Championship, he also played a role in the gold medal game delivering 4.2 innings of work in relief, conceding just one run while striking out four Warriors during the Blues comeback effort.

Rounding out the major award winners, Toronto head coach Andrew Needles was also announced as the OUA coach of the year. In his first season leading the Blue and White, Needles elevated U of T to an impressive 15-2 regular season record. Under his leadership, Toronto then went on to sweep their OUA Regional Qualifier, before claiming victory in the semifinal and gold medal games of the OUA Championship the following week.   

Both Taylor and Angers were also selected as OUA first team all-stars, being joined by fellow teammates Kristyan Puyol-Gennossar, Niko Kekatos, Carter Hercun, and Easton Kirkpatrick.

The Blues additionally saw Sam Aslanawicz named an OUA second team all-star.

The complete list of 2023 OUA baseball award winners and all-stars is as follows:

Most Valuable Player – Owen Taylor, Toronto & Evan Morrison, Waterloo
Most Valuable Pitcher – Kevin Angers, Toronto & Jake Roberts, Waterloo
Coach of the Year – Andrew Needles, Toronto
Most Valuable Hitter – Evan Morrison, Waterloo
Rookie of the Year – Clayton Winteler, Toronto

First Team All-Stars
Catcher – Kristyan Puyol-Gennossar, Toronto
Catcher – Matt Underwood, McMaster
First Base – Niko Kekatos, Toronto
Second Base – Shean Skorupski, Waterloo
Short Stop – Evan Morrison, Waterloo
Third Base – Carter Hercun, Toronto
Outfield – Owen Taylor, Toronto
Outfield – Alessandro Strazzeri, Waterloo
Outfield – Kayan Alazam, McMaster
Designated Hitter – Jayden Kemp, Waterloo
Starting Pitcher – Kevin Angers, Toronto
Relief Pitcher – Easton Kirkpatrick, Toronto

Second Team All-Stars
Catcher – Alex Sleeman, Waterloo
First Base – Ethan Seymour, McMaster
Second Base – MacLean Van Raay, McMaster
Short Stop – Pat Mulligan, Carleton
Third Base – Anthony Polowick, McMaster
Outfield – Sam Aslanowicz, Toronto
Outfield – Sam Shepherd, Waterloo
Outfield – Justin Meade, McMaster
Designated Hitter – Nicolas Velocci, McMaster
Starting Pitcher – Jake Roberts, Waterloo
Relief Pitcher – Matthew McKelvey, Waterloo