Banner Season: Blues smash their way to third-straight title, Warriors walk-off for bronze on home soil

KITCHENER, Ont. (via the Waterloo Warriors) - The Toronto Varsity Blues cemented their status as an OUA baseball dynasty as they won their third consecutive OUA Championship at Jack Couch Park in Kitchener Saturday evening.

The Varsity Blues eliminated the Waterloo Warriors for the fourth straight season in Friday morning's semifinal before routing the defending national champion Carleton Ravens in the gold medal game, 11-3, to claim their fourth provincial title in five years.

It's Toronto's ninth OUA baseball championship, the most of any school since the championship's inception in 2001.

Semifinal No. 1 – Toronto 11, Waterloo 5

Both teams traded runs early in this rematch of the 2023 and 2024 OUA championship game, with the score 2-2 through two. Toronto chased Varsity Blues starter Max Todd in the third - taking a 5-2 lead - after the fourth-year pitcher threw 11 strong innings at last weekend's OUA Far West Regional.

Luca Valvo held down the fort for the next four innings and allowed the Warriors to cut the lead to one in the bottom of the seventh. A four-run top of the eighth gave Toronto a comfortable lead that they wouldn't relinquish. Armin Najmaie came in for the final two innings to record the save.

Diego Fuentes was the tournament standout and made his presence felt early on Friday with three RBIs on three hits and two runs scored.

Semifinal No. 2 – Carleton 8, Brock 6

With the sun now shining at Bechtel Park after a cold morning game, Carleton's bats were hot to start the second semifinal, as they scored seven runs on 12 hits in the first four innings to end Brock starter Charlie Hughes' day early.

Trailing 7-1, star pitcher Ryan Facchini came in and clipped the high-flying Ravens wings, but his Badgers couldn't get off the ground on offence. Brock was held scoreless in the middle third of this game by Carleton starting pitcher Nathan Van Putten, who lasted seven innings.

A late, three-run rally in the eighth wasn't enough for Brock, who left 12 runners on base in a two-run loss.

Ravens third-baseman Thomas Fournier had five hits including the weekend's first home run, driving in two runs and scoring two himself.

Bronze Medal Game – Waterloo 6, Brock 4

A brief downpour Saturday morning delayed the start of the bronze medal game to 12:30 p.m. at Jack Couch Park.

It didn't look good early for the host team, who found themselves down 4-1 after the first two innings. It was a combination of costly errors by the Warriors and heads-up baserunning by the Badgers, who finished this seven-inning game with seven stolen bases.

It was a tough hole to dig out of for Waterloo with Jack Tiessen on the mound for Brock. The third-year pitcher racked up eight strikeouts through six innings and gave up only three hits and a walk.

The Warriors capitalized on the opportunities they did get, scoring once in the fourth and fifth innings to cut the lead to one. Meanwhile, veteran Carson Hepburn shut down Brock's offence, striking out six in just three innings and allowing only a single batter to reach base.

It was still 4-3 Badgers when Facchini came in to close for Brock in the bottom of the seventh. He managed just one out before second baseman Carter Kipp stepped up to the plate with runners on first and second. The rookie turned on the first pitch he saw and crushed it to left-centre field for a walk-off, three-run home run to give the Warriors their third consecutive OUA medal.

Gold Medal Game – Toronto 11, Carleton 3

Toronto's offence was billed as a near unstoppable force heading into this tournament, and they demonstrated it with 22 runs in two games against two of the top teams in the OUA.

Carleton took a brief 2-1 lead in the top of the third, but Fuentes' second home run was a three-run score to swing momentum back in Toronto's favour in the bottom half. The Varsity Blues would follow that up with another three-run inning in the fourth to take a commanding 7-2 lead.

Five errors from five different Ravens did nothing to help slow the onslaught. Toronto, meanwhile, got RBIs from five different batters.

Toronto starter Matthew Clarke struck out eight through seven innings, and closer Patrick Stasyszyn allowed just one hit in a two-inning save. Leadoff man Sam Aslanowicz scored three runs on three hits and a walk while driving in two runs as well.

Major Award Winners 

OUA All-stars