Six Saints Part of 22U National Championship Squad
Six members of the St. Clair College Varsity Men’s Baseball team were part of the Windsor Selects squad that went undefeated (7-0) and captured a Gold Medal at the 22U National Championship this past weekend in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
The St. Clair contingent was made up of 1B Kanaan Gale (Leamington, ON/Cardinal Carter), LF Andrew Sleiman (Leamington, ON/Cardinal Carter) and DH Rowan Glasgow (LaSalle, ON/Sandwich) along with right hand pitchers Brady Knelsen (Leamington, ON/Leamington), Michael Grondin (Windsor, ON/Riverside) and Tecumseh Thunder pickup Cameron Beale (LaSalle, ON/Sandwich).
Windsor entered the championship tournament as Ontario’s #2 team on a Wildcard bid but ran through pool play besting Prince Edward Island (5-2) on Thursday before dispatching Nova Scotia 2 (7-0) and Nova Scotia 1 (5-4) on Friday. Saturday morning, they topped Ontario 1 (5-3) to finish pool play as the #2 seed with a 4-0 record which required a 4-1 win over host Dartmouth in the quarterfinals later that evening.
Sunday afternoon Windsor used a 3-1 semifinal victory over previously undefeated Manitoba to propel themselves into the title game where they shutout the top team from Nova Scotia (Halifax Metro Mets) 2-0 in front of a partisan crowd. Knelsen pitched a masterful complete game 2-hitter and struck out 12 batters while surrendering no walks.
Sleiman batted .294 with 3 RBI and scored four times in the championship while Gale contributed four hits and scored three times. Glasgow supplied five hits including three doubles and home run that led to 3 RBI but also put on a show in the pre-tournament Home Run Derby where he was a close 2nd Place. Relief appearances were made by Grondin and Beale who collected a win while Knelsen’s two starts were both standout performances as he struck out 23 batters over 12 1/3 innings pitched.
This group looks to help St. Clair to its 5th straight Provincial Gold Medal this coming fall at their home diamond as the Saints will play host to the OCAA Championship Oct. 16-18 at Lacasse Park in Tecumseh. St. Clair travels to Waterloo on Aug. 29th for tune-up exhibition games against Wilfrid Laurier University before opening their regular season on the road at Sheridan College in Mississauga on Sep. 6th. The Saints will host Lambton College (Sarnia) on Sep. 10th in their regular season home opener at Lacasse Park with first pitch at 7:00pm.