St. Clair’s Underdog Run Ends with an OCAA Men’s Baseball Silver Medal
The St. Clair College Men’s Baseball team made an upset run at their 10th and 5th consecutive OCAA Championship title this weekend but fell just short after two narrow defeats in the gold medal round ultimately settling for the Silver in front of their home fans at Lacasse Park in Tecumseh.
The Saints entered the weekend as the 4th seed and a 10-8 record which required a victory Thursday night in the qualifying game over Sheridan College (Brampton) who was the 5th seed. St. Clair held a 1-0 lead entering the 3rd inning but took advantage of a Sheridan miscue to rattle off 11 unearned runs that all came with two outs which completed the scoring. The Saints got outstanding pitching from starter Brady Knelsen (Leamington, ON/Leamington) who threw four hitless innings before giving way to Marquez Allard (Whitby, ON) in the 5th who combined for the mercy shortened no-hitter. Knelsen recorded five strikeouts and was named the Player of the Game but got offensive support from Andrew Sleiman (Leamington, ON/Cardinal Carter) and Mitch McCosh (Belle River, ON/Belle River) who were each 2-for-3 with three RBI for St. Clair.
Friday morning the Saints matched up with Lambton College (Sarnia) who were the regular season pennant winners with a 12-6 record and the championship top seed. The Lions jumped ahead 4-0 after two innings and chased the St. Clair starting pitcher who gave way to reliever Cameron Beale (LaSalle, ON/Sandwich). The Saints responded with a pair of runs in the 3rd inning but added four runs in the 5th and used a 6-run 6th to put the game out of reach. Lambton scratched two runs in the 7th, but it had little bearing on the 12-6 outcome. Player of the Game honours for St. Clair went to Beale who struck out four batters over 4.1 innings but allowed only one hit with no runs or walks. Offensive leaders for the Saints included Bryce Plane (Battle Creek, MI) who was 3-for-4 with two RBI while Sleiman had a double and three RBI. Erick Arosemena (Panama City, Panama) also had two hits and a pair of RBI for St. Clair.
The Saints continued their hot streak Friday night by toppling 2nd seed Fanshawe College (London) by a score of 6-2 which propelled them to the gold medal round on Saturday. Down 2-1 in the 3rd St. Clair used a 3-run outburst before adding two more in the 6th for another upset win. Sleiman kept his hot bat going with a 3-for-4 including a pair of doubles to go with two RBI performance which earned him Player of the Game recognition for the Saints. McCosh added two hits for St. Clair with Jack Lewis (Windsor, ON/St. Anne) notched with win in relief as the pitcher of record when his team took the lead working a scoreless 1.1 innings. Felipe Torres (Panama City, Panama) was stellar in relief covering the final three scoreless innings giving up just three walks and no hits while striking out three Falcons for the save.
Fanshawe worked their way back to the gold medal round by eliminating Lambton from championship. St. Clair needed just a single win to take the gold but stumbled in the rematch opener falling 7-5 Saturday afternoon. The Saints led 4-3 after four innings but Fanshawe moved ahead 5-4 in the 6th. St. Clair tied it up 5-5 in the bottom half but relinquished the lead when Fanshawe scored the game’s final two run in the top of the 7th. Ryan Querbach (Belle River, ON/St. Anne) was named Player of the Game for the Saints going 2-for-3 with an RBI. Plane had a key double to plate the game tying two runs with Finnigan Russett (Windsor, ON/Holy Names) also hitting a double to drive in an RBI.
That set-up a winner-take-all finale between teams with the Saints winning the coin flip for last raps. But Fanshawe used a 4-run 3rd inning followed by another run in the 5th giving St. Clair just three more opportunities to even the tally. The Saints quickly cut the deficit to 5-3 in the bottom of the 5th and tied it up 5-5 with two runs in the 6th. Fanshawe set the table in the top of the 7th by loading the bases and secured two go-ahead runs on a single up the middle. Sleiman got the St. Clair comeback in the bottom half started well with a triple. A diving play by Fanshawe’s first baseman and flip to the covering pitcher scored Sleiman but thwarted an additional game-tying runner. The Saints could not create another rally with their final two outs allowing Fanshawe to celebrate their first school OCAA Baseball title with a 7-6 win.
McCosh was St. Clair’s Player of the Game who had a double that scored two runs to keep the Saints within striking distance. Sleiman and Querbach were both named to the Championship All-Star team.
In the twelve seasons of OCAA Men’s Baseball the Saints have finished on the podium each year claiming nine titles to go with two silvers and a bronze. St. Clair finished the 2025 campaign with a 14-11 record including playoff and exhibition play.