(London, Ontario) – At Fanshawe College on Saturday afternoon, the Humber Hawks were crowned the OCAA Softball Provincial Champions with a 3-2 victory over Durham Lords in eight innings. The Lords were awarded the silver medal.
Strong defensive play by both teams kept the game scoreless through the first three innings. In the bottom of the fourth, a leadoff single from Presly Buchanan sparked the Hawks offence. A single from Kate Kostuch scored Buchanan to open the scoring. Hannah Koziolek would then hit a RBI single to right field to make the score 2-0 for Humber going into the fifth frame. Excellent pitching from Durham’s Ashley Black kept the Lords in the game in the sixth inning and she finished the game with 12 strikeouts.
In the top of the seventh inning, Kaleigh MacIntyre scored teammates Lisa Daugherty and Jaimie Clarke as the Lords tied the game at two. Buchanan then made a terrific diving catch to get an out and keep the score deadlocked. Durham’s defense would hold in the bottom of the seventh as they were able to get three quick outs to force extra innings. After shutting out the Lords in the top of the eighth, the Hawks would get another chance to close out the game in their at bat. With Meaghan Muir on second base, the Hawks were able to advance the winning run to third on a pop fly. Jessica MacPherson then hit the game-winning walk-off single to centrefield to drive in the run and claim the OCAA gold medal for the Hawks. Kadyn Wotton was the winning pitcher for Humber and Black suffered the loss for the Lords. The players of the game were Kostuch for Humber and MacIntyre for Durham.
Humber’s Kostuch and Muir were named OCAA Tournament All-Stars for their strong weekend performances. From Durham, Black and Alexis Pereira were named Tournament All-Stars. The OCAA Championship MVP was Buchanan from Humber.
BRONZE MEDAL GAME
In Saturday morning’s game, the St. Clair Saints were awarded the OCAA bronze medal after a 3-2 loss to the Durham Lords. With the win, Durham advanced to the OCAA gold medal game against the Humber Hawks.
It was a pitching battle in the first three innings, as neither team could get on the scoreboard. In the bottom of the fourth, the Lords scored the first run of the game when a hit from Alanna Stanoev got over the St. Clair defense. With two outs and a Durham runner on second, an incredible diving catch from St. Clair shortstop and OCAA league all-star Jenna Hillman got the Saints out of the inning. Durham would make the score 3-0 in the sixth with a RBI double to left field from Courtney McKellar and bunt from Madigan McGhee. Battling to the end, the Saints had back-to-back RBIs from Mary O’Neil and Jordan Taylor to make the score 3-2. Unfortunately for the Saints, they left a runner stranded on second and couldn’t complete the comeback, but claimed the OCAA bronze. Olivia Elliott took the loss on the mound for St. Clair, while the winning pitcher for Durham was Emily Glendinning.
The players of the game were Lauren Schram for St. Clair and Alexis Pereira for Durham. Hillman was named an OCAA Tournament All-Star for her impressive play throughout the weekend.
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