Spartans, Lions to meet in D10 baseball final

GUELPH – The Centennial Spartans and St. James Lions are to meet to decide the District 10 high school baseball title Thursday.

Both gained their berths in the championship match with semifinal victories Tuesday on the Joe Kaine Diamond.

First-place Centennial blanked the fourth-place Bishop Macdonell Celtics 5-0 in the opening game of the semifinal doubleheader.

The Spartans held a one-run lead until scoring four runs in the fifth inning to secure the win.

Third-place St. James slipped by second-place Ross Royals 3-1 in the second game that saw a light rain fall at times. The two teams had tied their regular-season meeting and had also finished the regular season with identical 3-1-1 records, Ross winning the tie-breaker to get a bye into the semifinals while St. James had to win a quarter-final with the sixth-place Guelph CVI Green Gaels to get its spot in the semifinals.

The Lions led the Royals 1-0 going into the seventh and final inning Tuesday and they added to the lead with two runs in the top of the inning. Ross didn’t whimper out as the Royals scored a run in the bottom of the inning and had two runners on base when the Lions recorded the final out.

Centennial finished atop the standings at the completion of the regular season with a 4-1-0 record and they defeated St. James 5-2 on Sept. 25.

Thursday’s final is scheduled to be played on Joe Kaine Diamond starting at 2:30 p.m.

• Guelph Sports Journal