St. James Lions make it a three-peat in D10 baseball
GUELPH – Three times and counting.
The St. James Lions captured their third consecutive District 10 high school baseball championship title Thursday when they defeated the Centennial Spartans 8-5 in the league final on Joe Kaine Diamond.
The Lions never trailed in the game although the Spartans did catch up twice. However, three runs in the sixth inning of the seven-inning affair put St. James ahead for good.
The Lions had opened the scoring when Brock Lomax turned the game’s first pitch into a single into left field. He’d eventually round the bases and score with the help of a wild pitch and two sacrifice hits, one a bunt.
Centennial got that run back in the bottom of the inning.
St. James gave itself some breathing room with four runs in the second. An error, three consecutive singles, a sacrifice fly and a two-out single led to those runs.
The Spartans didn’t let the Lions have an easy go of it as they came back with a run in the third and three runs in the fourth. A triple in the third followed by a single accounted for that inning’s run while a double, walk, two fielder’s choices, a single and an error led to all three fourth-inning runs coming in on the same at bat.
After a scoreless fifth, the Lions collected the final three runs of the game in the sixth. The runs scored as the result of a hit batsman, three consecutive one-out singles and errors on two pickoff attempts.
The Lions had nine hits, all singles while Centennial outhit the Lions as the Spartans had 12 hits including a triple and two doubles.
For the Lions, the championship was their eighth in the history of the league, leaving them one behind the Ross Royals. Guelph CVI Green Gaels have won it five times, Bishop Macdonell Celtics four times and Centennial three times. Two teams that aren’t in the league any more, the Orangeville Bears (twice) and St. David’s Celtics of Waterloo (once), account for the other title wins.
The Lions now have the wait for the CWOSSA championship that is to be held sometime in May. Exact dates and location have not been set.
CWOSSA champ is to advance to the OFSAA West tournament June 5 and 6. The Lions competed in the OFSAA West tournament last school year.
- Guelph Sports Journal