AURORA, ON - The Durham College men's baseball team earn bronze at the 2023 OCAA Men's Baseball Championship.

After having their originally scheduled Friday evening semifinal against the St. Clair Saints postponed until Saturday evening, the Lords kicked off their day bright and early against the Saints.

St. Clair scored early, going ahead 1-0 in the first inning before adding six more runs across the first five innings. The Saints held Durham to 0 runs throughout the first six innings, severely limiting their chance at a comeback.

In the top of the seventh, Nolan Hartley (Oshawa, ON) and Baylan MacKeller (Courtice, ON) put the Lords on the board but couldn't generate the eight run inning inning required to complete the comeback, sending the Saints to the gold medal game with a 7-2 result.

Nick King (Whitby, ON) spent 5.0 innings on the mound, striking out two batters. Ben Spunde (Elmira, ON) came in for the final 2.0 innings, striking out one batter and only conceding one hit.

In the bronze medal game, the Lords had their sights set on defeating the Humber Hawks a fourth time this season to advance to the gold medal game. 

Humber had different ideas, scoring eight runs in the top of the first and putting the Lords in a massive hole before they could even go up to bat. 

Ryan Mattes (Whitby, ON) scored on a double hit by Cole Cote (Welland, ON) in the bottom of the first to put the Lords on the scoreboard. Zach Rivers (Oshawa, ON) scored in the third inning to make it 10-2. The Hawks would continue to pile on, winning 18-2 in five innings.

Cote earned championship all-star honours from the Lords.

The Lords left the championship with a bronze medal, their fourth OCAA medal since the league took on baseball in 2013.

With that finish, the Durham College men's baseball season has come to an end for 2023.

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