varsity news

Durham Lords Media Release
Sunday, October 25, 2009

Concordia wins the 2009 CIBA National Baseball Championship - Lords finish in the final four

OSHAWA, Ont. – The Concordia Stingers were crowned the 2009 Canadian Intercollegiate Baseball Association national champions on Sunday night as they defeated the Cape Breton Capers 12-2 in the championship final. The gold medal game wrapped up the three day national championship hosted by Durham College, where fans from across the country got to witness top baseball action throughout the course of the weekend.

It was a tough route to the title for the Stingers, as they needed to win three consecutive games on Sunday to claim the national championship. Concordia started the day with a 6-2 win over Western in a morning tie-breaking match-up, followed up with a 4-3 last inning win over the Ottawa Gee-Gees in the semi-finals.

The Stingers would save their best performance of the day for the final game against Cape Breton, where they would put up 12 total runs in the national championship victory. Sunday's win marked the first time that Concordia has won the CIBA championship.

The Durham Lords finished the championship in the final four, losing to Cape Breton 2-1 in the semi-finals. The teams were tied at one run a piece in the bottom of the seventh inning, with a pot in the finals on the line. Durham had the bases loaded with two outs, when Ethan Boston sent a shot to centre field, that looked to drive in the game winning run. With the game hanging in the balance, Cape Breton centre fielder Josh Spooney made a diving catch to take away the hit, sending the game to extra innings.

After a scoreless eighth inning, Cape Breton managed to score a single run in the ninth to take a 2-1 lead. CIBA top pitcher Kenny Long shut down the Lords offence in the bottom of the inning, sending Cape Breton to the finals. It was a tough loss for the Lords, as they were one run away of playing in their first national title game in program history.

Julian Daligadu had a gutsy performance for Durham on the mound, pitching 7.1 innings, allowing only three hits and one run.

Nur Osman and Jon Thiebaud of the Durham Lords were selected to the CIBA Championship all-star team (full roster below).

For the second straight year, Durham finished the championship with a 2-2 record and in fourth place. This was the fifth consecutive year and the eighth time in the program's history that the team qualified for the CIBA National Championship.

TOURNAMENT RESULTS

Round Robin
Game 1: Western defeated St. Clair 9-0
Game 2: Ottawa defeated Concordia 8-1
Game 3: Durham defeated Cape Breton 19-11
Game 4: Ottawa defeated St. Clair 6-5
Game 5: Concordia defeated Western 6-0
Game 6: St. Clair defeated Durham 15-6
Game 7: Cape Breton defeated Western 7-6
Game 8: Durham defeated Concordia 2-1
Game 9: Cape Breton defeated Ottawa 3-0

Tie Breaker #1
Western defeated St. Clair 5-2

Tie Breaker # 2
Concordia defeated Western 6-2

Semi-Finals
Cape Breton defeated Durham 2-1 (9)
Concordia defeated Ottawa 4-3

Championship Final
Concordia defeated Cape Breton 12-2

CIBA Championship All-Star Team
Matti Emery (Ottawa) – Catcher
Robert Wakefield (Western) – 1B
Nur Osman (Durham) – 2B
Serge Lafontaine (Ottawa) – 3B
Marco Masciotra (Concordia) – SS
Jon Thiebaud (Durham) – OF
Ashish Patel (St. Clair) – OF
Josh Spooney (Cape Breton) – OF
Julian Tucker (Concordia) – P

Final Round Robin Standings
Ottawa 2-1
Cape Breton 2-1
Durham 2-1
Concordia 1-2
Western 1-2
St. Clair 1-2
*The top four teams will advance to the semi-finals on Sunday

Game Recaps

Tie Breaker #1
Western: 0-0-1-0-1-1-2 (5-5-1)
St. Clair: 0-0-1-0-0-0-1 (2-6-4)


Tie Breaker # 2
Concordia: 0-1-0-0-0-5-0 (6-6-1)
Western: 0-0-0-2-0-0-0 (2-6-0)


Semi-Finals
Cape Breton: 0-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-1 (2-5-1)
Durham: 1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 (1-4-1)

Player of the Game
Julian Daligadu (DUR)
Greg MacKinnon (CBU)

Semi-Finals
Concordia: 0-1-0-1-0-1-1 (4-5-0)
Ottawa: 0-0-0-0-0-3-0 (3-9-0)

Players of the Game:
Matt Emery (OTT)
Ahmed Bamba (CON)

Championship Final
Concordia: 0-0-7-1-1-0-3 (12-11-1)
Cape Breton: 0-1-0-0-1-0-0 (2-5-1)

Players of the Game:
Matt Langton (CON)
Josh Spooney (CBU)

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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Scott Dennis
Sports Information and Marketing Coordinator
Durham College and UOIT Athletics
905.721.2000 Ext. 2784 (P)
905.721.3117 (F)