Guelph dropped games to Brock and OUA champs, Laurier.
Guelph played host to the OUA baseball playoffs this past weekend at Hastings Stadium. Despite beating Western 10-1 to start the tournament, the Gryphons dropped a 3-2 decision to Laurier and another 3-2 decision to Brock after taking a 2-1 lead in the top of 12, to be eliminated from the double-knockout playoff.
Guelph entered the playoffs sitting third in the OUA, with a milestone amount of wins for the Gryphons baseball program – 17 – while amassing only seven losses. The record-setting season came on the heels of the most potent offense in Ontario, whereby Guelph led the league in every offensive category excluding base-on-balls and triples, but including 146 RBIs on 222 hits.
Unfortunately in baseball, scoring runs is secondary to pitching and defense, which was proven in the Gryphons back-to-back losses to Laurier and Brock, where they scored a combined four runs in these two games.
The tournament saw both Brock and Laurier eventually meeting up in the final game, which was pushed back to 5 p.m. on Sunday due to the weekend’s inclement weather.
Laurier’s pitching didn’t miss a beat all weekend, and the same script was followed in the final where Golden Hawks starter, Ian Filian, threw 6.1 innings of four-hit, three run baseball.
The offensive prowess showed by Laurier was lead by Daniel Murphy, who went 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored, and Jeff Hunt, who went 2-for-5 with an RBI, a run and a pair of stolen bases.
There’s no sugar coating the taste of a bottom of the 12th inning defeat in the playoffs. Nothing is going to relieve the disappointing end to an otherwise incredibly successful season for the Gryphons. However, the Gryphons can take solace in the fact that, as the pain of defeat subsides with October’s warm weather, the team’s future stands to be brighter than the grey overcast that southern Ontario winters tend to bring.
While Guelph will lose some players to eligibility, the roster has a fine arsenal of bats, including Peter Ricciardi and Matthew Forer, who will look to make good on their OUA all-star selection this year. The team has also been building a reputation as serious contenders in the OUA under the tutelage of head coach Matt Griffin, who, for the second time in his tenure at Guelph, received coach of the year honors.
It is unknown whether Guelph can replace an arm like that of departing senior (and OUA pitcher of the year), Brendan Sorichetti, who posted an ERA of just 1.00. It is also unknown if there’s a player that can replicate Justin Interisano’s OUA batter-of-the-year numbers by hitting .529 with six home runs and 22 RBIs. But there’s a philosophy in baseball that says you don’t need to replace individual players to win baseball games, you simply need a team to replicate their numbers as a whole. The 2014 season is a long ways out for the Gryphons, but there’s plenty for Guelph baseball to look forward to.