Baseball Redmen make Hollandaise sauce out of Hurricanes, repeat as CCBA national champs

By Earl Zukerman
FREDERICTON -- Infielder Tyler Welence, a senior from Ridgewood, N.J., went 2-for-4 and scored twice, sparking McGill University to a 4-1 victory over the Holland College Hurricanes, , to capture the Canadian Collegiate Baseball Association championship at Royals Field in the New Brunswick capital.

The Redmen won all five of their games in the six-team CCBA tourney, outscoring opponents by a lopsided 37-8 margin, extending their win streak to 10. It was the fifth national baseball title overall for McGill, including last year’s tournament won on thir home turf at Gary Carter Field in Cote St. Luc, Que. They also claimed three championships under the old CIBA banner in 1994, 2006 and 2010.

“I’m really proud of these guys, we played some great baseball. It was just an unbelievable weekend that we had down here,” said head coach and field manager Jason Starr, a McGill grad, whose Redmen posted a 23-6-1 record overall, including a 12-4 first-place finish atop the CCBA Northern Conference and a perfect 9-0 mark in post-season play. 

“We played well and really didn’t give up a lot of runs throughout the tournament ... that always helps,” Starr said. “The guys had a lot of key hits and came here ready to win and were prepared to do it.

“Our coaching staff has been unbelievable, they volunteer their time and put in a lot of hours and its very rewarding to see it pay off. The players worked hard and executed the game plan but the coaches deserve just as much credit in this victory.”

McGill never trailed after scoring two runs in the first on a two-run single by first baseman Zachary Aaron, a finance senior from Montreal. The Redmen added one run in both the fifth and sixth innings. In the fifth, they scored on an error, bringing home Welence, who had previously singled in the first inning and doubled in the third.

Welence, a second baseman, also made a stellar defensive play on the final out of the game. With two out and a runner on first, he dove up the middle to block a hard hit ground ball behind second base. Shortstop Robert Sedin then pounced on the ball and fired it over to Zachary Aaron on first base to end the contest as the team swarmed the mound in celebration.

“That was one of the best plays I’ve ever seen to win a championship,” said Starr, who previously was an infielder for the Redmen from 2001 to 2004 and took over as head coach in 2012. “I can’t say enough about how much Welence and Sedin have brought to this program.”

Besides Welence, the only other multi-hit player in the game was third baseman Jamie Fuoco, an engineering senior from Pierrefonds, Que., who went 2-for-2 with a walk.

Starter Adriano Petrangelo, a third-year anatomical science major from Montreal, recorded the win. He scattered three hits and three walks over five innings, striking out one and allowing just one run. He threw 76 pitches, 47 for strikes before being relieved for the last two innings by Henry Dennis, who collected a save.

For Holland, a junior college based in Charlottetown, Dominique Ryan went 1-for-2 at the plate, with a homer in the third inning. Spencer Horne was the game’s losing pitcher. He lasted six innings, walked one, struck out two, and allowed four runs.
 
Sedin, also a key starting pitcher, was voted as the championship tournament MVP in addition to being named as the CCBA Northern Conference pitcher of the year. In the five games, he was 5-for-19 with a walk, a pair of doubles, one homer, five runs scored and five RBIs. On the mound, the second-year entrepreneurship student from Sunnyvale, Calif., won his only start, scattering four hits and allowing just one run in six innings. He struck out seven, walked six and hit one batter.

He was joined on the all-tourney team by three teammates, including catcher Sam Groleau of St. Laurent, Que., second-baseman, the aforementioned Welence and sophomore left-fielder James Pavelick of Surrey, B.C. Groleau, a first-year transfer from the Universite de Montreal, was also voted as the tourney’s most outstanding hitter.

REDMEN RAP: The back-to-back national titles caps a fine career for four graduating members of the Redmen, including the aforementioned Sedin (diploma in management), Welence (BA ‘16), Petrangelo (BSc ‘16) and pitcher Justin Hii (B.Eng ‘16).
 
BOXSCORE
(CCBA Gold Medal Game)
TEAM           123 456 7        R  H  E   LOB
Holland College 001 000 0   --   1  4  4    5
McGill          200 011 -   --   4  7  0    8
 
Holland Lineup    AB    R    H    RBI    BB    K
Jay Oram    2    0    0    0    1    0
Taylor Larkin    2    0    0    0    1    0
Grant Grady    2    0    1    0    1    0
Logan Gallant    3    0    0    0    0    0
Colby Lyle    2    0    0    0    1    0
Kyle Donahoe    2    0    0    0    1    0
Brett Hicken    2    0    1    0    0    0
Cody Cartwright    0    0    0    0    0    0
Jonathan Arsenault    2    0    1    0    0    0
Curtis McGregor    1    0    0    0    0    0
Dominique Ryan    2    1    1    1    0    1
Spencer Horne    -    -    -    -    -    -
Totals    20    1    4    1    5    1
Holland Batting
2B: Grant Grady. HR: Dominique Ryan. TB: Grant Grady 2, Dominique Ryan 4, Brett Hicken, Jonathan Arsenault. RBI: Dominique Ryan. SAC: Brett Hicken. GIDP: Colby Lyle, Kyle Donahoe. CS: Jay Oram. LOB: 5

Fielding _ E: Jay Oram 3, Spencer Horne. DP: Colby Lyle, Jonathan Arsenault
 
McGill Lineup    AB    R    H    RBI    BB    K
Robert Sedin SS    3    0    0    1    0    0
Tyler Welence 2B    4    2    2    0    0    0
Samuel Groleau C    3    1    0    0    0    1
Jamie Fuoco 3B    2    0    2    0    1    0
Zachary Aaron 1B    3    0    1    2    0    0
James Pavelick LF    3    0    0    0    0    1
Rock Hroch CF    3    1    1    0    0    0
Emerson Dohm  DH    2    0    0    0    0    0
Max Rosen PR    0    0    0    0    0    0
Alexander Levis RF    2    0    1    0    0    0
Henry Dennis  RP    -    -    -    -    -    -
Adriano Petrangelo  SP    -    -    -    -    -    -
Totals    25    4    7    3    1    2
Batting _ 2B: Tyler Welence. TB: Rocky Hroch, Zachary Aaron, Alexander Levis, Jamie Fuoco 2, Tyler Welence 3. RBI: Robert Sedin, Zachary Aaron 2. SAC: Alexander Levis. SF: Robert Sedin. HBP: Emerson Dohm, SB: Tyler Welence. LOB: 8

Fielding _ DP: Robert Sedin 2, Zachary Aaron 2, Tyler Welence 2
 
Holland Pitching    IP    #P    S%    H    R    ER    K    BB    HR
Spencer Horne    6.0    103    .592    7    4    2    2    1    0
Totals    6.0    103    .592    7    4    2    2    1    0
Pitching
L: Spencer Horne
HBP: Spencer Horne
Pitches-Strikes: Spencer Horne 103-61. Groundouts-Flyouts: Spencer Horne 9-5. First pitch strikes-Batters faced: Spencer Horne 17-29
 
McGill Pitching    IP    #P    S%    H    R    ER    K    BB    HR
Adriano Petrangelo (W)     5.0    76    .618    3    1    1    1    3    1
Henry Dennis (SV)    2.0    40    .500    1    0    0    0    2    0
Totals    7.0    116    .578    4    1    1    1    5    1
W: Adriano Petrangelo. SV: Henry Dennis
Pitches-Strikes: Henry Dennis 40-20, Adriano Petrangelo 76-47. Groundouts-Flyouts: William Dennis 2-2, Adriano Petrangelo 9-1. First pitch strikes-Batters faced: Henry Dennis 4-8, Adriano Petrangelo 11-18
 
CCBA National Championship Tournament Schedule
(at University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB)    
Pool A; U. New Brunswick, McGill, Saint Mary’s                

Pool B: Montréal, Carleton, Holland College

Thursday Oct 22
Montreal 10    Saint Mary’s 5        Royals Field
McGill 9    Carleton 3        Royals Field
Holland 13    UNB 8        Royals Field

Friday Oct 23
McGill 10    Montreal 1        Royals Field
Carleton 6    Saint Mary’s 5        Royals Field
McGill 3    Holland 2        Royals Field
Montreal 3    UNB 0        Royals Field

Saturday Oct 24
Holland 5    Saint Mary’s 3        Royals Field
Carleton 13    UNB 2        Royals Field
Holland 4    Montreal 1    (semifinal)    Royals Field
McGill 11    Carleton 1    (semifinal)    Royals Field

Sunday Oct 25    
McGill 4    Holland 1    (final)    Royals Field