It was a big weekend for Saints Athletics, with Saints Football leading the way with its fourth straight Ontario Football Conference title.
Saints Football put in another dominant performance, besting the Hamilton Hurricanes at the Ontario Football Conference Championships by a score of 54-0.
Quarterback Matthew Guenette was steady under centre, connecting on 13 of 15 pass attempts for 200 yards and three touchdowns, adding a rushing touchdown for good measure.
Guenette's number one target was Cameron St. Kitts-Park, who hauled in four passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns.
MJ Doyle-Marshall led the way rushing for the Saints, picking up 71 yards on 11 rushes.
Joe Newtown Grain had a perfect day kicking, going 3-for-3 on field goals with a long 43-yarder, and converting on all six extra-point attempts.
But the competition is about to heat up as The Saints advance to the Canadian Junior League semi-final on Oct. 25 at 4 p.m. EST at the Apple Bowl in Kelowna, B.C.
They will open against the Okanagan Sun, a rematch of last year's CJFL Canadian Bowl Championship game.
Women's Softball
The St. Clair College Women's Softball team turned in a silver medal performance at the OCAA Provincial Championship which was played at Etobicoke's Connorvale Park this weekend who pushed host Humber Polytechnic to the limit after forcing a second game in the gold medal round Saturday afternoon.
The Saints entered the weekend as the number two seed with a 15-5 regular season record and drew Humber Friday afternoon who needed to win Thursday's play-in game to advance to the final four weekend.
"It was a team thing. We bought into the team culture," said Dwayne Dawson, the first-year head coach Saints Women's Softball. "Obviously, there were some great individual performances which stood out. But all around defence, pitching wise, it was a full team effort."
St. Clair battled back from a five-run deficit twice and scored two runs in the final frame but stranded the tying baserunners in a 7-5 loss. Ada Umerah (Maple, ON) homered for the Saints earning Player of the Game honours while Brooke Cameron (Rimbey, AB), Kamryn Coombs (Atwood, ON) and Zahnyah Jackson (Brampton, ON) had two hits apiece. Danna Juarez (Airdrie, AB) suffered the pitching loss but struck out nine batters over seven innings of work for the Saints.
St. Clair then played back-to-back and faced elimination against fourth seed Sheridan College in the double knockout format but were able to survive a bases loaded jam in the seventh inning and prevail 5-4, which advanced the Saints to the medal round on Saturday.
St. Clair's Jackson was named Player of the Game for her quality behind the plate in addition to a pair of singles. Coombs had a double with two RBI for the Saints and teammate Ashley Marchand (Fergus, ON) drove in a run on two doubles. Ashton Fong (Colwood, BC) picked up the pitching win for St. Clair, surrendering just two earned runs while going the distance.
Saturday afternoon the Saints faced off against rival and top seed Durham College (Oshawa) who were saddled with a shutout loss against Humber the previous day. Umerah moved St. Clair ahead in the first inning with a three-run homer and the Saints were up 4-0 before Durham got on the board with a single run in the fourth inning.
Umerah put the game out of reach with another solo homerun in the fifth to complete the scoring at 5-1, allowing St. Clair to play for gold. Umerah collected Player of the Game recognition again for the Saints while teammate Chloe Cole (LaSalle, ON/St. Thomas of Villanova) was 3-for-3. Juarez was solid on the pitching strip for St. Clair giving up just five hits and a walk over seven innings on her way to the win.
To claim the title, the Saints would have to topple Humber twice in the gold medal round and started that bid extremely well with a 12-1 mercy in the first contest. St. Clair needed just five innings to bash 11 hits with Fong only giving up five hits and no earned runs to go with a pair of strikeouts. Coombs was named Player of the Game and thumped the big blast in the second inning with a grand slam homer that put the Saints ahead 7-1. Cole was perfect at the plate again going 2-for-2 with two RBI and two runs scored for St. Clair. Taylor Kana (Springfield, ON), Umerah and Cameron each also had two hits for the Saints.
In the deciding game, St. Clair's Umerah took another ball deep over the fence for her fourth dinger of the championship which cut a Humber lead in half at 2-1 in the second inning. But that would be as close as it would get as Humber used a 5-run fourth inning to put the game out of reach.
Humber added two more in the seventh inning before the Saints completed the scoring with a solo homerun from Marchand in the bottom half, which gave her Player of the Game recognition. St. Clair only managed three hits in the contest while giving up 12 to the Hawks. Four of the nine runs against were charged to the St. Clair pitchers which were split evenly between the starter Fong (2 IP) and reliever Juarez (5 IP).
Umerah and Coombs were named to the Championship All-Star team distinguishing their stellar play throughout the weekend.
The Saints finished the 2025 season with a 23-10 overall record including playoff and exhibition play.
"It's amazing, what we achieved. Obviously, everybody wanted to win the gold, but we got so close," said Coach Dawson. "And it's disheartening in the moment, but when you look back and just see what we fought through, and the teams that we beat to get to where we were, I told him I was so proud of them. It was a great season."
Saints underdog run ends with an OCAA men's baseball silver medal
The St. Clair College Men's Baseball team made an upset run at their tenth total and fifth consecutive OCAA Championship title this weekend, but fell just short after two narrow defeats in the gold medal round, ultimately settling for the silver in front of their home fans at Lacasse Park in Tecumseh, Ont.
The Saints entered the weekend as the fourth seed and a 10-8 regular season record which required a victory Thursday night in the qualifying game over Sheridan College (Brampton) which was the fifth seed.
St. Clair held a 1-0 lead entering the third frame but took advantage of a Sheridan miscue to rattle off 11 unearned runs that all came with two outs which completed the scoring. The Saints got outstanding pitching from starter Brady Knelsen (Leamington, ON/Leamington) who threw four hitless innings before giving way to Marquez Allard (Whitby, ON) in the fifth who combined for the mercy shortened no-hitter. Knelsen recorded five strikeouts and was named the Player of the Game but got offensive support from Andrew Sleiman (Leamington, ON/Cardinal Carter) and Mitch McCosh (Belle River, ON/Belle River) who were each 2-for-3 with three RBI for St. Clair.
Friday morning the Saints matched up with Lambton College (Sarnia) who were the regular season pennant winners with a 12-6 record and the championship top seed. The Lions jumped ahead 4-0 after two innings and chased the St. Clair starting pitcher who gave way to reliever Cameron Beale (LaSalle, ON/Sandwich). The Saints responded with a pair of runs in the third inning but added four runs in the fifth and used a 6-run sixth to put the game out of reach.
Lambton scratched two runs in the seventh, but it had little bearing on the 12-6 outcome. Player of the Game honours for St. Clair went to Beale who struck out four batters over 4.1 innings but allowed only one hit with no runs or walks. Offensive leaders for the Saints included Bryce Plane (Battle Creek, MI) who was 3-for-4 with two RBI while Sleiman had a double and three RBI. Erick Arosemena (Panama City, Panama) also had two hits and a pair of RBI for St. Clair.
The Saints continued their hot streak Friday night by toppling second seed Fanshawe College (London) by a score of 6-2, propelling them to the gold medal round on Saturday. Down 2-1 in the third, St. Clair used a three-run outburst before adding two more in the sixth for another upset win. Sleiman kept his hot bat going with a 3-for-4 line, including a pair of doubles to go with a two RBI performance, earning him Player of the Game recognition for the Saints. McCosh added two hits for St. Clair with Jack Lewis (Windsor, ON/St. Anne) notched with win in relief as the pitcher of record when his team took the lead working a scoreless 1.1 innings. Felipe Torres (Panama City, Panama) was stellar in relief covering the final three scoreless innings giving up just three walks and no hits while striking out three Falcons for the save.
Fanshawe worked their way back to the gold medal round by eliminating Lambton from championship. St. Clair needed just a single win to take the gold but stumbled in the rematch opener falling 7-5 Saturday afternoon. The Saints led 4-3 after four innings but Fanshawe moved ahead 5-4 in the sixth. St. Clair tied it up 5-5 in the bottom half but relinquished the lead when Fanshawe scored the game's final two runs in the top of the seventh. Ryan Querbach (Belle River, ON/St. Anne) was named Player of the Game for the Saints, going 2-for-3 with an RBI. Plane had a key double to plate the game tying two runs with Finnigan Russett (Windsor, ON/Holy Names) also hitting a double to drive in an RBI.
That set-up a winner-take-all finale between teams with the Saints winning the coin flip for last raps. But Fanshawe used a 4-run third inning followed by another run in the fifth giving St. Clair just three more opportunities to even the tally. The Saints quickly cut the deficit to 5-3 in the bottom of the fifth and tied it up 5-5 with two runs in the sixth. Fanshawe set the table in the top of the seventh by loading the bases and secured two go-ahead runs on a single up the middle. Sleiman got the St. Clair comeback in the bottom half started well with a triple. A diving play by Fanshawe's first baseman and flip to the covering pitcher scored Sleiman but thwarted an additional game-tying runner. The Saints could not create another rally with their final two outs, allowing Fanshawe to celebrate their first school OCAA Baseball title with a 7-6 win.
McCosh had a double that scored two runs to keep the Saints within striking distance, earning him St. Clair's Player of the Game honours. Sleiman and Querbach were both named to the Championship All-Star team.
In the twelve seasons of OCAA Men's Baseball, the Saints have finished on the podium each year claiming nine titles to go with two silvers and a bronze. St. Clair finished the 2025 campaign with a 14-11 record, including playoff and exhibition play.