Cawthra: Tier 1 Baseball Champs

Congratulations Cawthra for defeating Mount Carmel 6-2 in today's Tier 1 baseball championship game. Both teams will advance to the OFSAA baseball championships though Cawthra will get the higher seed and, one assumes, the easier first round opponent. (Many would argue that there are no easy opponents by the time you get to OFSAA.)

If anyone has details of the game, please e-mail ropssaa@gmail.com.

This year's final four has been moved to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Mary's, near London. It was a controversial move that came about as a result of the sport graduating from festival status to full OFSAA championship.

Below is a portion of the article in the April 27th edition of the Toronto Star.

OFSAA moves annual playoff from Rogers Centre

It had been a tradition for almost three decades.

The annual high school baseball championship, two teams vying for bragging rights at the home of the Toronto Blue Jays.

But the 28th annual final won’t be happening this year at the Rogers Centre – and that has upset many in the high school baseball community.

The problem is not with the Blue Jays, the only pro team in town to host a high school championship, but with the provincial governing body for school sports, which remains steadfast that games should not conflict with year-ending school exams.

The Blue Jays, on the road for parts of June, say they can provide the Rogers Centre on the first day of exam week in mid-June.

Not good enough for the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations who have declined the offer and moved the playoff to the home of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys, a 30-minute drive from London.

“I was devastated when I heard the move. Playing (in St. Marys) is not the same and it bothers me that people can make changes and take away a kid's dream,” said Tony Tedesco, a 17-year-old outfielder with Toronto’s Michael Power/St. Joseph Trojans – a team that could win the title this year.

“Many of the guys have played on the school team since Grade 9 and are graduating this year. We believe we have a fairly good team and our goal is to get to the Dome. To have a pro team offer its park to high schools is great and to me that’s what it’s all about.”

But OFSAA executive director Doug Gellatly was adamant that the change had to be made.

“Our representative council – which is the decision making body – said it was not appropriate to stage any games during exam week,” said Gellatly. “We’re an educational organization and it makes sense to me. There is lots to learn at the Baseball Hall of Fame and if all goes well, we’ll be back at the Rogers Centre next year.”

Mike Mallory, a teacher, coach and chairman of the OFSAA baseball advisory committee, said his committee of volunteers wasn’t even allowed to make a presentation to support the championship game at the Rogers Centre.

“I’m not only upset that we’re turning our back on an organization that has been so good to high school baseball but I really don’t think it’s too onerous to play a game on the first day of the week when many exams don’t even take place,” said Mallory.

“I can remember taking full sets of exams to the SkyDome and when the high school game was over, we found a room and the students wrote their exams. My players are very disappointed and I know we’re not alone.”

Mallory said playoff games were held in past at various times throughout June and with no major issues. However, when OFSAA took over last year and gave the sport a championship status, there was concern from some educators about potential conflicts with exams.

Looking for game reports and inside sources

If you are attending any of the upcoming ROPSSAA or OFSAA events, please take the time to send me a report via e-mail. The address is ropssaa@gmail.com.

Please let me know if you are an athlete, official, coach, or spectator. I will not include your name in any post I make based on the information unless you would like me to do so.

I am looking for some reports from the following events:

Thursday, May 31
- Tier 1 baseball championship between Cawthra and Meadowvale
- South Region Track & Field Championships (Thursday & Friday)

Friday, June 1
- Tier 1 junior boys soccer championship between St. Joes and Campion
- Tier 1 junior girls soccer championship between Gonzaga and Aquinas
- Tier 2 junior boys soccer championship between Meadowvale and Turner-Fenton
- Tier 2 junior girls soccer championship between Robert Hall and St. Marcellinus

Monday, June 4
- d'Youville's games at OFSAA Boys AAAA soccer in Toronto (Monday to Wednesday)
- Campion's games at OFSAA Boys AAA soccer in Windsor (Monday to Wednesday)
- St. Pauls' and St. Marcellinus' games at OFSAA Boys AA soccer in Timmins (Monday to Wednesday)
- St. Joan of Arc's games at OFSAA Boys A soccer in Barrie (Monday to Wednesday)
- Mount Carmel's games at OFSAA Girls AAAA soccer in Woodbridge (Monday to Wednesday)
- Iona's games at OFSAA Girls AAA soccer in Chatham (Monday to Wednesday)
- Ascension's games at OFSAA Girls AA soccer in Wallaceburgh (Monday to Wednesday)
- St. Joan of Arc's games at OFSAA Girls A soccer in Windsor (Monday to Wednesday)
- Mentor's games at OFSAA Girls A/AA Rugby in Oakville (Monday to Wednesday)
- Applewood's games at OFSAA Girls AAA/AAAA Rugby in Toronto (Monday to Wednesday)
- Girls slowpitch championship between the winners of Gonzaga/d'Youville and Graydon/Loyola

Tuesday, June 5
- Girls fastpitch championship between Mount Carmel and Mayfield

Wednesday, June 6
- Tier 2 baseball championship between the winners of Heart Lake/Bramalea and Glenforest/Augustine
- Mentor's games at OFSAA Boys A/AA Rugby in Guelph (Wednesday to Friday)
- Applewood's games at OFSAA Boys AAA/AAAA Rugby in Brantford (Wednesday to Friday)

ROPSSAA Rugby Final

Congratulations to Bramalea who won the ROPSSAA tier 2 title over Xavier today at the Oakville Rugby Club. I have been in contact with a couple of sources at the game and below is a short summary.

This was a battle between the powerhouse and the upstart. Bramalea went 7-0 in the regular season and won both of their playoff games by large margins. They were the heavy favourite going into the final. Xavier was the new kid on the block; a first year team that, after a slow start, rang off five straight victories, including playoff wins over 6-1 Heart Lake and 6-0 Cawthra to make the finals.

Bramalea scored early as one of their two key players (#10; sorry I don't have names) ran through the entire Xavier teama and scored untouched. Xavier battled back and scored after a nice series of rucks and mauls deep in Bramalea's end. Bramalea then scored two more tries, both by #10 and #12 and they broke it open 21-5. Xavier scored late in the half and kept it barely within reach at 21-12.

Xavier scored early in the second half and suddenly, at 21-17, it was a game again. The two teams battled to a standstill most of the second half though Xavier had more scoring chances. That changed in the last 5 minutes of the game when Bramalea scored off a scrum deep in Xavier territory and then once more at the final whistle to win 31-17.

Afterwards, the convener commented that the game was played at higher level than even the tier 1 final last week. In fact, my sources say that it was a weak year for tier 1 and both of these teams might have made the playoffs if they had played up this season; they were just that good. Especially impressive was the athleticism of both teams.

Congrats to Xavier for surprising everyone in your first season and a special congratulations to Bramalea for a 10-0 run in a championship season. Good luck in tier 1 next year!

--- OTHER BUSINESS ---

Apologies to track and field athletes. I was not aware that the South regional had been moved back to the end of this week. Good luck in St. Catharine's tomorrow and Friday.

Junior Girls Lacrosse; Congrats Lorne park who won both of their playoff games on Tuesday to take the champioship. They defeated Turner-Fenton 9-4 in the morning semi-final before upsetting 1st place Stephen Lewis 3-2 in overtime in the final later in the afternoon. It has been an emotional couple of weeks at Lorne Park and the recent success of their junior teams is comforting.

Junior Soccer: The following teams advanced to their respective finals on Tuesday - St. Joes (Boys Tier 1), Meadowvale and Fenton (Boys Tier 2), and Robert Hall and St. Marcellinus (Girls Tier 2).

A few sports still on the go

While most high school athletes are finished for the season, there are still a few sports on the go.

Baseball (Boys Tier 1): The tier one final is Thursday at Dave Dash Park in Brampton with Mount Carmel taking on Cawthra. This was a season of upsets with 3 of the 4 teams that finished first or second in their division losing in the quarter-finals and the fourth top-2 team losing in the semis. Both teams will advance to the OFSAA regionals next week. The regionals are in Burlington and Oshawa while the final four is in St. Mary's (near London), home of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

Baseball (Boys Tier 2): Only a single upset amonst the 8 preliminary playoff games yesterday (4th place Xavier over 1st place Woodlands). The quarter-finals are Wednesday with St. Paul @ Bramalea; St. Joes @ Augustine; Campion @ Glenforest; and
Xavier @ Heartlake.

Lacrosse: The boy's semi-finals on Wednesday are Heart Lake @ Mayfield and Humberview @ BCSS, while the junior girls semi-final is Fenton @ Lorne Park, with the winner taking on Stephen Lewis in the final. This is Stephen Lewis' first ever ROPSSAA championship game in any sport. Congrats, ladies.

Rugby (Senior Boys Tier 2): Tomorrow's championship game at the Oakville Crusaders park involves upstart Xavier in their first season of rugby and undefeated Bramalea. This game was re-scheduled after the tragic death of Manny Castillo postponed a number of games and the boys tier 2 season had to be extended as a result.

Tier 1 Rugby: OFSAA for girls begins on Monday and boys begins on Wednesday.

Soccer (Junior Boys): The tier 1 semi-finals today and tomorrow are St. Martin @ Campion and d’Youville @ St. Joes, while the tier 2 semis the samed two days are Lorne Park @t Meadowvale and Ste. Famille @ Turner Fenton.

Soccer (Junior Girls): The tier 1 semi-finals tomorrow are Campion at Gonzaga and St. Joes @ Aquinas, while the tier 2 semis today are Humberview @ Robert Hall and BCSS @ St. Marcellinus.

Senior Boys and Girls Soccer: OFSAA at all levels begins on Monday.

Softball (Girls): Tomorrow's fastpitch semi-finals are Lorne Park @ Mayfield and Bramalea @ Mount Carmel, while the slowitch quarter-finals the same day are St. Joes @ d’Youville; Central Peel @ Gonzaga; Rick Hansen @ Loyola; and Graydon@ St. Marcellinus.

Track & Field: ROPSSAA and the South Regional are both finished but ROPSSAA athletes who qualified are off to Ottawa for OFSAA on June 6th and 7th. This is the first time in the event's 46-year history that it has ever been held in Ottawa.

If you notice any errors or omissions, please let me know.

The first post

This blog is about high school athletics in the Peel Region. ROPSSAA covers the second biggest market in Ontario and yet there is very little coverage of what goes on here. The Toronto Star, Mississauga News and Brampton Guardian all print what they can but obviously high school athletics is well down the list of priorities.

Hopefully, as this blog grows in popularity, it will be a site where high school athletes, coaches, officials, and followers, can turn to for opinion, the occasional tidbit of information, and to comment on games and issues surrounding the sports. As long as its clean, any opinion is worth airing.

if you would rather not post information or comments in direct reply to my posts, you can always e-mail them to me and I will try to include them in future posts. Your privacy is guaranteed.

With the high school season winding down, I will try and provide a number of posts summarising the season that was, commenting on important issues that were raised this year, and looking ahead to next season.

Without your assistance, this blog will not meet its full potential so please contribute what you can.