MEN'S BASEBALL BEGIN NATIONALS 0-2

OSHAWA, ON: Fresh off their OCAA bronze medal, the Humber Hawks baseball team traveled to Oshawa Friday afternoon to compete at the 2016 Canadian College Baseball National Championship hosted by Durham College.

With rain delaying the original start date, the Hawks were tasked with a doubleheader to begin the tournament and were facing familiar foes.

Game one was a matchup with the Durham Lords and similarly to the provincial championships, Humber's bats were as cold as the harsh fall temperature. 

It was the Lords who struck first, scoring runs in the fourth and fifth innings, as that was all they needed for the 2-0 victory.  Steven Hough (Brampton) pitched all six innings for Humber and gave up two runs on eight hits.  The fifth-year righty continued to pitch well in the postseason and was named player of the game for Humber.

Game two was a rematch of the OCAA bronze medal game with the Fanshawe Falcons; a rematch the Hawks have been looking forward to all week.  A double from Kenneth Hahnfield (Georgetown) in the first inning had Stephen Andreopoulos (Toronto) racing home to give Humber an early lead. Despite a great slide from Andreopoulos that beat the throw, a questionable call from the home plate umpire said he was out. 

In the third inning and trailing by two, the Hawks were able to score their first run of the tournament after a ground out from Aaron Arbic-Cohen (Georgetown) scored Liam Sutherland (Mississauga), who reached via a lead-off triple.

After the Falcons scored five more runs in the fifth inning, the Hawks were facing a 7-1 deficit.  Andreopoulos and Hahnfield recorded back-to-back singles before veteran catcher Blake Keuer (Mississauga) hit a two-run double that nearly cleared the high left field wall.  RBI's from Brandon Costa (Toronto) and Sutherland helped Humber cut their deficit to two.

Unfortunately for the Hawks, that was as close as they would come, losing the game 7-5.  After finishing the game 2/3 with two RBI's, Kauer was named player of the game for Humber.

The Hawks now have one game left to play Saturday at noon against the John Abbott Islanders, who also finished day one 0-2.