AJAX, Ont. - For the first time in program history, the Guelph Gryphons are off to a 2-0 start at the OUA Baseball Championships. Friday in Ajax, the Gryphons picked up a 6-4 win over the Queen's Gaels and followed it up with a 10-8 win over the Laurier Golden Hawks. The back-to-back wins have the Gryphons off to the OUA semi-finals and automatically finishing atop Pool A. Guelph will close out round robin play Saturday morning (9am) versus Ryerson. The OUA semi-finals are scheduled for 10am on Sunday (Oct. 21) with the gold medal game set for 1pm.
"We still have a long way to go, but today was arguably the biggest day in this history of the program," said Gryphons' first-year head coach
Dean Mariani. "Starting 2-0 for the first time ever in the playoffs is big. The guys are committed and are executing on both sides of the ball."
The Gryphons, who finished the regular season 5th out of 11 teams with an 11-7 record, were able to knock off the 4th-seeded Queen's Gaels as well as the top-seeded Laurier Golden Hawks, who posted an impressive 13-5 record during the regular season.
The Gryphons received contributions from up and down the lineup over the course of the two wins on Friday, but coach Mariani was quick to recognize his rookie shortstop, who also doubles as the team's closer. "
Connor Mitchell was big for us today, playing shortstop in both games while also coming in to close out the 7th inning for a pair of saves."
The Gryphons also received a huge boost from sophomore centre fielder
Paul Neophytou, who went a combined 4-for-5 with 5 RBI in the two victories.
"Neo came up with big hits in clutch situations today, and he did all of it while battling some injuries. He was definitely the catalyst in our lineup today."
