GUELPH, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons varsity baseball team will throw out the first pitch of their new 2024 OUA season on September 7 as they are on the road in St. Catharines for a doubleheader against the Brock Badgers. The Gryphons enter 2024 after finishing the 2023 regular season with an 8-6 record before falling just short of the conference championship tournament following their loss in the OUA West Regional Qualifying round last season. The 2024 OUA Regional Qualifiers (October 5-6) will take place in Welland, with the season culminating up in Ajax for the 2024 OUA Baseball Championship Tournament (October 11-12).
"The big thing we are trying to focus on this year, is just excelling on attention to detail and doing the little things right," says head coach
Dean Mariani, who heads into his sixth season as Gryphon head coach. "Our guys have been focusing on fundamentals and working really hard, day-in, day-out, on building good habits." See below for more information on the 2024 edition of the University of Guelph baseball team.
Catchers
A pair of impact, incoming transfers from south of the border join the Gryphons for the 2024 season and should have a big impact behind the plate.
Andrew Johnston arrives at U of G from San Jose State University in the NCAA Division I. The Etobicoke native is a good two-way player who spent time in Florida at the IMG Academy during high school. Johnston will join the team in mid-September as he is currently in China representing Great Britain in the U23 Baseball World Cup. The other incoming transfer from the U.S. is
Sawyer Whitaker from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania. The Mississauga native will provide great maturity and leadership behind the plate which will benefit the entire Gryphon pitching staff.
Grayden Cheung returns to the team after spending last season as the bullpen catcher, providing the Gryphons with another good defensive option behind the plate.
Infielders
Sam Brown, one of the OUA's premier hitters and overall players, returns to the Gryphons for his final season. The third baseman will look to repeat his stellar season last season after hitting .351 with 4 home runs and 31 RBIs with an OPS of 1.066. Slugging first baseman
Arthur Kowara returns to the team for his final season. Kowara is one of the top power hitters in the conference posting a .414 average with 3 home runs, 19 RBIs and an OPS of 1.053. Team rookie of the year and second baseman
Jack Gillis will look to build off his impressive season where his .438 on base percentage saw him earn a spot at the top of the Gryphon lineup. Incoming rookie Tommy Cullen is a standout with the Ontario Blue Jays as he is set to contribute to the team at 2B in 2024. The shortstop position will see a pair of sure-handed infielders lead the way in
Evan Ogston and
Noah Chang. Ogston comes to Guelph from Grayson College in Texas and
Noah Chang is back after missing time in 2023 due to injury.
Outfielders
Team captain
Owen Ellis enters his final season with the Gryphons to man right field after hitting an impressive .403 last season. The Gryphon pitching staff will be happy to see
Jaylen Wood returning to man the middle of the outfield in CF as he is regarded as the best defensive outfielder in the OUA. Left fielder
Tucker Delaney rounds out the Guelph outfield. The management student got on base at a .411 clip last season from the two spot in the batting order as the team's most improved player. Incoming recruit Marco da Gama comes to U of G from East Central College in Missouri, and provides head coach
Dean Mariani with another player with great speed and defensive ability in the outfield.
Pitchers
Rhys Montgomery will provide a boost to the Guelph pitching staff as he returns to the team after not pitching last season due to injury. The accounting student, a 6'6" lefty, will join the Gryphons shortly following the completion of his playoff involvement in the Intercounty Baseball League with the Guelph Royals. A consistent and reliable arm in
Ryan Cooper returns to the Gryphons rotation for fourth season as a team captain.
Bennett Moore also returns to the rotation for his final season after posting a 3.38 ERA in his four starts last season. An experienced bullpen returns to round out this pitching staff.
Daniel Meron and Sam Kerr enter their fourth year with the team,
Logan Miziolek returns for his third year after all three relievers posted an ERA below 2.70 last season.
The Gryphons get the OUA portion of their 2024 season underway on Saturday, September 7 as they will be in St. Catharines to take on the Brock Badgers.
