LORDS WIN FIFTH OCAA WOMEN'S SOFTBALL BRONZE MEDAL
The Durham Lords are bringing home third place in the province after falling short to the St. Clair Saints on Saturday at Connorvale Park.
TORONTO – The Durham Lords are bringing home third place in the province after falling short to the St. Clair Saints on Saturday at Connorvale Park. The bronze marks the program's fifth bronze medal and extends Durham's remarkable streak of 11 consecutive seasons earning OCAA hardware.
GAME RECAP (St. Clair 5, Durham 1)
After splitting their Day 2 games at the 2025 OCAA Women's Softball Championship, the rivals Durham Lords and the St. Clair Saints met for a spot in the gold-medal game, with the loser earning bronze.
A rematch of the 2023 championship game, the underdog Saints looked to return to the final after back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023, while the favoured Lords, who edged the Saints 3-1 in the regular season, aimed to bounce back after being shut out by Humber the day before.
OCAA Pitcher of the Year Makayla Benz started recording two outs in her first two at-bats, but the Saints' lineup wasn't ready to end the inning just yet. With two runners on bases, Ada Umerah blasted a shot to deep centre field and over the fence, giving the Saints an early 3-0 lead.
The Lords' bats were silent early in the ball game, managing just four hits through the first three innings. Meanwhile, St. Clair kept up the pressure, extending their lead with a fourth run in the top of the third.
Durham got on the board in the bottom half with Vanessa Ng scoring off Jessica Benz's sacrifice fly, cutting the deficit to 4-1.
However, the Saints didn't allow the Lords to gain any momentum. In the fifth inning, Umerah stepped to the box and confidently launched her second home run of the day.
Durham's performance was a stark contrast to the regular season. The Lords struggled to generate offence and had managed only five hits, with no doubles or triples, by the end of the sixth inning.
Credit goes to the Saints, though, who put on a defensive clinic throughout the game.
With Durham needing four runs to even the score in the bottom of the seventh, St. Clair's Danna Juarez wrapped up the ball game with a three-up, three-down inning.
The Lords captured their fifth bronze medal and extended their streak to 11 consecutive seasons earning OCAA hardware.
Players of the Game
Durham Lords – Jessica Greene
St. Clair Saints – Ada Umerah
Source: Fernando Bossoes