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This was the way Spencer Morin wanted to go out with the St. Clair Saints.
The 21-year-old Morin won an OCAA baseball title with the Saints in 2022, but did not make the roster last season after suffering a hamstring injury.
“It was heartbreaking for me,” said Morin, who is a Villanova high school product. “Last year was supposed to be my last year and I missed out on it and had to watch from the sidelines.”
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He opted to return to school for one final year and capped it by earning tournament MVP honours in helping the Saints to a fourth-straight OCAA championship on Saturday in Sarnia.
“It was a really nice comeback story,” Saints’ manager Roberto Duncan said of Morin.
An outfielder, Morin went three-for-four with two runs scored and a run driven in to help the Saints beat the Lambton Lions 4-2 in Saturday’s gold-medal game.
“It was more than I could ask for and something I’ll remember the rest of my life,” Morin said. “I knew it would feel good to win, it always feels good to win, but to put that (gold) medal on, it was extra special and it brought a tear to my eye.”
Every season has its challenges and this one was no different for the Saints, who posted a 17-1 record in the regular season.
“This year, the biggest challenge is we had a lot of talent and a lot of guys in their last year that are very talented and a lot of guys in their first year that are very talented,” Duncan said. “In the end, it was a mix that helped us win. We had a lot of talent and we had to find a way to develop some of the new talent, but also put ourselves in good position to win games with old talent and keep them in shape.”
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The top-seeded Saints struggled to escape with a 10-9 win over Centennial to open tournament play on Friday and advance directly to the gold-medal semis where the club rebounded with a solid 7-1 win over the Lions.
“We definitely had to do it the hard way,” said Morin, who was seven-for-nine in the tournament with runs scored and four runs driven in. “We want to win every game in five innings (by mercy), but we had to do it the hard way and do the little things right.”
Morin’s two out, two-run triple in the fourth inning broke a 2-2 tie for the Saints in the final. Right-hander Michael Grondin got the win after scattering eight hits over 5 1/3 innings and allowing two runs. Left-hander Jonas Le Clair came on to earn the save with just a hit allowed in 1 2/3 innings.
“It could have gone to anyone, in my mind, but I’m thrilled to get it and it’s super special to me,” Morin said of the MVP award. “We had a 25-squad and every guy could contribute in a way that would put us on top.”
Along with Morin’s MVP Award, St. Clair’s Rowan Glasgow and Jake Heinbuch were named to the tournament all-star team.
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Meanwhile, a very young St. Clair softball team captured the bronze medal at the OCAA championship in Oshawa.
“I had 10 first-year players,” said Saints’ manager Doug Wiseman, whose team had won the previous two titles. “To get there was like a gold medal.”
St. Clair opened with a 6-0 win over Sheridan and then beat Humber 3-0. The club fell 5-1 to eventual champion Durham and then lost 3-0 to Humber, which moved to the gold-medal game and gave the Saints the bronze medal.
“We improved immensely during the season,” said Wiseman, who had Danna Juarez named to the tournament all-star team. “It was satisfying and gratifying”
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