Hall Wolfpack wins second consecutive ROPSSAA Varsity Baseball championship

June 20, 2024 · 0 Comments

By Jim Stewart

A high school baseball dynasty could be on the horizon for the Hall Wolfpack.

The Varsity Boys Baseball team cruised to an 11-1 win over St. Paul’s (Mississauga) last week to capture their second consecutive ROPSSAA championship. With only three graduating players and a returning core rich in talent heading into their Grade 12 year in 2024-25, the prospect of a three-peat is a possibility for the East Caledon powerhouse.

Although the Wolfpack trounced St. Paul’s in the title game by ten runs, it was a pair of narrow victories—6-5 over Humberview in the semifinals and 12-9 over Loyola in the quarterfinals— which created their pathway to the championship final.

Head Coach Jason Sweeney said he was pleased with his team’s performance through the playoffs and regular season. The Wolfpack was also aided by a significant upset in the semifinals when St. Mike’s—which handed Hall their only loss of the regular season—was eliminated by an upstart St. Paul’s squad from Port Credit.

“We finished second in the North with a 4-1 record after the regular season. We lost to St. Michael’s during the regular season. St. Mike’s pitcher Colin Sweeney had a great game against us, but, in a surprise twist in the semifinals, St. Mike’s lost to St. Paul’s. They had the game of their life versus St. Mike’s. The players from St. Paul’s were hitting bombs and tracking balls brilliantly in the outfield to earn their way into the championship game.”

Coach Sweeney credited his team’s pitching depth as a key ingredient in their regional championship game versus the upstart squad from Port Credit.

“Our winning pitcher in the finals was outfielder Parker Deans. At this time of season, your pitching plan usually involves going with at least five arms in a final game. I was hoping to get two innings out of Parker, but he just kept on rolling. He was dealing so we left him in which saved our arms.”

Deans also set the tone in the championship with his bat, according to Coach Sweeney.

“Parker led off the game with a triple. Another big hit for us was Sebastian Sinisi’s two-out single that created a huge rally. Another big factor for our team was having two of our Grade 12 players—Daniel Evans and Tyler Ferlito—in our lineup for the championship. Last year, they were committed to a rep tournament in British Columbia and missed the ROPSSAA title game. I was pleased to see our graduating Seniors, Daniel, Tyler, and Rajvir, capture another championship and play an even more meaningful role in their final high school game.”

Coach Sweeney, who is also a community rep coach and the CMBA’s VP of House League, expressed a high degree of satisfaction with both the consecutive ROPSSAA championships captured and the caliber of baseball players being developed by the Nationals.

“We had an excellent core of Grade 10s last year at Hall. I’ve been lucky enough to coach them as Caledon Nationals, too. It’s a great group of kids. So many are products of the Caledon Minor Baseball Association and it’s been great to see their development over the years.”

When asked about the best part of coaching high school baseball, the veteran coach acknowledged the challenge inherent in the brevity of the Spring sports season.

“It’s a short season so I am more a manager than a coach in terms of getting players from so many different teams to buy into playing for the same team. It’s been great to see all these players from different clubs get together and win championships.”