Chloe Cole delivers game-winning single as St. Clair wins provincial title
The drama meter was dialed up and so were the fireworks in the OCAA gold medal game at St. Clair College between the Saints and Durham.
Let’s start with the fireworks. The two teams combined for six home runs, including three in the opening three innings by St. Clair. Emily Owen, Taylor Kana and Ashley Marchand all went deep for the Saints, while Durham answered with homers from Peyton Jones, Jocelyn Shelton and Jorja Kloepfer.
But the drama was saved for the seventh. Durham tied the game 5-5 before rookie pitcher Camryn Hazell, 17-years old, held her nerve in the circle, setting the stage for a championship finish.
Zahnyah Jackson hit a bouncer up the middle that eluded a diving first baseman. She noticed a fumble during the pick up and decided to go for third and blowing threw a stop sign thrown up by head coach Dwayne Dawson. She slid in safely to put herself in scoring position.
That set the stage for Chloe Cole who fouled off a couple of line shots before delivering the game-winning RBI single to bring Jackson home for a 6-5 victory.
Hazell shut down the Lords over the final four innings to earn the win, as St. Clair captured its first provincial gold since winning back-to-back championships in 2023 and 2024. The Saints also extended their remarkable streak to nine consecutive provincial medals.
"It turned into a whole cardiac tournament here for us, just with the comebacks, time after time and even to the end of the end of it here today, winning in the last inning, it's just been a quite a ride".