The Lambton Lions will host Ontario’s best collegiate baseball programs this fall during a provincial championship.
The OCAA Men’s Baseball Championship will be held at Errol Russell Park from October 17 to October 19. As hosts, the Lambton Men’s Baseball Program will gain an automatic berth into the six-team tournament.
Manager of Athletics and Student Life James Grant said the opportunity will serve as motivation for the team but at the same time, will relieve some of the pressure.
"I know they're going to want to be able to compete to the very end and I think in the grand scheme of things, there's that type of pressure," he said. "Overall, probably a little bit of pressure but down to those instances of baseball that make or break a season, it's nice to know that even if you aren't successful at an at-bat you're still going to get an opportunity in the end."
Grant said their season will start in September with about six to seven weeks of the regular season, which will culminate into the championship.
Tryouts will start in mid-August.
"A lot of the team that we had last year is coming back and we recruited a fair number of people who are looking to solidify their spot on the roster so we'll have a 25-player roster made up by the start of September," Grant said.
The Lions posted a record of 7-11 overall last year but narrowly missed out on securing a playoff spot in the postseason.
"Our team is still relatively new in comparison to the other colleges in the province. We seem to be making positive steps every year," he said.
Grant said this is their fourth year running the program, it launched in 2019 but was put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This will mark Lambton College Athletics' third time hosting an OCAA championship since 2022.
The Lions recently hosted the 2024 OCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four, where the women's basketball program won their first OCAA gold medal, the Lions also hosted the 2020 OCAA Men’s Basketball Championship inside the Cestar Group Athletics and Fitness Complex.
"It's great news for us," Grant said. "I think you could fairly certainly say that we have the best park in the league so it's nice to be able to bring the rest of Ontario here to showcase what we have."
Day and weekend passes to watch the event in person will be available for purchase at a later date. There will also be a championship website with live stream links, which will be set up closer to the event.