The Carleton Ravens men’s baseball team saw its season come to an end at the Canadian Intercollegiate Baseball Association (CIBA) national championship tournament this past weekend, an event they hosted right here in the nation’s capital.
The Ravens fell 9-6 to the defending champions from Durham College in their quarterfinal matchup Oct. 21, snuffing out their hopes of a first-ever national title after a weekend marred by rainy weather.
After going 10-6 during the regular season last year and making an appearance in the national semi-final – which resulted in an 8-6 loss to the Humber College Hawks – expectations were high heading into the 2012 campaign.
But after what centre-fielder Ben Milinkovich called an “up and down” year, the Ravens could only manage an 8-8 regular season record, good enough for fourth place in the Northern Conference.
Despite the results, Milinkovich said hosting the national championship tournament went a long way in helping to increase awareness about the program.
“It was great, when we got word that we actually got nationals we were ecstatic,” he said.
“The weekend didn’t turn out exactly how we wanted it . . . it had a bunch of potential but it still definitely raised the profile because I know a lot of people didn’t even know we had a baseball team.”
But while having the opportunity to host the tournament helped the club in that sense, pitcher Charlie Crabb said hosting may have been one of the key reasons why the performances on the field did not match those of last season.
“Probably the biggest factor was actually hosting the tournament itself, trying to get all the fields organized, going around the city seeing what diamonds weren’t a total mess,” the standout pitcher said.
As tournament hosts, the Ravens were responsible for ensuring that fields were in proper playing condition, something that was made very difficult as a result of the heavy rain that drenched the city Oct. 19.
The effort to make sure things ran smoothly all weekend long is something Crabb said definitely impacted the team’s play on the diamond.
“Our game against St. Clair [on Saturday, Oct. 20], our whole team didn’t arrive until 20 minutes before game time because we were raking the fields and mopping up puddles on fields, so the organizational aspect had an effect . . . a lot of guys were just drained.”
After dropping the first two games of the tournament by a combined score of 27-10, the Ravens bounced right back with wins over the Cape Breton Capers and Crandall University Chargers, respectively.
But Carleton’s winning streak – and season – was brought to an end by the Durham Lords in a game that looked for a long time like it would be a comfortable victory for the hosts.
With a 6-2 lead heading into the sixth inning – CIBA games last for seven innings – the Lords’ bats came to life and sparked a huge comeback. The combination of some clutch hitting and multiple walks was too much for the Ravens to overcome.
The St. Clair Saints eventually went on to win the tournament, hammering Cape Breton 12-2 in the national final Sunday night to capture their first-ever CIBA championship.
“It was a great run for us and we’re really happy,” Ravens field manager Rudy Vallejos said.
One of the biggest challenges for the Ravens is competing with teams who are fully funded by their respective schools as a varsity program. The likes of Durham College – who Crabb says has an annual budget of $60,000 per year for its team – are in a much better position to be competitive each and every season.
As a competitive club, the Ravens are responsible for everything from travel costs to equipment, and put on various fundraising events throughout the year to raise the money they need to compete. This year, fundraising events included multiple pub nights and a golf tournament.
While both Milinkovich and Crabb are grateful to the school for having the chance to play as a club under the Ravens name, both agree that obtaining varsity status would be a big step forward heading into future seasons.
On the field, that future looks bright for Carleton, who will see many of their players return next season to don the Ravens jersey.
“We are going to lose some great players but moving forward we have a lot of returning talent. A lot of the guys returning are rookies and we are going to be able to establish a team bond really early on,” Vallejos said.
— with files from Brock Wilson and Nick Wells
