McGill Redmen Baseball (23-6-1) defeated the Holland College Hurricanes 4-1 on Sunday to clinch their second consecutive Canadian Collegiate Baseball Association (CCBA) Championship. 

The victory marked McGill’s fifth overall national baseball title, having won three championships in the old Canadian Intercollegiate Baseball Association (CIBA). This victory, however, was the first time the Redmen have defended their title. McGill entered the tournament as the team to beat—they won five straight games to close out the regular season—and lived up to their billing, capturing the banner without dropping a single game. 

After breezing through the first three games of the tournament, the Redmen dismantled the Carleton Ravens 11-1 in the semifinal to advance to the finals. Sophomore Rob Sedin, who was named tournament MVP and CCBA Northern Conference Pitcher-of-the-Year, led the way with a dazzling seven strikeout performance. Every Redmen batter recorded a hit in an offensive blowout that featured a seven-run third inning. In the championship game against Holland College, junior starter Adriano Petrangelo held the Hurricanes to just one run. It was all the Redmen would need as senior third baseman Zachary Aaron would deliver the go-ahead knock in the first on a two-run single. 

McGill outscored its opponents 35-8 over the five games, with only one game being decided by less than three runs. Senior shortstop Tyler Welence went two-for-four and scored twice. Sedin, Welence, rookie catcher Sam Groleau, and sophomore left fielder James Pavelick were all named to the all-tournament team. 

It’s easy to throw around the ‘dynasty’ label, especially in college sports, where key players are lost to graduation every season,  but this team has all the hallmarks of a true powerhouse.