Collingwood's offense had its foot on the gas pedal all game, leading to an 11-2 win over Holy Trinity to repeat as GBSSA baseball champions.
Despite falling in Game 1 of the best-of-three series, the Fighting Owls allowed just two runs on three hits from that point on, completing the comeback much like in the 2025 championship series against St. Joseph's.
In the same span, they scored 15 runs, not being shut out of any inning of Game 3.
Given the team—including many of the same players—won the regional title in 2025, Collingwood's reaction upon the final out being made was rather subdued considering the accomplishment.
"We definitely used the experience we had last year, we had a lot of confidence," head coach Matt Martyniuk told Barrie360 postgame. "[We've] got a lot of senior guys and they held the fort and we just chipped away at them each inning."
Bennett McCarl, pitching in his third appearance of the series, came away with the win after pitching six shutout innings in relief, allowing just one hit and three walks while striking out eight. He was also the only Owls hitter to have multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with two RBI, a run, and a strikeout.
"I knew what the game meant and what to do for the team," he told Barrie360 postgame. "Nothing was really holding me back. I didn't want to leave anything out there."
"There's definitely concerns (about pitching in three consecutive games) and you're always asking the pitcher, 'how do you feel?'" Martyniuk added. "He's in my first period math class, we were talking about it during first period."
Meanwhile, Tigers starter Jacob Cowie allowed just one earned run on four hits and one walk through 2.1 innings. His loss was mainly due in part to his and his team's poor defensive effort.
CLICK HERE FOR GAME 3 SUMMARY
GBSSA BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES - GAME 3
Holy Trinity 200 000 0 2 2 4
Collingwood 122 114 x 11 7 0
Zirk, McCarl (1, W,1-0), Sproule (7);
Cowie (L,0-1), Pilatzke (3), Morrison (5).
HRs: HTCHS — None; CCI — None.
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While McCarl was originally slotted in at left field, Hayden Zirk struggled in his second start of the series, not recording an out and allowing one earned run on two hits and two walks.
It was a hot start for Holy Trinity as it aimed for the first GBSSA championship in program history. The first run came in on a bases-loaded walk drawn by Cowie, while the other scored on a passed ball minutes later.
However, that's all the Tigers would get, eventually stranding runners at third base twice before game's end.
For Collingwood, the offense caught fire. Holden Muscat drove home the team's first run in the first after PJ Flynn reached third on a botched pickoff attempt. Another error by Cowie, the Tigers' starter, led to the Owls taking the lead the next inning on two-RBI single by Austyn Potts.
Two more defensive miscues by Holy Trinity—a booted ball by second baseman William Khan and dropped flyball by left fielder Jack Paré—directly led to two more runs in the third before Cowie was pulled for Fisher Pilatzke. Danny Herman drove in the first run on an RBI double before McCarl's first of two RBI singles.
The Tigers' bullpen didn't fare well either, beginning with a Pilatzke wild pitch allowing a run in the fourth before allowing an earned run in the fifth.
Collingwood put an exclamation point on their championship performance, plating four more in the sixth—two on wild pitches by Holy Trinity reliever Cole Morrison, the other two on an RBI double by Jesse Rawn.
Two-way player Lucas Sproule was named tournament MVP, striking out 16 through 7.1 shutout innings on the mound while going 1-for-9 at the plate with two stolen bases. He also made a highlight-worthy leaping catch at shortstop in the second inning of Game 3.
"That second game, when he was just striking everyone out, and it got our team going a bit," McCarl said. "Even though our bats weren't going, but our [defence] was, that was about the turning point for us."
The Tigers were without David McBeth, who served an ill-timed suspension after being ejected from Game 2.
A CSASC school has not won the GBSSA baseball title since St. Peter's' back-to-back championships in 2017 and 2018.
Martyniuk says he believes Tuesday's win could signal the start of a dynasty for his team.
"All our school teams have been doing really [well] over the years, but baseball definitely has just seemed to have a lot of confidence and a lot of great players that were able to get over the hump," he said.
UP NEXT
Collingwood will represent the GBSSA at the 2026 OFSSA Regionals. However, the team will not find out until Wednesday whether it will play in Toronto or Windsor.
"After last year, I think we're expecting something better," McCarl said. "We didn't do quite what we wanted to last year, but we've got a pretty solid core here. We want it all."
A GBSSA school has never won a provincial championship in baseball.
