The Humber Hawks baseball team is off to a powerful 7-1 start to their season, capped off with two blowout wins over the Seneca Sting in a doubleheader last Friday.
The Hawks filled up the score sheet, with a total of 35 runs over the course of the two games, including 15 hits in the first game and seven hits in the second.
Head coach Troy Black, now in his third year at the helm, said the team’s perfect start to the season is based on a mixture of a few elements.
“Our resiliency and having a bit of an older group who have been there and have faced adversity,” Black said. “Being able to trust the same approach, and trust the process, so that when things are going sideways, we aren’t playing the opponent, we’re playing our own game.”
The process seems to be working.
The Hawks have filled up the score sheet. Those 35 runs that peppered the Sting put them first in the Ontario College Athletic Association with 83 total runs so far.
Black said the keys to victory include the team’s plate discipline at the start of the season.
“The maturity of the group to be able to buy in, to be able to understand what our plan is at the plate, is something that helps with not only walking, but swinging at the right pitches," he said.
A highlight of the two games was shortstop Charlie Towers, who scored the team’s first home run of the season with a hit to right field in Game 1, bringing in three runs in the process.
Towers capped off his impressive night by tying an OCAA record for the most runs in a single game, with five in Game 2. It's the first time since 2022 that a player has recorded five runs in a single game.
“Charlie’s a spark plug for us,” said Black, when asked about Towers’ impact on the team.
“He suffered some really bad injury luck towards the end of the summer season last year, that kind of blended into the season this year, so he couldn’t contribute the way he wanted to,” Black said.
Despite the injury, Black said Towers was at every practice, keeping the energy high in the group.
The energy that Towers brings to the group has now translated into his on-field play. After a slow first few games, Towers now finds himself in the top three for team batting average at .438, six RBI and four stolen bases. His homer is so far the only one the two the team recorded this season.
“It’s a testament to him and his character and how much he loves being out there," Black said. "He just goes out there and plays and competes, and you knew things were going to fall into place for him, and it looks like they’re starting to now.”
The Hawks’ hot start comes off of a disappointing end to the previous campaign in 2023, with the Hawks losing in the OCAA Championship to the St. Clair Saints, a pattern that has repeated since 2021.
Despite the loss, Black says the maturity level of this older group has allowed them to stay grounded and not get ahead of themselves, with a rematch against St. Clair lined up for the end of the season.
“It doesn’t matter who the opponent is on the other side, we know the game that we’re capable of playing, our style of baseball, intensity and passion that we have for the game, if we do our job and take care of business on our side, we put ourselves in a very good position," he said.
“If we can take care of what we can take care of, and focus on our own group and circle, we try to block out the outside noise, and whatever opponent is on the other side is the opponent we’ll play, it’s a matter of focusing on what we can control in our game," Black said.
The Hawks continued its hot start to their season Wednesday beating Fanshawe Falcons in the first game 11-1, but lost the second game 6-5 after allowing Fanshawe to score four runs in the seventh inning.
Humber plays two games against the Sault Cougars at Toronto's Connorvale Park on Sunday.
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