Saints recruiting athletes

By Jordan Caschera
The St. Clair Saints are celebrating wins from five of the school’s varsity sports programs this week.
The Saints varsity season is well underway and the school’s golf, basketball, soccer, softball and baseball teams are all celebrating victories. The golf team came away with a division II gold medal and the men’s basketball team won bronze at the Dawson College Fall Classic wining three of five games. The men’s and women’s soccer teams both stretched their winning steaks to four games and the women’s softball team took both games of a doubleheader to set their record at 14 and four. The undefeated men’s baseball team kept their streak alive sweeping a doubleheader against Humber College.
The school’s teams are winning their games and according to director of recruiting, Bernie Labute, the college is drawing in student athletes.
“The success of our entire sports program is beginning to attract athletes from all over Canada… and the world,” said Labute.
St. Clair College enrolls nearly 20,500 students a year and nearly 800 of those students are internationals. The three most recent international athletes from Panama are helping the men’s baseball team continue their undefeated streak.
The three Panamanian athletes – Roberto Duncan, Max Ayarza and Teiden Frias are all in their rookie year but according to head coach Dave Cooper the players are key members of the team.
“Roberto ,Teiden and Azarya have been great additions to our team,” said Cooper. “They’ve filled some holes and that was the difference between us having a rebuilding year or another dominant season.”
Labute said there are a few ways players are chosen to play baseball for St. Clair College – they are scouted internationally, they have played a significant amount of baseball in the summer with the Tecumseh Thunder who are coached by the same head coach of the Saints, they have demonstrated the highest level of ability and lastly, walk-on-tryouts from enrolled students.
Labute said if it wasn’t for the majority of student athletes playing in the U.S., St. Clair would be a destination for student athletes.
“Players want to go to where teams are successful on the field,” said Labute. “We have that here at St. Clair.”
Myles Miller, a Windsor native now playing baseball at Roane State College in Tennessee, said he always planned on playing in the United States.
“I had the plan of going away for school since I first got in high school,” said Miller. “I chose to go to the States for baseball because I eventually want to play professionally or get drafted and the path to that is a lot easier in the States.”
Though Miller always had the intentions on going to the U.S. for school, he said St. Clair was his next option.
“If I had to choose a school in Canada to play for, it would definitely be St. Clair because of their athletic facilities and dominant baseball team in Canadian baseball,” said Miller.
The defending champions, Saints baseball team is ranked first in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association with 14 wins and no losses this season.