Durham College is pleased to share that its Durham Lords men’s baseball team claimed the National College Baseball Championship gold medal on October 26 in Toronto, defeating the Thompson River Wolfpack in an exciting extra-inning contest, 2-1.The win marks the second national championship in program history, previously claiming the Canadian Intercollegiate Baseball Association national title in 2011.

A near storybook ending to the career of head coach Sam Dempster, who announced his retirement for the conclusion of the 2019 season earlier this fall, the bench boss has led the program since its inaugural season in 1992. Earlier this season Dempster recorded his 400th career win, he led the Lords to a winning conference record for the 24th time over 28 seasons, and to an Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA)  silver medal for the third time in seven years; in addition to the national gold.

First-year power-hitter and 2019 OCAA batting champion Fernando Suarez Muniz was named the championship MVP after driving in the Lords first run of the championship final with an RBI double off the left field fence, before crossing the plate himself in the eighth inning for the game-winning run.

A stellar season for the Lords, after a 2-6 start they would rebound to record 11 straight wins and eventually claim the provincial silver as host of the 2019 OCAA baseball championship, qualifying them for the National College Baseball Championship. Durham lost their first game of the national tournament, but would go on to pick up wins over the Lionel-Groulx Nordiques, John Abbott Islanders, and 2019 OCAA champion Humber Hawks, en route to the championship win over the Thompson River Wolfpack.