Head coaches want nothing more than their teams to come together at the right time, so first-year McGill Redmen baseball Head Coach Jason Starr must feel like the luckiest guy on the field. Fresh off qualifying for Nationals, the Redmen swept the Carleton Ravens to claim the Northern Conference title on Saturday afternoon. McGill will look to ride its momentum into the nation’s capital this weekend as it competes for its second championship in three seasons.

After beginning the year with a 2-5 record, the Redmen looked like a team in transition under the tutelage of a new head coach. Nevertheless, Coach Starr and his team remained positive in light of the slow start.

“Early on we were still trying to find our identity as a team. We weren’t playing bad baseball. We were still trying to gel [and] figure things out,” Starr said. “All of our losses at the beginning of the season were one or two run games. But the guys stayed positive knowing they could play better.”

The positive attitude and confidence paid off in the latter half of the season, as the Redmen reeled off a five-game winning streak after the rough opening to the year. Soon enough, those close losses were turning into close wins. To accomplish this turnaround, the team looked to its veteran leaders.

“[We] have a core group of veteran guys. Players like Adam Gordon, Casey [Auerbach], Josh Gordon, Chris Haddad, LJ [Aguinaga]. These are guys [who] were there in 2010 when we won a National Championship. They’re leaders on and off the field,” Starr said. “There is a lot of leadership in [our] room that helps [our] team through tough times.”

The Redmen finished third in the CIBA Northern Conference, and were matched up against the second-ranked Ottawa Gee-Gee’s in the best-of-three semifinal series. They swept the series and moved on to play Carleton in the finals. While there were a few standout performances, such as Adam Gordon’s offensive production and Elliot Ariganello’s solid starting pitching, the Redmen wins were complete team efforts—a theme at the heart of all their victories throughout the season.

“The great thing about this team is that every game, someone else steps up … a lot of guys do the little things right,” Starr said. “It really is a complete team effort that we have.”

This is Starr’s first season as head coach after serving as an assistant for the previous seven years. He had big shoes to fill, taking over for Ernie D’Alessandro, who manned the McGill clubhouse for 16 years. Starr was not so keen on changing any specific game strategy, but instead tried to instill a drive to succeed from the opening day of training camp.

“I wanted to try and bring intensity. When I play [and] when I coach, I’m a very intense person,” he said. “I wanted to make sure that the guys played smart baseball, but [were] intense. [And] that there is a will to win among our players.”

Intensity likely won’t be an issue at Nationals. Instead, Starr pointed out that executing and doing the little things—bunting, moving runners over, playing solid defence—might make the difference between an early exit and another championship.

“We feel that we need to execute. We know that playoff baseball and Nationals are going be all close games. So it’s going to be the little things,” Starr said. “Guys are going to get hot and hit, pitchers are going to pitch well, and it’s going to be different guys every game [stepping up]. We want to make [opponents] earn everything they get.”

If this Redmen team has proven anything this season, it’s that they won’t shy away from the added pressure of Nationals.

“We have 25 talented players on this team. If the coaching staff can just put them in a chance to win, then they’re going to get the job done more often than not.”

All bets are on them getting it done and adding to the trophy case.

With playoff hopes and pride on the line, the McGill Redmen hosted the Concordia Stingers on Saturday afternoon in their final home game of the regular season at Molson Stadium. Unfortunately, despite an amazing fourth quarter comeback, the McGill Redmen fell just short of the Concordia Stingers 43-40.

Entering the matchup, the Redmen—bearers of a long playoff drought—needed a win to keep their playoff hopes in their own hands. McGill also had a chance to take the lead in the all-time series matchup between the bitter rivals, which stood at 35-35 before the game.

Before the kickoff, receiver and kick returner Yannick Langelier-Vanasse, who has proved throughout the season to be one of McGill’s best offensive weapons, commented on the team’s task at hand.

“We need to execute and focus on the small details. We have a team that can cause a lot of surprises this year, but the players have to believe in what we are capable of doing,” Langelier-Vanasse said.

However, McGill came out stumbling in the first half.  After hitting a 39-yard field goal to open the scoring, the Stingers compiled an uncontested 26-point run, including an 80-yard interception return to start the second quarter.  McGill finally managed to get on the scoreboard with kicker Samy Rassy’s 37-yard field goal. After a team safety cut the Concordia lead to 21, McGill concluded an eight-play drive with a short pass from quarterback Jonathan Collin to running back Sean Murphy for the Redmen’s first touchdown. The half ended with the score 26-12.

Entering the second half, the Redmen needed a spark, and got one in the form of an onside kick. McGill recovered the ball and quickly converted thanks to a 31-yard field goal by Rassy that brought McGill within eleven points. After Concordia grinded out a touchdown to cap a nine-play drive, the Redmen added another field goal to cut the deficit to 15 entering the fourth.

Fifth-year quarterback Ryne Bondy, who replaced starting quarterback Jonathan Collin late in the third quarter, wasn’t going to settle for a loss in his final home game as a Redman. Bondy’s presence awakened the lethal, young offensive duo of Murphy and Langelier-Vanasse, who were largely contained in the first three quarters by the Concordia defence.  A 99-yard drive, which included two 20-plus yard passes to first-year receiver Shaquille Johnson, concluded when Bondy connected with Murphy for his second touchdown of the game to cut the lead to just eight.

After Concordia was only able to score three points off of consecutive interceptions, Bondy redeemed himself by connecting on a 51-yard bomb to a sprinting Johnson for a touchdown. Fellow offensive star Laurent Duvernay-Tardif raved about Johnson, who finished the game with a team-high 186 receiving yards.

“Shaq [Johnson] is someone [who] brings another dimension to our offence with his natural talent. He is a guy [who] is capable of turning a game around in a few seconds by making a big play,” Laurent Duvernay-Tardif said.

On the following McGill possession, Bondy took the ball into the end zone himself, giving McGill its first lead of the game with under a minute to play. However, the lead would be short-lived, as Concordia converted on its final drive via a 19-yard passing touchdown with just 15 seconds remaining, making the score 43-40 in favour of the Stingers.

On the final drive, with playoff hopes on the line, McGill’s last gasp wasn’t enough, and the game came to a heartbreaking end with an incomplete pass.

Despite being all but eliminated from playoff play, the Redmen continue their season on Oct. 20 on the road against Montreal.

The McGill Martlet volleyball team enters its 2012-2013 campaign following an unexpected bronze medal at the CIS Championships last season. The team surged to another bronze medal finish this weekend in the 22nd annual Martlet Invitational at Love Competition Hall. Five teams from across Quebec, Ontario, and the Maritimes joined the Martlets for the latest edition of the tournament.

McGill’s pool-play commenced on Friday afternoon against the Memorial Seahawks. The Martlets breezed through the opener, posting a decisive straight set (29-27, 25-22, 25-20) win over the overwhelmed Seahawks. Both third-year power hitter Geneviève Plante and third-year right side Marie-Christine LaPointe provided all the fire power and defensive stability necessary to ensure the seamless victory. Memorial placed fifth in the tournament overall.

The next match was against the Waterloo Warriors on Friday evening, and it turned out to be a spirited and passionate affair. McGill dominated the beginning of the match and claimed the first set by a score of 25-15. However, in the second, Waterloo took advantage of costly Martlet hitting errors en route to a match-tying 25-22 win. The teams then split the third and fourth sets in similar fashion to set the stage for the first-to-15, deciding fifth set. Leaning heavily on their veteran setter Marcela Mansure for leadership, the Martlets ultimately claimed the game 24-22.

The win earned McGill a place in the semifinals against retuning champions, the Saint Mary’s Huskies. However, the semifinal was a heartbreaker for the Martlets. Despite the reliable setting of Mansure, and stable team defending, McGill seemingly had no answer for the consistent and powerful play of the Huskies. Although the sides split the opening sets, St. Mary’s went on to win the final two sets by the slimmest of 27-25 margins. Despite  the defeat, explosive rookie power hitter Catherine Amyot was a bright spot for the Martlets. Head Coach Rachèle Béliveau weighed in on the new and exciting prospect.

“She is doing really well actually. I know she was a good player, very agile, but for her first time playing at this level she is doing really, really well.” Béliveau said.

After the loss, McGill gathered itself over Saturday evening and prepared for the bronze medal match against the Montreal Carabins.  Historically the thorn in the Martlets’ sides, the Carabins looked off-balance and out-of-whack all weekend, and this carried through the bronze medal game. The Martlets took advantage and were rolling from the start. They led the entire way, and claimed the bronze in three straight sets (27-25, 25-20, 25-17). Sherbrooke defeated St. Mary’s in three sets to win gold.

The Martlets had a productive and strong preseason, amassing two bronze medals and a fourth-place finish over the course of three tournaments. Although the current roster  is very different than the one that won the national bronze—injuries have claimed some starters, forcing others to play different positions—a few familiar faces remain.

“When you have a lot of new faces, not used to the level, it takes a lot of patience. So [I] try to teach them all about the experience, but all the rookies are great and they work really hard, so it makes it easier for us [returning players],” Mansure said.

While her team is talented, Béliveau noted that patience is a priority.

“We’re going to be very competitive in Quebec this year, we’re still going to go for it, but we are also preparing for a longer period of time.”

McGill opens its regular season schedule at the AUS Interlock in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Oct. 26.