The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks earned a spot at the 2026 Canadian Collegiate Softball Association (CCSA) National Championship by winning the 2025 OUS Provincials. The event, held October 9–11 at Durham College in Oshawa, brings together the top teams from the three collegiate conferences in the country: the Western Collegiate Softball Association, the OCAA, and the OUS. This is the second trip to the CCSA Nationals in as many years for the Golden Hawks, who also attended in 2025 when they were held in Calgary.
The Golden Hawks opened the national championship with a difficult 2–0 loss to the host Durham Lords. Laurier managed only four hits in the game. Pitchers Maryn Partridge and Cassie Dollard kept it close with solid performances in the circle, but the Laurier offense was unable to get anything happening.
Laurier responded with a hard-fought 5–4 victory over Humber in the second game. Humber, the reigning OCAA champions, took a 4-3 lead in the sixth inning before Laurier came to bat in the seventh.
Amy Hughes got the rally going with a one-out single and then stole second and third. She came around to score on a misplayed fly ball in centre field that got Maddy Halstead to second base. Pinch runner Addi Nugent would then score the walk-off winning run coming around on a
Jules Merritt single.
On Saturday morning, the Hawks battled the University of Calgary Dinos to a 2–2 tie. The tie earned the Golden Hawks a position in the playoffs. Following the round-robin portion of the tournament, Laurier's
Amy Hughes and
Kendall Rainey were awarded Championship All-Star honours for their stellar performances.
First up in the quarterfinals was the defending national champion UBC Okanagan Heat. The Heat jumped out to an early 1-0 lead; however, a series of three hits from Rainey, Hughes and Maddy Halstead gave Laurier a 2-1 lead. Both teams added runs during the game, but Laurier never gave up the lead en route to a 7-4 win, a spot in the semifinals, and a chance to compete for a National medal.
Their opponent would be Humber, who were eager to avenge their early defeat to the Golden Hawks. Laurier's bats struggled to put anything together, however, and Laurier fell 6-0 to move to the bronze medal game.
This one also featured a rematch as they faced the host Durham Lords, who had bested Laurier in the tournament opener. This time, Laurier quickly got on the scoreboard with a run in the bottom of the first. They extended the lead when a lead-off single from Milie Blamauer was followed by a Hughes home run, her third of the tournament, to make it 3-0. Durham narrowed the lead to 3-1 with a run in the sixth; however, outstanding defense kept them from adding more. In the bottom of the seventh, with the tying run on base, pitcher Maryn Partridge struck out the final batter to clinch the bronze medal.
Next up for the Golden Hawks is the OUS Provincials this weekend, with a chance to repeat their 2025 Championship Gold.
