COBA Major's Erindale Cardinals have pop in Novia, Woodford

Former Team Ontario slugger Chris Novia (No. 3, Misssissauga, Ont.) and Jason Woodford (Mississauga, Ont.) form a potent 1-2 punch for Greg Cranker’s Erindale Cardinals.

COBA Major Baseball League Team Preview: Erindale Cardinals

By Dan Estey

Canadian Baseball Network

The Erindale Cardinals will open their 2019 Central Ontario Major campaign hosting the Milton Red Sox on Monday, May 6th at Greg Cranker Field in Mississauga. Cranker will return as the manager this season; his 37th season at the helm of the Cardinals. Tim Gasparotto will return in his 15th year as the GM and head coach of the club.

The Cards had a good season in 2018 as they finished with an overall record of 28-19. They were 17-11 in regular season play good for second place overall in the loop. They attended four tournaments during the course of the season. They attended the Vaughan Vikings Invitational where they went 1-2 in pool play, the Lakeside Invitational where they went 2-1 and narrowly missed out on a playoff spot, the Hap Walters Invitational where they went 3-1 making a quarter-final appearance and the Ontario Senior Eliminations where they went 2-2 bowing out on Saturday evening.

The Cardinals went into the playoffs as the No. 2 seed and after a tough opening loss to Burlington they rattled off three straight wins over Mississauga Southwest, Milton, and Etobicoke to earn their way into the final. In a very well played game, Erindale dropped a heartbreaker 2-1 to the same Etobicoke Rangers club they defeated earlier in the day to finish in 2nd place in the COBA Major League.

Erindale will be returning the core of their roster in 2019 as well as looking to add some new bodies at a later date. Key returnees at the dish include:

_ League home run champ Jay Woodford, also known as Pompier Jason (.361, 39 runs, 57 nits, nine doubles, three triples, 10 home runs and 55 RBIs).

_ Chris Novia (.370, 36 runs, 50 hits, 12 doubles, a triple, nine homers and 44 RBIs).

_ Pip Murray-Smith (.362, 53 runs, 55 hits, seven doubles, a triple, 21 RBIs and 28 stolen bases).

_ Aaron Plamer, (.336, 24 runs, 46 hits, 10 doubles, a homer, 23 RBIs, 18 steals).

And John DeWolfe (.290, 36 runs, 40 hits, nine doubles, a homer and 21 RBIs).

One the mound, the Cardinals will be led by big lefty Andrew Mullin (8-3, two saves, 62 innings, 67 hits, 28 earned runs, 52 strikeouts, 4.06 ERA) whose numbers earned him a trip to the Nationals last season with the Ontario Champion Tecumseh Thunder.

And as well, also back in the fold ...

_ Brendan Fox (4-1, 51 1/3 innings, 64 hits, 24 earned runs, 18 strikeouts, 4.21 ERA).

_ Dan Estey (4-3, 62 1/3 innings, 80 hits, 36 earned runs, 42 strikeouts, 5.10 ERA).

_ And Kevin Lucas (8-4, two saves, 46 innings, 37 hits, 12 earned runs, 44 strikeouts, 2.35 ERA).

Erindale will look to improve upon their record from last season. They will be attending the Brampton Invitational Tournament as well as returning to the Lakeside, Hap Walters and senior elimination Tournaments on top of their 28-game COBA Major League regular season schedule and league playoff commitments.