Sports Briefs: Camluck Classic, WOSSAA Champions, O’Reilly leads Rangers to Memorial Cup final

The St. Joseph’s Rams pose for a photo after winning the WOSSAA Baseball championship. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)

One of the most important harness races in North America is coming to London Friday.

The post position draws are complete for the $150,000 Camluck Classic presented by Seelster Farms, which will feature four Ontario horses and four more from the U.S.

“If you are a hardcore fan, a middle of the road fan, or a newbie, this is a night you want to come to attend,” said Greg Blanchard, director of Equine Programming at Western Fair District.

“We have so many fun events on track that night. The weather looks like it’s going to be good and we’ve got, giveaways, live entertainment, food trucks, just kind of a festive party atmosphere, but world class horse racing is the backdrop to it,” said Blanchard.

In addition to the Camluck Classic, the $50,000 Forest City Pace will add to a stacked program.

It will also feature four $40,000 London Classic Sale Series finals, Ontario Sires Stakes divisions for three-year-old filly pacers, a Preferred Trot and Preferred Pace, as well as a Fillies and Mares Preferred. Total purses for the evening will exceed $500,000, the richest night of the race season.

First post time on Friday is scheduled for 5:50 p.m.

The St. Joseph’s Rams have become the first St. Thomas school to win a WOSSAA baseball championship.

The Rams booked their ticket to the OFSAA tournament with a 9-3 win over the Lucas Vikings Tuesday at Labatt Park.

The offence put up one run in each of the first three innings and added five more in the fourth to blow it wide open.

While they continued to score, pitcher Linkin Kellington was cruising on the mound. He carried a shutout into the fifth inning, eventually going the distance for a seven-inning complete game victory, allowing three runs.

“I felt great and just tried to get ahead every at bat,” said Kellington after the win. “Getting a strike on the first pitch was super important. With our batting depth, I think we are going to put up a battle at OFSAA.”

The Rams have advanced to the OFSAA regional event in Windsor from June 2 to 3.

“To get here took a lot of grit and good swings as well as good pitching,” said Ram Tayven Barned. “We’ve got a great starter in Easton (Wilkinson) and Linkin, and we have good depth at bat. It’s going to be a battle as there will be good teams in Windsor.”

On the soccer pitch, the Mother Teresa Spartans have their eyes set on another OFSAA medal.

After finishing as runner up in 2025, they are headed back to the provincial tournament with a 3-0 win Wednesday over St. Thomas Aquinas.

Early in the first half, Gianluca DeCandido scored on a penalty kick for the Spartans, and it remained that way until early in the second half when Jacob Brown padded the lead.

They would go on to win it 3-0.

Other WOSSAA champions this week include St. Thomas Aquinas (AAA Girls Soccer), Lord Dorchester (AA Girls Soccer), Holy Cross (A Girls Soccer), South Huon (A Boys Soccer), Medway (AAA Boys Rugby) and St. Anne’s (AA Boys Rugby)

If you want to win playoff hockey games, just put Sam O’Reilly on your roster.

After Kitchener swept its way through the round robin of the Memorial Cup with a 3-0 record, O’Reilly has boosted his playoff record to 51-5 over the past three seasons.

The former London Knight scored his second of the tournament Tuesday night giving him four points through three games, helping his team reach Sunday’s final.

The Red Tilson Trophy winner, as league’s most outstanding player in the regular season, was followed up with the Wayne Gretzky Trophy award as OHL playoff Most Valuable Player.

Ahead of Wednesday’s action in the Canadian Baseball League, the London Majors have an early share of the lead in the standings.

Off to a good start, the Majors are 3-1 with games ahead Thursday at Kitchener, and Friday at home to Toronto.

Ahead of Friday’s game, the City of London has announced that guided tours of Labatt Memorial Park, the world’s oldest baseball grounds.

The tours must be booked 24 hours in advance but feature never told stories of some of the greats to take the field, as well as artifacts on display inside the 1937 Roy McKay Clubhouse, carefully curated from extensive research into the park’s 149-year history.