THE South East has reaped success at the South Australian Cricket Association’s Under 16 Country Cup recently, where it took home the honours with an undefeated run.
Coached by North Sportsman’s Matthew McInerney, the South East faced Mid North in the title decider, where it claimed the win by 51 runs.
With the tournament consisting of three minor rounds, followed by the finals, captain Luke Pedlar was a standout for the South East over the four days of competition.
His best performance was in the Round 3 triumph over the Upper North team, which was reduced to the Twenty20 format due to the heat.
This match saw the young Kingston player finish on 100-not-out, with Pedlar making his century on the final ball of the inning.
Other solid efforts saw Kingston’s Campbell Watts with 37 runs in Round 1 against Fleurieu and Districts, a game which also saw Pedlar with an impressive 74, while West Gambier’s Connor Prior made a credible 18.
Adam Kuhl and Emerson Marks were the top performers with the ball in this game with two wickets each.
In the second round against Eyre Peninsula, Thomas Moyle-Read led the way with the bat, finishing his day with 60-not-out.
He was joined by Prior (26), Watts (22), Josh Cornolo (19-not-out) and Pedlar (17) as the South East’s double-figure scorers of the game.
This round also saw Ben Thiel excel with the ball, as he claimed a five-wicket haul against the Eyre Peninsula batsmen.
Marks did well to finish with three scalps, while Prior rounded out the wickets for the day with one to his name.
The final minor round saw a meeting with the Upper North side.
Pedlar’s century made up the bulk of the South East’s 115-run victory, while Jaden Grosser and Kuhl contributed 22 and 11 runs respectively.
William Walker just missed out on double figures, as he finished on nine-not-out.
Prior, Kuhl and Marks took two wickets each in this game and were joined by Jack Tapfield and Walker who both claimed one.
Going into the final undefeated, the South East secured itself a meeting with the Mid North side, which was also yet to drop a game.
With South East going in to bat first, it was Watts who led the way at the crease, followed by Pedlar.
The two opened together and amounted 82 runs before Pedlar was caught out with 38.
With Grosser taking his place, Watts was finally bowled by Will Bowman for a score of 61.
Grosser went on to finish with 29 runs, a tally which was matched by Prior, who replaced Watts at the crease.
Thiel rounded out the double-figure scores with 20 runs to his name.
With a total of 9/215, Mid North needed to hit hard to match the pace of the South East batsmen.
Charlie Dinning was the top scorer for the side, finishing with 49 runs, while Ryan Clarke (24 not out) and Angus Leese (21) also contributed well.
However, it was not enough to secure the win, with the South East bowlers seeing them all out for 164.
Marks claimed four scalps for the day off his 10 overs and Tom Ferguson did well to bag three, while Kuhl finished with two and Thiel bagged one for the match.
As coach, McInerney was proud of the youngsters’ achievement and said every player did their part towards the overall victory.
“It was a great group of kids and everyone played their roles,” he said.
“It was a good spread from both the Upper and Lower.
“Usually the team is pretty dominated by the Lower South East.”
In terms of standout moments, McInerney gave credit to both the batsmen and bowlers in the squad.
“Luke Pedlar’s 100 in game three which cemented us in the finals was unbelievable,” he said.
“He was a standout with the bat all week.
“Also, Emerson Marks – a left-arm off-spinner from East Gambier – he bowled amazingly.
“Then to cap off the whole tournament with a win, it was the cherry on top.”
