THE Mount Gambier and District Baseball League will wind back the clock as Tigers and Central Division 1 sides relive the past in a heritage clash at Blue Lake Sports Park tomorrow.
Most sides will be welcoming the finals series or the beginning of the of season.
However, both Tigers and Central will pull their clubs past playing uniforms out of the closet as part of a heritage round.
Central is the longest-standing club in the league and was founded in 1931.
The club has had its fair share of playing uniforms over the years, bouncing back and forth from black to white as the dominant colour.
Throughout the years the small tinge of red the uniform had, has faded out.
Central will wear the top donned through the 1990’s and early 2000’s, which was too originally worn with black pants.
In turn, Tigers is the youngest club of the Mount Gambier league and was founded by players from another fraternity.
Sam Sutton was the instigator of the club and was originally involved in Federal.
He was joined by Kevin Hoath – also from Federal – who was the first president of the club.
Kevin’s son Andrew – who is currently a player at Central – competed in the first ever senior game between the two clubs and will be throwing a ceremonial first pitch.
In 1981/82 tigers started with an Under 13 team and followed up the next season with a Division 1 side.
They also managed to introduce an Under 15 side and two Under 13 teams.
Tigers will return to its original uniform for the one-off match tomorrow.
Central had two Division 1 side in 1982/83.
The Dodgers were more of a development team and they played Tigers early in the season.
Although there is no record of the result of the game, it is said it was the start of fierce rivalry.
The first time Tigers and Central met in a grand final was back in 1984/85 where the latter was crowned the league champions in a dominant display winning 16-5.
In more recent times Tigers and Central have gone head-to-head in many tough baseball grand finals.
However, it has been the Tigers who come out on top more often than not.
Central still has its fair share to be proud of.
It has claimed 21 Division 1 grand finals and the same number of league medals.
Stephen Kuhl leads the way with eight, while Dylan Chuck is the most recent winner.
Brian Francis was the the first player to be honoured as the best in the league when he played for Central in 1962.
Meanwhile, Tigers has also had its share of success.
It has claimed top honours eight times and has managed 10 league medals with brothers Brodie and Jesse Foster taking home the award between 2009 and 2013.
Although the result will not make a difference to the Division 1 competition – due to Central being out of the finals race – it will still show a quality display of baseball.
Central will hope to finish of the season on a high, while Tigers will look to maintain its form as it stares down a strong finals campaign.
The heritage match will be a good chance to see some old faces out at Blue Lake Sports Park, along with the old uniforms and stories from the past.
The game will kick off at 3pm on Diamond 1.
