PRIDE will go on the line tonight as the Mount Gambier and District Baseball League grand finals kick off at Blue Lake Sports Park.
Minor premiers Tigers will face challengers South Indians in a three-match series to decide the Division 1 title for the 2018/19 season.
The first game of the Division 1 series will be played on Friday night on diamond one, with the second and third – if required – on Saturday afternoon.
South Indians come off the back of a preliminary final victory against Federal, while Tigers progressed straight into the final after finishing the minor-round season on top of the ladder.
The second-placed South Indians carry winning momentum into the decider with a 10-run victory the last time the two sides met to go with its impressive win last week.
However, Tigers have been the class of the field for the majority of the season and it will require a substantial effort for the side to be beaten.
Both sides’ depth of pitching talent will be pivotal to the final series result.
Tyler Horrigan, Brodie Foster and Karl Ransom were mainly seen on the mound for Tigers this season and expect Foster to start with ball in hand for game one, but all three have the ability to shut the opposition batters down.
South’s Dean Hamilton pitched for almost the entire game against Federal last Saturday and did an impressive job to restrict the Demons to just five safe hits and runs.
The Indians also have Ryan Placucci, Ben Nash and Bruce Morale in their pitching disposal.
Morale closed out the game on the mound, which might be a more familiar scene as the series goes on, but it is with bat in hand where he inflicts the most damage.
He scored the most runs batted in during the minor-round season and was named the designated hitter for the league’s team of the year.
Hamilton, Morale, Ryan Placucci, Steve Isacsson and Travis Lockwood have all been timing the ball sweetly and have produced plenty of runs.
Unlike on the mound, Tigers have the edge in batting depth with Foster, Horrigan, Brayden Morton, Jesse Foster, Alex Harkness, Brandon Telford and Karl Ransom all able to pack a punch.
With the two sides so evenly matched in both facets of the game, a tight series is expected which could easily go into a third game and be a survival of the fittest to decide the Division 1 title.
Grand final draws
Division 1: Tigers v South Indians, Game 1, Friday 8pm (Diamond 1); Game 2 – Saturday 4.30pm (Diamond 1); Game 3 – Saturday 8pm, if required (Diamond 1).
Division 2: Central v Millicent, Saturday 2.15pm (Diamond 1).
Division 3: Millicent v Central, Saturday 12pm (Diamond 1).
Under 15: Central v Federal, Friday 6pm (Diamond 1).
Under 13 Gold: Central Magpies v South Indians, Saturday 2pm (Diamond 5).
Under 13 Blue: Grand final, Tigers Black v Millicent, Saturday 12pm (Diamond 5); Consolation final, Naracoorte/Federal v Central 1pm (Diamond 4).
