By Trevor Jackson
TIGERS Baseball Club pulled off the upset of the Mount Gambier and District Baseball League season with a grand final victory over Central on Saturday at Blue Lake Sports Park.
Going into the best-of-three series, Central would have started as hot favourites after a stellar season.
However, Tigers had a strong belief in their system and players, which paid off with a clean-sweep 2-0 series victory.
Friday night saw a 4-1 win to take the upper hand, then all that was needed was a win Saturday afternoon to avoid a third game.
That came in the form of a 3-1 victory to seal the premiership.
The game was tight throughout, with little in the contest heading into the final innings.
Tigers simply went about their work and claimed the win with the final out.
For the victorious coach Karl Ransom it was a result his side felt they could win, despite losing to Central throughout the minor rounds of the season.
“Coming into it, we knew it was going to be a hell of a task,” he said.
“We just turned it on.
“It was two of the best games we have played all year.
“I can’t ask for much more than that.”
Ransom said Friday night’s victory was an important part of the equation to take the advantage into Saturday afternoon.
“We got a good jump Friday night, which helped,” he said.
“Obviously they were always going to come and they did but to have that buffer, and probably the bigger buffer we have had against them all season, that helped.
“To win 4-1 you sleep a lot better going into day two.”
The final game was tight, with Tigers unable to create a real winning margin.
It came down to the last inning in a fitting contest for a grand final.
Ransom said much of the contest came down to the pitchers for both sides.
“It was a real pitchers duel, with a couple of lucky hits,” he said.
“It was a clinical fielding performance from both sides, with players who you might not have seen all year standing up.”
Likewise, a couple of impressive catches, one which sealed the premiership, helped create some momentum as the game panned out.
But overall Ransom said it was the belief his side had which made the difference in the end.
“Coming into the whole series we had belief,”he said.
“We knew every win they had against us this year was an extra week closer to a loss.
“We had to believe it and we did believe.”
After the game Ransom said the result had not sunk in, with plenty of celebration from the players and supporters on the main diamond.
He said his players deserved the accolades for the effort and sacrifices they had made throughout the season and during the finals series.
“We made some sacrifices and blokes made sacrifices (Saturday),” Ransom said.
“They probably didn’t get game time but that is what it is all about.
“These boys deserve every minute of it.
“It has been four years since we won one, so it is nice to be back in the winner’s list.”
