Trevor Jackson
BLUE Lake Sports Park was the venue for a classic Division 1 baseball grand final series which kept spectators on the edge of their seats in both games over the weekend.
The best-of-three series was set down between Centrals and Tigers on Friday and Saturday nights, but needed just two games to decide the outcome.
Centrals claimed the win in both games, but certainly did not have it all their own way, as the 4-3 and 10-9 scorelines suggest.
Centrals’ pitcher Dylan Chuck described the feeling after the win quite simply.
“It was unreal,” he said.
“I can’t really remember five minutes after … it was a bit of a blur.”
The win was made even sweeter due to a sense of atonement from last year’s season decider.
As was the case this season, Centrals had gone through the minor rounds undefeated, but last year they fell at the final hurdle, defeated by Tigers in a disappointing result.
With that result still hanging over their heads, the Centrals boys rallied and looked to turn the tables.
“We were pretty cut up last year,” Chuck said.
“Undefeated for two-and-a-half years then losing two games in a row … we had that in the back of our minds coming into this year and being undefeated again.
“We just scraped through in both games by one run.”
The final result this season could well have gone either way, with the first game going right down to the wire.
The first game went down to Centrals’ last out.
Heading into the penultimate innings Centrals trailed 3-0, but managed to find three runs to tie the game up.
The final innings saw the game at 3-all and Centrals with two out in a tense situation.
Centrals managed to find a run for the win and headed to game two with a huge advantage.
However, Tigers were simply not done and took the game right up to the eventual champions in the second game on Saturday night.
“Both games we were down early but we scored one in the last on Friday night,” Chuck said.
“The second game we were down by two, up by a few, down by a few – it was a tug-of-war the whole game.
“You can’t beat a grand final when it’s close.”
In another twist for both sides, a pitch count had been brought into the league this season, with a limit of 125 pitches for a player.
Chuck said both sides used up that count on Friday night, leaving the job for other players in the decider.
That showed in the difference to the scores in each game, with Friday night’s showdown a real pitchers’ game, with runs scored on errors.
At the end of the weekend Chuck said one thing really stood out to him.
“Alex Ridding came on to pitch the last innings in the first game,” he said.
“He only had to pitch one out and struck the guy out.
“In the second game he came on and pitched the last innings and got three up, three down to finish that game as well.
“He only had to pitch against four batters but they were four pretty important batters.
“To come on in both games to finish of, as a young kid – it is not the easiest job to come in, especially in that situation.
“He did well.”
Chuck was also full of praise for Jeanette Burner MVP, Nathan Meinke.
“He batted real well and in the outfield, anything hit near him is always going to be out,” he said.
“He had a couple of good hits in good parts of the game to score.
“He was a very worthy winner.”
The day did not just belong to the Division 1 side.
As a club Centrals contested five grand finals, for five wins, something which has not been achieved for many years.
“That doesn’t happen often,” Chuck said.
“I was talking to Sid (Hosking) about it and I think it was 1989 since all the teams in the grand finals won.
“We have a habit of getting a lot of teams into grand finals but losing a lot.”
Of course that all changed on the weekend and Chuck said it created a good vibe around the club.
“We had presentations Sunday and the whole club was up and about,” he said.
“It was a good place to be.”
