It’s Back to Back for the Green and Black.
By Reece Carter.
For the second year running, the St Patrick’s under 17-1’s Baseball side took out the Cronulla Sutherland Junior Baseball Premiership with a 10-6 victory over the Giants last weekend. Having claimed the Minor Premiership after the regular season, the hard-fought win followed a hotly contested final series, involving thrills, spills and midweek drills for the St Patrick’s side.
It had become ‘Déjà vu’.
In what was dubbed as the Grand Final Replay from the previous year, the side proved their worth once again and Coach Dale Lincoln could not have been happier with the side’s efforts.
“Claiming back-to-back premierships and being the minor premiers, we couldn’t be happier,” Lincoln said after the game. It’s always a good tough game against the Giants and we hate coming up against them in a way, but it’s the rivalry that makes this game between both sides so good and entertaining.”
“They are all a great bunch of guys and most of them leave juniors now so it was the best possible way for us to finish!”
There were more than a few nerves in the players before the game, but as soon as the words ‘play ball’ echoed across the plate, every player switched on. With St Patrick’s Day nearing, one could forgive those decked out in green and wanting to open the Guinness two days too early at the ‘Tom Evans’ Baseball Fields, Bonnet Bay.
The rivalry between both sides in previous years has been strong and intense, and nothing had changed this time around. St Patrick’s were up 3-0 in the first innings, but it wasn’t long before the Giants grabbed the lead after scoring 4 runs with their first at bat.
By the end of the second innings it was a tied ball game at four all and no team was favoured. In the third innings of the game however, St Patrick’s piled on another three runs, the highlight a two-run double to catcher Bryce Lincoln.
The fuse had been lit.
From that point, there was no turning back as St Pat’s continued their hitting spree with all players snaring a hit or two and eventual ‘Man of the Match’ Lincoln scoring another double and run to bring the score to 10-4 with a job at hand for the opposition.
In the true spirit of the Giants Baseball Club though, the side didn’t go down without a fight.
They scored 2 consecutive runs to bring the score back to 10-6 and keep spectators gnawing at fingernails, but NSW Representative Pitcher Liam O’Dowd produced an outstanding performance on the mound to keep the opposition quiet as the Giants effort just wasn’t big enough to outclass the far superior St Patrick’s team on the day.
Photo: St Pats Grand Final Premiers
The Giants were gallant in defeat and Coach Wayne Cooper still had room for some humour after the game.
“I couldn’t be prouder of this bunch of kids, they came back from three down, tried their hardest, battled against a few problems out there today but all put in a hundred percent, I’m real proud of them,” Cooper said
“It’s a pleasure to play a bunch of guys that play the way St Pat’s do. We’ve had almost ten years of games against each other, and the most tragic thing of all this is that when we started I was the tallest one but now I’m the shortest.”
In other CSJBA Grand Finals, the St Patrick’s under 12-1’s narrowly lost a close game, going down 6-4 to the Giants.
However, the under 14-1’s Grand Final was taken out by St Patrick’s against Cronulla, where a fine batting display earned the side an 11-1 victory. The 14-3’s St Patrick’s side also claimed the Premiership, triumphant over the Comets with a 16-7 win.
President Ken O’Dowd was delighted with the Clubs overall performance and was in no doubt as to who was the top club in the CSJBA.
“The 14/3's win started the Grand Final day off fantastically for our club and it was the second year in a row we’ve had Grand Finalists all in the top grades,” O’Dowd said.
“The 12-1's were Minor Premiers, the 14-1's coming from 4th place to win the premiership and also the big one to the 17/'s, so I can now claim that we are the premier Club in the Shire and my thanks goes to all the Coaches and Managers of all sides this year.”
Young guns star for Sutherland in Premier Youth League
Sutherland Sharks youngest teams are showing the way in soccer’s Premier Youth League competitions. The under 13s continued their winning form with a 4-1 win over Sydney Olympic to remain the only undefeated team in the competition.
The under 14s are also undefeated after their 3-2 win over Sydney Olympic last weekend. However, the table has the team in third spot by virtue of Blacktown having played 5 games for 5 wins and Marconi having 4 wins but a better goal difference.
Results of all round 4 games between Sutherland Sharks and Sydney Olympic were:
Under 13: Sutherland won 4-1
Under 14: Sutherland won 3-2
Under 15: Sutherland lost 1 nil
Under 16: Sutherland lost 1 nil
Under 18: Sutherland lost 2 nil
Shark Island Swim Challenge
For provisional results of 2008 Cronulla Shark Island swim challenge and Cronulla Beach Fun Swim held last Sunday go to www.sharkislandswim.com.au
Action Photos from Kings v Tigers NBL Grand Final
Sportslive Contributors Noel Rowsell and Marion McNeill (www.photoexcellence.com.au ) took some great photos at the final game which Sydney Kings lost narrowly to lose the grand final series 3-2.
 
Some of these photos are shown here. For more photos go to: www.parramatta.sportslive.com.au/index.pl?page=2815
Sports grants available
Cathy Gorman-Brown of NSW Sport and Recreation is encouraging sporting clubs and associations to apply for Woolworths Community Sport Grants. The company is offering grants of $5,000 for community sport groups to help primary school aged children become more active and live healthier lives - please see link below for details:
http://www.freshfoodkids.com.au/
More Stories?
For more local sports stories click on Sutherland on www.sportslive.com.au
If you want publicity for your sport please contact the Sportslive Director at YourOnlineCommunity office on 4254 0200 or to contact via email Click here-> | 
