A FIFTH consecutive Sunraysia Baseball League premiership for Wanderers is a just reward for sustained effort, according to their coach.
Leading the best-of-three game series against Saints 1-0 heading into Saturday, Wanderers only had to win one more contest while their opponents would have to capture two wins in two days.
Respective pitchers Anthony Carroll and Riley Clifford were in fine form early, with neither side able to make a dent on the scoreboard after five innings.
That changed at the bottom of the sixth however as Carroll, the finals MVP, nailed a hit-off home run to open the scoring, with two more players making it home to give the series leaders a 3-0 advantage.
The next innings broke the game open as three separate players, Jackson Malycha, Braydn Douglas and Logan Baldock, all hit homers during a five-run innings.
Saints would add three runs of their own but Wanderers were able to hold firm to secure the series victory with an 8-3 win.
Anthony Carroll was named finals MVP after pitching 13 no score innings, but coach Nick Carroll said it was an excellent all-round performance from the whole squad to secure the result.
“Everyone contributed when they needed to, the whole squad performed really well across both games,” he said.
“Full credit to Saints for being back in the grand final after a few years out and we’re looking forward to seeing them progress and, hopefully, we might both be back here again next year.
“We’ve been on top all year so it was nice for the guys to get that reward for the effort they put in.
“That’s five premierships in a row for us now after a long drought before then, so we’re pleased we’ve been able to play consistently over a few years now.
“We’ve developed a good core of players who are still pretty young, it’s just a good reward for consistent effort.
Wanderers were involved in a grand final in every grade on Saturday, however Hawks delivered double delight in claiming two premiership shields.
The boys in blue and gold took home the B Grade title 4-3, while C Grade won convincingly 14-7.
