Image courtesy of John Podina
Sydney University Baseball Club will feature in two Grand Finals in 2018. Both Second and Third Grade will take on Hawkesbury after defeating Petersham in their respective Preliminary Finals at the weekend.
In the Second Grade Preliminary Final, it was an exciting matchup between Petersham and Uni. In their previous two matches during the regular season, Petersham had come away victors, however the Cynics were not going down without a fight.
Despite trailing 6-4 at the top of the ninth, Uni went on a scoring spree, putting on five runs in the final innings. Leading 9-6 with Petersham at bat, they kept them to just one run to claim a 9-7 victory and advance to the Grand Final.
It was a fantastic team effort from Sydney Uni with a vast array of contributors throughout the match. Dean Aldridge was impressive at bat finishing with 2 Runs and 3 RBI’s, along with 3 PO’s. First baseman, Zac Horton was exceptional in the field with 12 PO’s along with a run and an RBI.
In Third Grade Sydney University have had the rub of the green during the regular season against Petersham and the qualifying final was no different. They put runs on the board early on, leading 8-0 after five innings. Petersham scored two runs in the top of the eighth however this was not enough to overtake Uni’s strong start. Sydney University qualified for the Grand Final with an 8-2 victory.
Jon Nicoll was again dominant on the mound, pitching 6+ shutout innings, while Anthony Palmer and Timothy Nelson each contributed 3 timely hits.
Both teams will take on Hawkesbury in the Grand Final this weekend.
Grand Final Details
Second Grade
Sydney University v Hawkesbury at 9am on Sunday 19th August at Petersham Oval
Third Grade
Sydney University v Hawkesbury at 1pm on Saturday 18th August at Petersham Oval
