Taking on Bears Red today, it was a grand final that had us on the edge of our seats from start to finish. It started out as a pitchers’ dual, with both starters throwing heat. Archer found his mark, allowing just 1 run in the first inning. Daniel led us off with a walk and 2 stolen bases. Chase got on base as well, but we ended up stranding runners at 2nd and 3rd. End of the 1st inning, down 1-0. Archer pitched well again in the second inning, allowing just 2 runs and making a great play to Daniel at 1st base. Iorwerth kept the runners quiet with solid catching behind the plate. Bears’ pitcher threw a blinder of a second inning, not allowing us to get a base runner aboard. End of the 2nd inning, down 3-0. Blake came on to pitch the third, and after three quick Ks, we were back up to bat. It was time to rally. Cameron, Dalton and Xavier patiently drew walks. Then Daniel and Iorwerth did the same to plate 2 runs. End of the third inning, down 3-2. Some excellent Bears hitting in the fourth, including 2 triples, gave the Bears a 5 run lead, heading into the bottom of the final inning. Chase got us off to a great start with a hit. Noah and Oscar did the same. Blake drew a walk. With the tying run at the plate, Bears’ pitcher found his radar to get the final outs. We fell just 2 runs short of sending the game to extra innings. It would have been a fitting way to end a closely fought season, but wasn’t to be. In the end, we went down 7-5 in what was a truly entertaining match. Congratulations to Bears Red, for a great season and fun game today. We look forward to many more close grand finals in the coming years! Thanks to all the supporters for coming out today. Thanks also to all the parents for helping out through the season. And a big congratulations to the kids - their skills have developed through the season, but most importantly they’ve developed a great camaraderie. We’ll be back next year for another shot at the title! Coach Geoff