A3 Premiers

The 2016 A3 season will be one to remember for the players, family and friends who were all part of something special. During the regular season, the A3 team were able to remain undefeated (16 wins, 1 draw). With 206 runs scored and only 35 conceded, the season was built around a combination of great team hitting and solid defence.

Week one of the finals was against second placed Watsonia (the one draw for the season).  The boys played an outstanding game and never allowed the opposition to get back in the contest. The final score of 11-2 saw the team progress straight through to the grand final.

Watsonia bounced back after that loss and accounted for GMBC in the second week of the finals with a come from behind 7-6 win.

With Melbourne getting a severe drenching in the lead up to the grand final, the game was moved to North Bawlyn as part of a double header with the A4 grade. Starting a 3pm, there should have been enough time and daylight to get a result.

Watsonia on the back of their win a week earlier, come out firing an managed to score a couple of runs early, while Ringwood wasted a lot of chances and found themselves in the unusual position of being behind late in a game.

Despite some great defense from Watsonia, it was a lucky broken bat infield play that saw Ringwood score two runs and tie the game up at 4-4 with approximately 15 minutes left to play.

In a tense finish, both sides threatened to blow the game open, but neither team could score the necessary run. After 2 hours and 45 minutes, 10 innings couldn’t separate the teams and the umpires called time due to poor light.

Grand Final 2.0.

Realising the team had used a get out of jail card, the boys looked to atone for their poor start a week earlier.

After getting Watsonia out in order to start the game, the Ringwood hitters showed great discipline and through a combination of patient yet aggressive hitting they were able to score 3 runs in the first and two more in the second to effectively put the game out of reach of Watsonia.

Unlike the previous week where Michael Legg had half of the teams eight hits, everyone in the order contributed which meant that the team scored at least one run in each inning.

Watsonia scored their runs in the early innings, but Aaron Holloway with the help of great defence was able to settle down and keep them off the scoreboard for the reminder of the game.

Cameron Rogers had a day out with 4 hits and a sacrifice, while bookends in the order, Jonathon Rogers and Ben Hayes each scored multiple times.

To cap of a remarkable season, team manager Michael Legg was not only presented with the Premiers Shield but also the League’s A3 MVP Award.

Congratulations to Leggy and all the boys who played A3 this year. A Grand Final win was a fitting ending to an outstanding season.