SUNSHINE has secured its return to Baseball Victoria’s summit.
The Eagles will be automatically promoted to first division next season after wrapping up the Summer League division 2 minor premiership on Saturday.
A 13th consecutive win saw the Eagles displace the Mulgrave Rebels, the side they beat 3-0 in a virtual promotion playoff at Barclay Reserve on Saturday, from the head of the ladder and move into the finals with the No.1 ranking.
Eagles player-coach Shaun Moore said it had been a stunning turnaround for his team from sitting mid-table at Christmas to being undefeated since the turn of the new year.
“We were in a bit of a pickle at six wins and five losses,” he said.
“To win 13 straight is fantastic. We kind of have that pressure off for the finals knowing we’ll be in division 1.”
The Eagles erupted into a rousing rendition of their club song on Saturday evening.
The bubbly was out and supporters mobbed the players.
Those scenes will not be going on for long with a big finals campaign beginning tomorrow night.
Moore is serious about the Eagles going up as champions and does not want his players falling into the trap of thinking their job is done.
“We’ve got to knuckle down and get it done,” he said.
“Keep doing what we’re doing and don’t change a thing. Don’t even think about that [promotion to division 1].”
Rory Meddick once again showed he is a cut above this level of competition. The ace consigned the Rebels to a rare duck egg in the runs column before showing his versatility in the batters box with two hits.
“He’s just the complete package,” Moore said. “Normally, come near finals, you DH your pitchers, but you can’t leave him out of the line-up because he’s swinging such a hot bat.
“He also threw the whole nine innings and will start again on Wednesday night, which is tough to do, back to back.”
The Eagles got the jump on the Rebels with a run in the third inning on a wild throw.
They consolidated with a further two in the fifth to take what would be an unassailable 3-0 lead.
The experienced Scott Moore played a vital part in the victory with two RBIs.
“They’re a good team,” Shaun Moore said of Mulgrave.
“Their Yank pitcher is hard to handle with a really good change-up and he strikes a few boys out.
“We took that away today and made sure we made a lot of contact.
“It was a good team effort today.”
Summer League
Division 2
Sunshine 3 Mulgrave 0
