Greedy Sunshine wanted everything in Baseball Victoria summer league division 2.
The Eagles had already sealed promotion to the top flight before claiming the premiership on Sunday in a fairytale end to the season.
“Everyone’s rapt – it’s been a great year,” Eagles coach Grant Weir said.
“Our goal was to get straight back up to division 1, which we did three weeks ago by finishing on top.
“After that, you want to win the whole thing because the club hasn’t won a premiership in quite a while – to win a premiership is fantastic.”
Sunshine claimed its first flag in 13 years, downing a gallant Upwey-Ferntree Gully 2-1 in a best-of-three grand final series.
As in the semi-finals, the Eagles had to come back from a game down to emerge victorious after wins in the Saturday and Sunday games.
“We used the Wednesday to lull them into a false sense of security,” Weir said with a chuckle.
“Without doubt, we were always going to be pretty threatening over the next two days after going down in game one.”
Sunshine drew blanks in the grand final series opener on Wednesday, losing 2-0 in a tense, low-scoring affair.
On Saturday, import Jared Van Hoon produced a stellar game two performance to get Sunshine back on level terms with a 4-3 win.
It all came down to Sunday, a third and deciding game back at the Melbourne Ballpark that would test the depth of both clubs.
Sunshine had boasted all summer about its deep roster, particularly in the pitching department, and how it would stand up to the rigours of three games in five days.
Having talked it up, the Eagles needed to deliver on the big stage – and that they did with a 6-2 victory.
Their pitchers – starter Griffin Weir, who gave up one run in five innings, and reliever Tayler Rowe, who gave up one run in four innings – backed up on three days’ rest and dragged the Eagles to the title.
The Eagles batters produced six runs on 12 hits, led by Van Hoon, who provided the highlight with a two-run homer, and Jamie Young, who smashed a double up against the fence.
After throwing 120 pitches a day earlier, third baseman Van Hoon had the homer, a double and a single, all after tweaking a hamstring on a dash to first base in the first inning.
“I said to the team, ‘That was the best game we’ve played all year,” coach Grant Weir said.
“It happened to be in the last game of the season, so it came at a good time.
