Tara Murray
The Sunshine Eagles shook off their biggest test so far to win through to the Baseball Victoria summer league division 3 west women’s grand final.
The top side all season, the Eagles didn’t have it all their own way in their semi final against Fitzroy.
The Eagles managed to get the job done, winning 9-7.
Eagles co-coach Marc McKenner said the group was thrilled to win through to the decider.
“The girls were super excited about getting there,” he said.
“We have practice tomorrow and I can tell by the chat message and they’re really excited.
“For the ones in their first season, I don’t think they thought this was what they would achieve at the start of the season.”
McKenner said the semi final with Fitzroy was a really good match with both sides having some strong periods.
He said this was the closest game they had played in all season.
“We didn’t hit in the last innings as we were already in front, so we didn’t have to. We could have hit some more runs.
“Fitzroay’s pitcher was really good. She’s coming back from injury, but she’s probably the level of a division pitcher.
“The girls were still able to hit her, but they fielded really well.”
The Eagles were thrown a curveball in the lead up to the game with one of their experienced players ruled out of the match after being a close contact.
McKenner said they had to throw a few players around to fill her spot.
The Eagles now face North Western Titans black team on Saturday in the grand final.
The Titans had a big win against Essendon in their semi final.
McKenner said they were expecting a good contest.
“They had two teams in the league, which was good for them,” he said.
“They were one of the best two teams in the league all season.”
It’s been a big week for the Eagles with their state league under-16 team coached by McKenner winning their grand final.
