Just 12 months removed from winning the B Reserve Grand Final the 2nds have taken out the A Reserve Premiership in a fantastic team performance on Saturday!

Up against Melbourne Uni who came out of the bottom half of the top four eking past North Balwyn and then reached the final stealing GMBC’s thunder last week. John Britton took the start for the Dragons and was in control for the first two innings but after issuing a lead off walk in the 3rd followed by two hits to left field we fell behind 2-0 in the mid part of the game.

Our path to the big dance was more direct after winning the Preliminary Final also against GMBC and earning the week off and it took our potent top of the order a turn through to get their eye in. Three hole hitter Nick Barrington being the exception as he rapped out 3 hits from his 3 at bats! We hit straight back in the bottom of the third though as Centre fielder Ethan Johnston led off with a double to left and then scored two hitters later on Barrington’s second knock, a double to left. Barrington himself then was also driven in on a double to tie the game, this time by Short stop Todd Messinger.

Britton shut down the ‘students’ in the top of the 4th to keep the scores level. In the bottom half of the inning and after the first two Dragons were retired in order, the Melbourne Uni pitcher then issued two coach killers (two out walks) to our 8 and 9 hitters, left fielder Jamie Bastian and right fielder Lucas Banjac. Johnston then singled to load them up off the new pitcher. Catcher Sam Lethborg also walked bringing in Bastian which brought Barrington to the plate. Looking to stay red hot and drive some nails into the coffin he sat on a 1-1 pitch and drove it left field bringing in Banjac and Johnston making it 5-2.

Britton appeared to fatigue in the 5th as he approached 90 pitches, plunking the lead off and then baulking him to second. He then retired the next two hitters, one of which drove in a run before giving up a single to left.

Enter Sandman. In what turned out to be his swansong Rhys Otter sporting the famous #42 of his idol, closer Mariano Rivera, Otter got the chance to slam the gate shut over a inning and a bit. He promptly induced a weak pop up to first baseman Josh Lacey and get out of the inning.

In our last purposeful at bat of the year we went relatively quietly which bought Otter back to the bump. Otter, the winning pitcher from our dominating summer Men’s 1sts Division 2 Premiership in 2007, quickly got the lead off out before giving up a double to Women’s Australian player Abbey Kelly. The next hitter singled to Bastian in left but in a fantastic heads up play she came up throwing and gunned Kelly down trying for third for the second out! Chalk one up for the good guys, er girls! With the pressure off and no runners in scoring position Otter, using his years of knowledge and nerves of steel, settled in to face his final ever batter. The result was a strikeout looking, the save and another Premiership!

Led ably by Tom Burgoine throughout the year the 2nds have done incredibly well where not many thought that they would but now and forever they will be the 2023 MWBL A Reserve Premiers!