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13 Dec, 2010 12:00 AM
The Redlands Softball based Victoria Point Sharks A-Grade Men’s Fastpitch team played well but missed out a finals position by a whisker against fierce competition at the recent Canberra Skins Softball Tournament played at the Hawker International Softball Complex.
The 10-team competition was one of the strongest tournaments in Australia’s history with not only a number of the world’s best hitters and pitchers present but also the Argentinean national team battling it out.
With their standard team bolstered by pick-up pitchers Andrew Blackshaw, fresh from pitching in the United States and Indonesia, and Aaron Clarke, along with utility Luke Van de Griendt, the Sharks started the tournament strongly on the Friday morning with a 4-2 win versus the New South Wales based Raptors.
The Sharks then beat the Mounties 8-4, but the Skins format resulted in only the top two money winners going through to the grand final.
The Sharks lost a number of valuable innings that may have ultimately cost them a finals birth.
They then went on to beat the Western Australia based Monarchs 3-nil.
Then, up against hometown favourites the Upstarts, Aaron Clarke stepped up to the plate and kept the star studded batting line-up guessing until they scored a solitary run following a steal to third to secure the tightest of victories.
Unfortunately, the next game against the struggling Melbourne on Saturday afternoon was rained out with the total prize pool being controversially evenly split between the two teams.
In their last game, Sharks rattled Mariners early with Jason Nathan motoring home to just miss the tag after Julian Jemmott hit a safe hit to centre-right field.
But the Mariners answered this call with a two out three run home run in the fourth to secure a place in the grand final. Eventual winners were Upstarts.
Local baseball fans are now looking forward to the Redlands Softball Association hosting the 2011 Men’s Nationals as they battle it out for the John Reid Shield at Hilliards Park, Ormiston February 15-19.