Gauteng A takes baseball champs after decade-long drought
Fans enjoyed the 11 days of the tournament.
The Gauteng Province Baseball Council’s (GPBC) senior A team stunned its archrivals, Cape Town Baseball Federation (CTBF) A team, with a 12-6 defeat in the final match of the SA National Championships that took place at the Cardinals Baseball field (Boksburg Stadium) on April 11.
The GPBC finally ended a decade-long drought of no championship glory.
The Gauteng team settled for silverware when it lost 11-1 to the CTBF A team last year in the final match of the championships. This year, they changed the tide to become the champions of the prestigious baseball tournament.
Gauteng led the match 4-1 from the first quarter of the game when Aiden O’Connor pulled out good strikes.
Kieran Cree, a pitcher, eliminated two CTBF batsmen, and the GPBC continued where it left off, with Rowen Ebersohn and O’Connor producing phenomenal performances when they had to bat for the GBPC, increasing the score to 6-1. The home side still led the match.
Victor Ngoepe had his piece of the pie when he hit the speedy ball to increase the home side’s points and opened the gap wider, leading the match 7-1. CTF got a point when they batted, but it wasn’t enough because the GPBC kept increasing its points.
The final match ended with the GPBC winning 12-6 against the strong CTBF side.
The GPBC senior B side championed the B-division and was promoted to the A-division of the championships.
In the ladies’ division, two GPBC ladies teams logged heads – the U23s and the Diamonds.
They fought tooth and nail to win the division. However, the Diamonds proved too strong and won the match 6-4.
The ladies’ division players awarded for taking up the positions well were Nickolene Grobler – Gauteng Diamond (best starting pitcher), Riane Bosman – Gauteng U23 (best relief pitcher), Maria Cloetze – Gauteng U23 (best base), Maddie Pestana – Gauteng Diamond (second best base), Lindi Erasmus – CTBF ladies A team (third best base), Bianca de Lange – Gauteng Diamonds (best shortstop), Juanay Kleyhans – CTBF Ladies A team (best outfielder), Khensani Phalatsa – Gauteng U23 (second best outfielder), Alisha Kruger – Gauteng U23 (third best outfielder and Courtney Strauss – CTBF Ladies A team (best designated hitter).
Senior division A players awarded for being instrumental in their roles are Vince Peyser – Mandela Bay (best pitcher), Regan Panzenburger – Gauteng U23 (second best pitcher), Dayle Feldtman – CTBF A (best catcher), Rowan Ebersohn – Gauteng A (best base), Gary Bailey – Mandela Bay senior team (second best base), Nicholas Eagles-CTBF A (third best base), Jonathan Phillips – CTBF A (best shortstop), Jason Arendse – CTBF (best outfielder), Aiden O’Connor – Gauteng A (second best outfielder), Tyrone Milne – CTBF A (third best outfielder) and Keenan Clarke – CTBF( best designated hitter).
Players awarded in the B-division are Cliff Vinti – Zimbabwe (best pitcher), Nelson Mapika – Limpopo (best pitcher), Wesley Timm – South West Gauteng (best catcher), Ayanda Mthembu – South West Gauteng (best pitcher), Ryan Klebber – Gauteng B (second best base), Austine Mankga – Limpopo (third best base), Tanyaradzwa Hungwe – Zimbabwe (best shortstop), Hayden Sampson – Gauteng B (best outfielder), Matlawa Maene – Limpopo (second best outfielder), Emmanuel Moyo – Zimbabwe (third best outfielder) and Travis Hammond – Gauteng B (best designated hitter).
In the juniors, the Western Cape clinched the U12, U15 and U18 trophies, while Gauteng beat the U10s.
The Gauteng U15B girls beat Nelson Mandela Bay in their U15B final.
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