Talent and fight. The Adelaide University Baseball Club’s A-grade side, the Varsity Blues, took out a remarkable sixth Division 1 winter baseball premiership in a row with a pulsating, come-from-behind 13-10 grand final win over the Golden Grove Inters on Saturday 12 September.
Rising second-year player Nic Sandery came off the bench in the bottom of the seventh inning and crushed the game-winner – a three-run home run over centrefield – that put Varsity ahead by one run after they had lost the lead in the top half of the inning; star hitters Patrick Inglis and Mark Stephens then belted back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the eighth to extend the Varsity lead to three runs; and Stephens – winner of the team’s Most Valuable Player award – capped a stellar season by pitching two and two third scoreless innings at the death to seal the premiership. With the Inters two out in the ninth inning but with two runners on base and the potential tieing run at the plate, Stephens snaked a curveball past the swinging bat of the Golden Grove hitter and the ball disappeared into the safe glove of captain Kirby Smith with a puff of dust for the premiership-winning strikeout, sparking spirited celebrations amongst the Blues and their supporters.
The Varsity hitters combined for 19 hits and an amazing six home runs in the grand final and scored five runs in their last two innings, again showing a granite-hard collective will to come back and win the game after dropping behind late in the contest.
In an absorbing battle of attack and counter-attack, a number of other Varsity efforts should be recounted: Brendan Frears leading off the bottom of the first inning with a ringing single to leftfield and Jason Wellington then slamming a two-run home run over centrefield to spark and settle the Blues and give them an early lead after the Inters lead-off hitter had given the Golden Grove team a dream start with a home run to start the game; the raw power of Inglis and Stephens launching back-to-back home runs in the second inning as Varsity raced out to a 7-1 lead; Inglis firing his cannon from centrefield to nail an Inters runner charging home from second base for a run-saving, inning-ending out in the 3rd; leftfielder Wellington taking a leaf out of the same book to nail another runner at home for another run-saving out to end the 4th; second baseman Mark Stephens turning the pivot in a double play brilliantly, while taking a hard hit from the baserunner that flipped him over onto the infield grass; Mark Pengilly and Chris McGowan leading off the bottom of the 7th with consecutive base hits as an immediate reply to the Inters taking their two run lead, and setting the stage for Sandery’s dramatic, heroic blast; and the skipper, Kirby Smith, continually rallying, and focussing, his players and, with his extraordinary Midas touch, ringing the changes at pivotal times that again somehow resulted in Blues victory.
After dropping a game to the Bears in round three, Varsity then went on to win 15 straight over the rest of the season including the premiership decider. The Blues’ hitters amassed 26 home runs for the season in a ferocious, sustained display of power hitting.
Stephens was simply spectacular. He smashed the club single season record for home runs, pounding all opposition pitchers for 10 round-trippers, and 31 hits at an eye-popping .608 average and set a new single season mark for runs-batted-in with 32. He hit two home runs in a game on three occasions, including the grand final, and two in a single inning against KAOS mid-season. As ever, he was a class act in the field, primarily at second base, was the winning pitcher in the grand final on the back of his nerveless three innings in relief, and was a clear choice for the Most Valuable Player award.
Stephens shared the Alex Nugent Memorial batting trophy with young gun Patrick Inglis who also had a dazzling season, rapping out 33 hits (and 6 home runs) at .623, to beat the long-standing club records of Darren Miller (29 hits in 1994) and Brian Hiller (.600 average in 2001). The wildly talented centrefielder settled comfortably into the number three spot immediately in front of Stephens, giving the Blues a killer one-two punch in the heart of the line-up, and was electric on the basepaths where he stole 10 bases.
The redoubtable Kirby Smith, who again captained the side brilliantly, converted 127 chances without an error behind the plate to be a worthy winner of his fourth fielding award.
Josh Gulezow (7-0, 47 strikeouts, 3 saves, 2.94 ERA) again led the pitching staff and pitched well both as a starter and in relief and was ably supported by Jon Munro (3-1, 34 strikeouts).
Brendan Frears, in the lead-off spot, and Nic Sandery both relished the challenge of being given more responsibility to rap out more than 20 hits apiece and bat over .400 for the season and Mark Pengilly was an excellent pick-up for the team, adding a strong bat and cool head in the middle of the line-up.
Daniel Broadbridge became the fourth player since the club re-formed in 1986 to reach 200 A-grade hits, after club stalwarts Darren Miller, Chris McGowan and Michael Forster.
Ever-dependable utility Jason Wellington played his 150th A-grade game, Josh Guelzow notched up his 100th game and Mark Stephens and John Smith both passed 50 games during the season.