Rangers forced into must-win situations in hunt for three GBL grand final spots

The Rangers will be forced to fight to get all three teams into the GBL playoffs after a challenging first weekend of finals.

Brian Stubbs continues on to third base for Toowoomba Rangers. Picture: Kevin Farmer

BASEBALL: A testing weekend for the Toowoomba Rangers isn’t the end of the road just yet.

Both the A and B-grade sides suffered defeats in their grand final qualifiers at the weekend, while C-grade made its way through to the decider.

On the road to Wests, a hot start from the visitors saw Toowoomba take a 2-1 lead through one innings.

Brent Vanerneut and Luke Ardill were able to capitalise on an error to open the scoring.

Three runs to Wests in the third opened the game up, before another in the fourth opened up an unassailable lead.

Mick Locke’s run in the sixth innings gave the Rangers a feint hope of a comeback, however they ultimately fell 5-3.

They will now take on the Carina Redsox on Sunday to get their shot at redemption in the grand final against Wests.

The B-grade Rangers faced a similar fate against Mt Gravatt at Commonwealth Oval, suffering a 9-6 defeat at the hands of the Eagles.

It sets up another shot at the grand final when they host the All Stars in a home double header.

C-grade will enjoy the chance for a weekend off, solidifying their grand final spot courtesy of a 7-4 defeat of Redlands.

Originally published as Rangers forced into must-win situations in hunt for three GBL grand final spots