Preston Baseballers claim third NMCA Jika Shield premiership in five seasons
A Daniel Castrucci masterclass delivered Preston Baseballers its third NMCA Jika Shield premiership in five seasons. Plus, we name our Jika, Quick and Kelly Shield Teams of the Year.
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Preston Baseballers is back on top of the North Metro mountain.
A dominant 142-run triumph over Keon Park at Fairfield Park on Sunday delivered the club its third NMCA Jika Shield premiership in five years.
Star all-rounder Daniel Castrucci ran rampant in a grand final masterclass, earning man-of-the-match honours after scoring 64 with the bat and taking 5-24 with the ball.
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE LEADER’S NMCA TEAMS OF THE YEAR
Winning the toss and batting first on Saturday, Baseballers’ captain Michael Sortino’s 87 set the foundation for an imposing 7-279.
Several Keon Park bats made starts the following day but couldn’t go on with it and the chase fell apart, after reaching 4-131 the Parkers collapsed spectacularly, losing 6-6 and the final five wickets for none.
Jacob Walker impressed with a quickfire 48 off 43 balls and 2-34, while Tate Volitakis smashed 44 not out from 27 deliveries and Rhys Smith snared 2-6.
President and First XI premiership player Ian Brincat said watching Sortino and Castrucci was sensational.
“To see Michael lead the way with the bat, knuckle down in getting to his 87, and that allowed Castrucci to come in hit 60 and Jake and Tate to hit late runs,” Brincat said.
“It was a perfectly constructed innings really and set us up to defend the next day.
“They came out with the right intent in their chase, faced alot of balls, but lost a couple of wickets at key times and when we got Jake McSwain out, we knew we were a good chance to win if we kept bowling well”
“Daniel got his runs at a good pace and then got the first wicket to get us rolling and the key wicket in Jake, so (grand final medal) was very well deserved.
“He came home with a wet sail this season, he always threatened to take the comp apart and dominated with the ball in the second half of the season. He’s also been so reliable with the bat and scored runs against the best bowlers when we needed him the most”
Preston turned the tables on Keon Park after losing the qualifying final a fortnight ago by three-wickets.
Walker (74), Volitakis (75) and Sortino (61) all made half-centuries in the washed out preliminary final against Old Ivanhoe Grammarians as Baseballers rediscovered their best form.
It was no surprise to Brincat the trio carried that form into the decider.
“Definitely great to be back on top, achieving this success is a culmination of everyone’s hard work at the club,” he said.
“Playing against a club like Keon Park and coming out on top is no mean feat, we have so much respect for them.
“Keon Park finished on top, they knocked us off a couple of times during the year and we didn’t bat well enough in that first final.
“In the prelim we were able to get our batting right, made 340, and that helped us in the grand final, so going the long way might have been a blessing in disguise.”
For Keon Park, captain Jordan McNamara led the way with the ball, claiming 3-93.
Jake McSwain top-scored with the bat, hitting 40 from 46 balls, before falling to Castrucci.
Like they did in 2020-21 and 2021-22, Brincat is confident the club can compete for back-to-back titles next season.
“I’m confident everyone will stick together, we all love the club and a lot of us have been there since we were kids,” he said.
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“The celebrations proved how much we appreciate being part of, what we think is, the best club in the world and want to continue building the club for the future.”
Meanwhile, Olympic Colts claimed the Quick Shield premiership with a 70-run win over Fiji Victorian at Ford Park.
Steffan Thomas scored 60 as Colts posted 194 all out, before rolling Fiji for just 124 behind Justin White’s man-of-the-match 6-32. Scott Toull snared 3-9.
Fiji Victorian claimed a consolation as it’s Second XI took out the Kelly Shield grand final with a nail-biting four-wicket first innings win over Northern Socials.
LEADER’S NMCA TEAMS OF THE YEAR
JIKA SHIELD
1. Blair Dawson (Camrea)
Runs: 766 Ave: 76.6
2. Abhinav Bhatia (Reservoir Cobras)
Runs: 490 Ave: 35 Wickets: 13 Ave: 33.69
3. Max McLean (Old Ivanhoe Grammarians)
Runs: 704 Ave: 78.22 Wickets: 34 Ave: 12.97
4. Aruna Dharmasena (Reservoir Cobras)
Runs: 386 Ave: 29.69
5. Jake McSwain (Keon Park)
Runs: 604 Ave: 50.33 Wickets: 13 Ave: 26.62
6. Daniel Castrucci (Preston Baseballers)
Runs: 447 Ave: 34.38 Wickets: 34 Ave: 14.44
7. Michael Ryan (Old Ivanhoe Grammarians) (WK)
Runs: 298 Ave: 42.57 Catches: 25
8. Juy Smith (Keon Park)
Wickets: 28 Ave: 13.39
9. Jordan McNamara (Keon Park)
Runs: 217 Ave: 21.7 Wickets: 32 Ave: 16.59
10. Abhishek Balarammahanti (Camrea)
Wickets: 25 Ave: 17.88
11. Ian Brincat (Preston Baseballers)
Wickets: 35 Ave: 12.97
12. Michael Sortino (Preston Baseballers)
Runs: 425 Ave: 28.33
QUICK SHIELD
1. Baurel Dmello (Fiji Victorian)
Runs: 504 Ave: 50.4 Wickets: 17 Ave: 14.24
2. Joel Kannegiesser (Cameron)
Runs: 444 Ave: 40.36
3. John Green (Olympic Colts)
Runs: 444 Ave: 49.33
4. Shiva Gouni (Bellfield)
Runs: 406 Ave: 33.83 Wickets: 14 Ave: 26.79
5. Jordan Venables (Strathewen)
Runs: 396 Ave: 44
6. Harish Kumar (Fiji Victorian) (WK)
Runs: 318 Ave: 35.33 Catches: 13 Stumpings: 6
7. Thrinesh Lingala (Bellfield)
Runs: 338 Ave: 37.56 Wickets: 32 Ave: 13.38
8. Jack Dickman (Cameron)
Wickets: 22 Ave: 18.82
9. Nikhil Sawant (Fiji Victorian)
Wickets: 27 Ave: 11.15
10. Jason Lynch (Olympic Colts)
Wickets: 25 Ave: 10.28
11. Ned Smith (Cameron)
Wickets: 23 Ave: 22.3
12. Steffan Thomas (Olympic Colts)
Runs: 344 Ave: 28.67 Wickets: 16 Ave: 18.19
KELLY SHIELD
1. Paul Silva (Northern Socials)
Runs: 478 Ave: 29.88 Wickets: 23 Ave: 13.26
2. Daniel Francis (Northern Socials)
Runs: 396 Ave: 28.29 Wickets: 21 Ave: 8.38
3. Rex Taylor (Northern Socials)
Runs: 601 Ave: 50.08
4. Brodie Burfitt (Northern Socials)
Runs: 546 Ave: 54.6 Wickets: 21 Ave: 17.38
5. Shaun Newitt (Northern Socials)
Runs: Ave: Wickets: 30 Ave: 11.03
6. Shane Baker (Keon Park)
Runs: 359 Ave: 32.64 Wickets: 15 Ave: 15.73
7. Cameron Axon (Keon Park) (WK)
Runs: 334 Ave: 23.86 Catches: 7 Stumpings: 4
8. Mandeepak Attri (West Preston)
Wickets: 21 Ave: 17.67
9. Balaji Viswanathan (Fiji Victorian)
Wickets: 24 Ave: 14.92
10. Chris Orton (Old Ivanhoe Grammarians)
Wickets: 30 Ave: 14.7
11. Wayne Duson (Northern Socials)
Wickets: 22 Ave: 8.41
12. Jason Claus (Old Ivanhoe Grammarians)
Runs: 317 Ave: 39.63 Wickets: 16 Ave: 20.81
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