Tara Murray
Three seasons of hard work have paid off for the Newport Rams in the Baseball Victoria summer league division 2 women’s competition.
The Rams have put in a lot of work behind the scenes as it aimed to push into the division 1 competition.
After going to close last season, the Rams went one better with a comprehensive display in the grand final.
Facing minor premiers, Springvale Lions, the Rams won 13-1 to seal the title and promotion.
Rams coach Dean Anglin was thrilled with the result.
“It is good, mission accomplished,” he said.
“It was what we were aiming for. We wanted to go up into division 1 as it’s where we need to be.
“Most of the last three years has been about getting a team capable of playing division 1 and getting the quality to go up there.
“This is three years of hard work.”
Anglin said the grand final played out exactly how they thought it would. He said it took the pressure off him on the side lines as he watched the game.
“It was the top two teams,” he said.
“The first three innings were really tight, but we felt like our batters were starting to get on top.
“We expected that our batters would be too strong. We got six runs in the fourth and six runs in the fifth to take control of the game.
“We expected everything to click into gear and we got the result that we expected.”
Anglin said Shiori Hoshino was really strong pitching for her five innings, while Morgan Doty had another good performance with the bat.
He said overall they had played some really good team baseball throughout the season and in the finals.
Now with a side in division 1, Anglin said they were keen to further develop their program.
“Now we can set up properly, having a division 1 team, a division 2 team and a division 3 team that is good for next year.
“We’ll have to increase the numbers from 29 to 40 to comfortably field three teams but we are heading on the right track.
“Hopefully the majority of the girls from this year return and we can build on that.”
It was a big weekend for the Rams, with three of their men’s sides playing in grand finals.
Their second, third and fourth teams all won premierships, along with their under-12s to cap off great weekend for the club.
The club is hoping to add one more premiership to the cabinet next weekend.
The club’s division 2 men’s side won through to the grand final on Sunday, beating Cheltenham Rustlers in a best-of-three semi final series.
The Rams won game three on Sunday, 4-2.
The Rams now face the local rival Williamstown Wolves in the grand final series.
