IT was a more drawn-out experience than most would have liked at the Newport Rams, but the young and exciting side has finally won promotion to Victorian baseball’s big league.
The Rams spent most of summer on top of the division 2 standings, but when they saw a two-game lead cut to one ahead of the final round, and a meeting with a Williamstown Wolves team that could have snatched the minor premiership, there were understandably a lot of nerves inside the camp.
“We had our backs up against it after the last couple of weeks,” Rams assistant coach Gavin Young told the Weekly.
“The boys all stuck together, backed each other up and played some good baseball.
“Williamstown threw everything they had, but the boys wanted it [promotion] that much.”
The Rams walked away with a 16-8 victory at KC White Reserve on a stinking hot Saturday.
The scoreline didn’t do justice to the ebbs and flows of a game full of tension.
Even when closer Matthew Lawman threw the final out, it didn’t hit the Rams straight away that they’ll be mixing it with Victoria’s elite next summer.
“It was a bit surreal,” Young said. “It didn’t sink in straight away.”
In a sign of the maturity of the team, the Rams’ celebrations were short and sharp.
They now have a premiership to win. Finals start tonight with the Rams meeting Mulgrave in a best-of-three semi-final series, while the Wolves will meet Fitzroy.
“They realised it’s only step one,” Young said of the Rams’ tempered celebrations.
“The guys are ready to have a go at taking out the whole thing now.”
Meanwhile, it is shaping as a massive weekend for Footscray, with two of their top sides in grand finals.
The Bulldogs will meet Springvale in the women’s division 2 grand final at KH Wearne Reserve on Saturday from 1pm, followed by a men’s division 3 grand final against Ormond-Glenhuntly on Sunday from 2pm at EE Gunn Reserve.
