WENTY and JC’s Legends could be major additions to next year’s A Division at the Tamworth Baseball Association’s June Baseball Carnival after they won their respective B and C Divisions yesterday.
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Wenty had a mercy rule 15-5 win over The Beers in their B Division Final on Chris Parsons Diamond at the Field of Dreams while Ryan Handsaker pitched JC’s Legends into a thrilling 6-5 win over Muppets in their C Division Final at Riverside.
In the D Division, Thundercocks beat Tamworth Cougars 14-4 while Col’s Old Boys had a 6-5 win over Sutherland Brewers in the E Division Final to complete a 2014 carnival highlighted by Interport Masters’ third successive win in A Division when 5-1 winners over Misfits.
While Misfits had misgivings about being elevated to A Division after last year’s B Division final win, Wenty has no worries about playing in A Division.
Neil Saggus is the manager of the Wenty team and with his son-in-law and coach, Justin Norman, hopes to rekindle some of the magic of yesteryear for a Wenty ball club which dominated in early carnivals.
A win in the very first carnival (1972) was followed by five more in the following 14 years including three straight from 1984.
Saggus played in the 1978, 1984-85-86 victories.
“It’s left a bit of a legacy for us,” Saggus said.
“This has been a very good carnival for us though – beautiful, glorious weather.
“We’ve been building and building the last few years and maybe we will play A Grade next year.
“We’ve got a fairly young side with a few old heads.
Justin (his son-in-law) is trying to build a side and getting a few of his mates to play.
“We’ll have the nucleus of a good side.
“But this carnival is not only about having fun, having a few beers with some old mates but also playing good baseball.
“Tamworth puts on a great carnival every year and made it very enjoyable for the past 40 years for me.
“Both my daughters play up here – the oldest is 29 and she’s been coming since she was born.”
Kurt Eden was the winning pitcher for Wenty in a side where everyone hit.
“All the guys batted well, just hit real well,” Saggus said. “Bopper, Brad Sturgeon was one.
“But everyone contributed to get to the final.
“Just to make it is great.
“The competition is always tough up here.
“This year it was just a massive team effort.”
C Division was a magical result for memorial team, JC’s Legends.
A 6-5 win over Muppets was spearheaded by Ryan Handsaker’s brilliant pitching effort.
“Ryan pitched real well,” manager Dave King said.
“Then he hit the winning runner home.
“The rest of the boys spread it around all weekend.
“Paul McPhail relieved him and held them out for the final inning.
“It was a classic finish for us.”
Co-founder Steve Davison thought it a remarkable weekend in memory of their great mate, the late John Carter.
“It’s the sort of finish JC would have loved,” he said.
“All the hard work by everyone and everyone contributing.
“We might apply for A or B grade next year.”