The boys where keyed for a big day. The Marlins 2nd Grade side have not lost a game to Blacktown and today was not the day to let that record slip. There where some quiet discussions about last years game against the Workers on this same diamond and how we went about business that day. It was a different team that would take the park today but a win was still the goal.

After a quiet 1st innings and 1 out in the top of the 2nd Mason Curtis dug into the batters box. He stared out to the mound and saw the towering hulk of the Blacktown pitcher glaring back at him. The first pitch fastball came screaming towards the plate. The pitcher almost put his neck out as he snapped his head back to see the ball screaming out of the park and over the left field fence. 1-0 to Marlins.

The Workers responded in the bottom of the 2nd innings and leveled the scores at 1-1. Another run for the Marlins in the 3rd followed by another in the 5th and we led 3-1. Although up by 2 runs going into the 7th innings the game was still tense. A sharply turned double play by Blacktown saw us with 2 quick outs and it looked like another quick innings. Craig Anderson hit a single and stood at 1st base when Geoff Brotherton came to bat. With an 0-1 count the pitcher threw a pie. Brotho teed off on it and another Wilson left the park over the left field fence. Consecutive hits to Steve Camm, Mason Curtis, and Andrew Bridekirk followed and Blacktown where forced to go to the bullpen. The score was 6-1 to the Marlins when the innings was done.

Blacktown made 5 fielding errors during the game and 4 of those occured in the 8th innings. We sent 11 batters to the plate in the 8th and scored 6 runs. The wind was knocked from the Workers sails. In the bottom of the 8th we closed out the game with a sharp 1-6-3 double play and secured a spot in the Grand Final with a 12-1 Mercy Rule win.

Brendon Lower started the game for us again and did another great job on the mound. Retiring the batters in order in the 4th and 5th stopped them gaining any momentum in the crucial middle innings. Tex pitched 6 complete innings for 3 hits, 5 Ks, 4 walks and 1 earned run. Geoff Brotherton pitched 2 innings for 1 hit and 1 K.

Outstanding with the bat was Mark Grothen who had 4 hits on the day. Mason Curtis continued his form run with 3 hits (1HR). 3 hits where also recorded by Michael Campbell and Adam Howe. 3 RBIs for Geoff Brotherton off 1 Home Run and a Sacrifice Fly. Hits where recorded all down the line-up on a day when the Marlins did what they do best - hit the ball.