BASEBALL
The Morwell Cougars hosted the Under 16 State Winter Baseball Championships at the weekend and defied the wet and windy conditions to pull off a successful meet at the Toners Lane complex in Morwell.
Diamond Valley was crowned champions after a win in the decider over Ringwood and pitcher Nathan Smith played a starring role in helping his side over the line.
Day one went off without a hitch on Saturday with the first morning games between City West and Dandenong and Diamond Valley and Latrobe Valley kicking off proceedings.
As heavy rain set in Geelong managed to clinch a win over hosts Latrobe Valley and Ringwood edged out Dandenong before further play was called off.
Day two went ahead as scheduled, this time under some welcome sunshine, and Dandenong scored a win over host team Latrobe Valley to advance to the semi-final.
Geelong defeated City West and went on to play Ringwood before two hard-fought semi-finals.
Ringwood beat Geelong in a game that featured plenty of power hitting while Diamond Valley eventually edged out Dandenong in extra innings with some clutch base running on a wild throw.
Due to the points differential, the grand final was played with Diamond Valley as the home team and Ringwood as the away.
Latrobe City mayor Darrell White was on hand to present the winning trophy to Diamond Valley.
The Under 18 Championships will be held this weekend on Saturday and Sunday from 9am at Toners Lane, Morwell.
