Berkeley Eagles ageing playing group show no signs of slowing down and are just a win away from celebrating the club's 50th anniversary with a sixth-straight Illawarra Baseball League title.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Moments after winning their fifth premiership with a 12-2 grand-final win over Dapto Chiefs, talk quickly turned to coming back in 2023 to chase title number six.
A year on and Berkeley Eagles player/coach Chad Blanch is ecstatic his team are just one-win away from making good on their promise.
"We made a commitment to each other and I'm glad we've made good on that and are only one win away from a sixth straight premiership," he said.
Berkeley will play the Wollongong Cardinals in the grand final on Saturday at Fred Finch Park.
The all-conquering Eagles are favourites but Blanch is expecting a tough contest against a Cards outfit which has enjoyed a strong finish to the regular season.
Wollongong have yet to beat Berkeley this season but they did manage to record two draws against the reigning champions.
"They haven't beat us this year but we had two draws against them early on when they probably weren't anywhere near their best," Blanch said.
"They had a real slow start to the year, though they surprised us a couple of times with draws but we finished the season strong with a couple of good wins over them. In saying that, they also also finished the season very strong.
"The Dapto Chiefs on paper with their full-strength side were expected to be our fiercest rivals but they had a very poor end to the year.
'Wollongong on the other hand has had everyone on deck and had their players ready to go and came from nowhere to make the grand final.
"They were sitting last probably two months ago and they finished the season really strong with some good pitching and they've got themselves into the grand final.
'It all comes down to a one-off nine-innings game. Regardless of who is the best team on paper and who is the best team coming into the day, you get a half decent crowd and a few nerves kick-in and you never know who's going to make the most of it."
Regardless if the Eagles win or not on Saturday, the ageing but talented group of players were expecting to play together for years to come.
"We're all getting a bit older now. We have one young kid in our team who is 17 and he's the only one that's under 30," Blanch said.
"In regards to age, we're definitely the oldest team in the comp but in regards to talent and stuff like the competitiveness, I don't think anyone comes close to us.
"It's hard to walk away while you are so competitive and still so very strong.
"These are conversations we will be having over the next few years but I do think with the way we've sort of gone about it this year, we had a pretty slow start to the year, but the way we finished so strong, I think it has reignited the flame for a lot of players to continue to keep going.
"We've had our 50th year celebration and seeing on that night how much the club meant to a lot of different people, it is sort of hard to walk away when you are still on top.
"I do think in the near future we keep the core side and we still continue to be strong for the next couple of years."
Our news app has had a makeover, making it faster and giving you access to even more great content.
Download The Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store and Google Play
Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
