All the action from the final day of the Open Men’s and Women’s State Championships at Casey.

By Giacomo Bruno

Men’s Cup

Dandenong have taken out the Men’s Cup final 3-1 over GEMSA to claim their third consecutive Open State Championship crown. Both teams won all their games in day two to book their spots in the final.

Dandenong’s Sam Seach’s inside the park homerun set the tone for the game, teammates James Brownlow and Jon Hudson also put in standout performances, as Steve Dawson also contributed with an RBI single.

Missing out on the Grand Final by percentage, Frankston finished the tournament with three wins with solid performances on day two beating Casey 17-0 and Werribee 10-6. Geelong/NDSA also finished with three wins, Werribee with one victory, while Casey went winless over the two days.

Women’s Cup

Waverley was 8-1 victors over Casey in the Women’s Cup final to also secure their third consecutive Open State title.

Waverley went undefeated in all five of their games, Casey only lost once to book their Grand Final place.

The game would start close early, though Waverley proceeded to run off with the game. Tania Puketapu’s strong pitching held Casey to a single run and Amelia Mercuri’s inside-the-park home run was one of many highlights in a strong Waverley outing.

Dandenong finished in third-place recording one win over the two days by defeating Frankston/Knox 3-2. Frankston/Knox unfortunately finished the tournament winless, defeated in all their games in day two.

Women’s Plate

Northern District took out the Women’s Plate final with a convincing 10-3 victory over Melbourne. Both teams won three out of their four games to book their spots in the final.

Northern jumped out to a three-run lead in the first inning, before Melbourne fought back to tie the game by end of the fourth inning after a big swing from Jayne Perry was hit to the fence – to turn the momentum in Melbourne’s favour.

Northern then changed tactics to a short game to swing the momentum back their way in the sixth inning – reclaiming the lead and shutting Melbourne out – to bat away with the game.

Other associations GEMSA, Geelong and Werribee finished the tournament with a single win a piece. Werribee who was without a win in day one, would finish day two in style with an 11-7 victory over eventual champions Northern District.

It was a great weekend of softball action from Casey. Softball Victoria thanks Casey, our incredible volunteers, umpires, teams and spectators for an outstanding two days of support in trying weather conditions.

To check out the full results from the Open State Championships, follow the links below:

• Women’s Cup Results link
• Women’s Plate Results link
• Men’s Cup Results link

Images: Change of Focus Photography