Not quite "nightmare revisited" for NSW tonight because the game did not have nearly so much on the line, but we can't imagine that Patriots fans would have been expecting a repeat of their 2003 semi-final loss to the "cane toads" from north of their border?

In the best traditions of rugby league State-of-Origin the maroons simply love to upset the "cockroaches"!!

Back to the baseball... one thing in baseball that will probably kill you quicker than a couple of errors is too many walks... and then when you throw in a few wild pitches, you'll most likely get the kind of upset result that we had tonight cancelling out the fact that NSW out-hit the Rams 10-6!!

To be brutally honest, and not to disparage those fellows who pitched for the Patriots tonight, Queensland had the luxury of facing what could be described as a "second unit" from the NSW bullpen, courtesy of the fact that NSW already had two wins under their belts for the tournament and they could afford to quarantine some arms.

Aside from the impressive David Thorne, who is more accustomed to starting, 19 year-olds Fletcher and Thompson lack 'big league' experience, even though Fletcher was very good last year and Thompson is making progress with the Anaheim Angels.
Young professional Scott McAdam was not able to repeat his class display from opening night.
Even 22yo Thorne struggled tonight when he had to enter the game early against a team that had already grabbed the momentum.
He maintained his high strikeouts to innings ratio, but he uncharacteristically walked three.
Starter Justin Fletcher gave up only one hit, but he walked five to set a losing tone for the New South Wales team.

For the Rams, it was a typically scrappy "committee" effort that got the pitching job done for them tonight, much like a few of their games in 2003!
Former professional Matt Gahan gave them five-plus innings and he somehow managed to minimise the damage that should have been done by eight hits against his name.
Little known Rod Wodson pitched a tidy blank innings, then 2000 star Brett Baker turned back the clock by striking out two of the five batters he faced.
It looked for a moment that Minnesota's Tristan Crawford might allow NSW a crack in the door when he put on base two late runs, but then it was "Bevis time" as a reminder of Blacktown 2003!
After starting with a nervy bases-loaded balk, P.J polished off the last three Patriots' hitters to quell any thoughts of a home-stand rally.
He's back!!?

Cometh the hour, cometh the man... after showing signs of breaking out in previous games, star hitter Brett Roneberg was a key for the Rams offence tonight.
He set the tone with walks in his first two at bats, then drove home Queensland's advantage with two solid hits on a 2-3 night.

Chris Clem and Ben Foster were the "RBI guys" tonight with a pair each while Clem also enjoyed a two-hit game.

For NSW evergreen Gavin Fingleson continues to rack up the "knocks" with 3-5 tonight, while our Hall-of-Famer Brendan Kingman and rising star Jared Mangioni each had 2-4 efforts.
Glenn Williams supplied 2 RBI's.

'Big Dave' Nilsson was not required tonight as he enjoyed the victory in the role of "cheer leader"!

It was a HUGE win for Queensland who may have "slipped up" in the semi-final race but must now be strongly fancied to get through.
No real damage done for New South Wales, but they will be looking for revenge later on!