Well our loyal subscribers, it always HAD TO BE didn't it?... with an oversupply of talent available for their second successive home standing Claxton Shield it would have been almost unthinkable for the NSW Patriots to miss the opportunity to win their first Claxton Shield since 1988... that is if you don't count the Sydney Blues' ABL Championship in 1996.

We might have a lot to say soon about the fact that the Claxton Shield has been anchored at Blacktown already for two years, and seemingly beyond, but we won't allow that to tarnish this particular victory that was well deserved!

CONGRATULATIONS to New South Wales who proved what most thought... that they had the deepest and most talented roster available for the event, with a very healthy blend of emerging professionals and highly experienced veterans.

In the end, as we suggested in our preview, it was the depth of their pitching talent that we thought would see them through the tournament and this was exactly how it panned out, even though Balfour and Stephens did not suit up!
The fact that they held the explosive Queensland team to just four hits and four runs on the big occasion was sufficient testimony.

This becomes even more apparent when we compare this with their opponents who needed to call upon a "committee" of six arms to get the 27 outs in the final... they just didn't have the luxury of posting some quick zeros on the board like the Patriots did for seven innings tonight!!

We thought that we had the starting pitching pretty well "sussed" for tonight, but we didn't reckon on Patriots' coach Shane Barclay coming up with a bit of a "shock tactic" by starting with 20yo star Ryan Rowland-Smith who has only one AMLB start to his credit and he has been seen almost exclusively as a relief pitcher previously.
However, Smith is quickly earning the reputation as having some of the nastiest stuff in the country... who better to put the potent Queensland hitters off-balance right from the start!?
Then after he had done his damage with a 3.1 innings shutout, it was time to turn it over to the more experienced Oxspring and Anderson to keep the shutters well and truly up for the Patriots.

Once again the Queensland opposition was not helped by errors and unearned runs tonight... although there were not too many walks, they did supply three errors, three hit batters and a wild pitch... as we have said before, we just can't be sure how much the pressure applied by the Patriots experienced offence has contributed to this?

Starter Matt Gahan was "on the ropes" from the moment that impressive Trent Oeltjen hammered a leadoff triple for the Patriots and he stuttered his way through his 4.2 innings for five hits and four runs.
Brett Baker could not hold the fort for any distance, then Steve Smith could not buy an out as the game slipped inexorably from Queensland's grip.
P.J Bevis again supplied the hand-break before allowing Stockman and Wodson to close out the losing cause without any further damage.

As we said in our preview, how Queensland would have liked to have an "innings eating" starter to call upon for a game like this, or the semi-final... maybe Klae Calvert is the type that could have been very handy?

As it was throughout the tournament, the NSW offence was solid and impressive tonight with not one, or even two or three players relied upon to get the job done... on nearly every occasion this year NSW had multiple contributors and this Grand Final was no exception.
Emerging leadoff guy Trent Oeltjen really put his name in lights during this tournament... he had another two hits tonight, as did the very reliable veterans Van Buizen, Fingleson and Lewis.
Jared Mangioni came through strongly in his second Claxton Shield, while rookie Anthony Krajancic showed signs of a terrific future.

Whether they were on the hits sheet tonight or not, ALL of the New South Wales hitters could be well satisfied that they contributed to the team's success during the 2004 Claxton Shield carnival.

Familiar names Durrington and Gonzales each had one of the Rams' four hits for the game, as did young 2003 star David Sutherland who continues to produce glimpses of an outstanding future in the game.

So, with our 2004 Claxton Shield coverage drawing to a conclusion... sorry, did we forget someone?
Who's that?... Oh yeh, nearly forgot to mention that fellow David Nilsson who had seemed on a roll with three homers in the previous two games coming into the Grand Final.
David has ALWAYS been 'THE MAN' (no apologies to Anthony Mundine) when it comes to the big occasion in Australian baseball, but it looked for a while that he was going to let this game slip past with barely a whimper as his team suffered an unusual loss in a big final.
NO WAY!
With bases loaded in the 8th innings 'Big Dave' strode to the plate to bat against 'AAA' lefty Craig Anderson... and for those who like to believe that lefties can't hit lefties, then they have never seen David Nilsson hit!
Any need to conclude the story with the news that David Nilsson promptly delivered a GRAND SLAM homer in the clutch to give Queensland a flickering hope in the game?!!
With four home runs in the last three games and CONCLUSIVE proof that he is still among the best hitters in Australia, we can only dip our caps to David Nilsson who has, maybe against the odds, added yet another chapter to his glittering career in this country and he clearly deserves to lead us into the Athens 2004 Olympic games.
For those who had not been aware of Nilsson's pure baseball talent and who may have thought that his best was a long way in the past, you might now like to consider just how good he was when he was in his prime... it's a scary thought isn't it!?

As we usually say at this time, another terrific Claxton Shield competition is now "in the history books" and we at 'Flintoff & Dunn' just can't wait until the next one!!

However, as a sobering footnote, we would MUCH RATHER be looking forward to a PROPER NATIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE that doesn't seem to be any closer to the Australian baseball horizon... and even in the absence of this, we would MUCH RATHER see the next Claxton Shield played in a different STATE!!!!!

In what proved to be the most exciting game of the 2004 LG Claxton Shield, home team New South Wales took defeated defending champions Queensland 7-4 in the Grand Final played at Blacktown Olympic Park, this evening.

The victory marked the first win for New South Wales since their 1995-96 title was awarded to the Sydney Blues.
At that time the Shield was awarded to the winners of the now defunct Australian Baseball League.
Previously, News South Wales won the event in 1988, that win ending a 25 year drought after a win in 1963.

In this year’s event New South Wales outhit their opposition 12-4 making one error to Queensland’s three.

The win was consolidated in the middle innings where New South Wales scored two runs in the fourth inning, one in the fifth and three in a decisive sixth.
Two of the runs in the sixth came from a two out homer by centerfielder Trent Oeltjen.

Trent, who won the MVP of the final was so proud of his teams efforts.
“I am really proud of the whole team. We really came together, not only tonight but throughout the whole week.
I am so glad we could really pull it together for the win.”

Behind by a 7-0 score Queensland got themselves back to within striking distance when designated hitter David Nilsson slammed a grand slam (four run) homer.

However, this would be the final scoring in the game, New South Wales closing pitcher Craig Anderson retiring the Queensland offence without scoring in the ninth.
The earlier pitching by New South Wales starter Ryan Rowland-Smith and reliever Chris Oxspring was magnificent.
Rowland-Smith shutout the opposition allowing just one hit in 3.1 innings and Oxspring allowed two earned runs on two hits in the next 4.1 innings.

Each year the Claxton Shield committee allocates several awards to the most outstanding players.
The winners of this year's event were
The prestigious Helms Award, awarded to the Player of the Series, was taken out by Queenslander Brett Roneberg.
The Player of the Final was taken out by New South Wales centerfielder Trent Oeltjen.
The Batting Champion was comprehensively won by South Australian catcher Ben Wigmore.
The Pitching Champion was announced as New South Wales’ Chris Oxspring.
The Fielding Award went to Western Australia’s Luke Hughes.