South Australia are now just one win away from a date with history and a place in the 2007 Financial Wealth Claxton Shield Grand Final after beating the defending champion Queensland Rams 5-0 in emphatic fashion

What makes the victory even more remarkable for the South Australians; is that it represents the first playoff victory by a team from that state in more than 20-years - part of a Nation championship drought that dates all the way back to 1980

The two sides matched up in Thursday’s elimination semi-final at Perth’s Baseball Park - and they certainly didn’t disappoint fans who were expecting the kind of cut-throat action that has become synonymous with the 2007 tournament thus far

Third place Queensland had easily accounted for the South Australians during the first round (13-1), and entered the playoff as clear favourites to repeat the process
But the Adelaide lads had other ideas - sending their enigmatic “Ace”, Dushan Ruzic to the mound against the Rams

Ruzic, a 205cm right hander with electric stuff, locked horns with Rams veteran and former Claxton Shield pitching champion John Veitch, as the two traded blows for the first 5 innings with neither hurler willing to give an inch
Both pitchers were outstanding but it was Ruzic who came out on top courtesy of some clutch South Australian hitting that chased Veitch from the game with 2-outs in the fifth inning and handed their hurler a 5-0 lead

The major damage came with one down in the top of the fifth, after a defensive miscue from Rams third-baseman Brendan Kliedon gave SA’s designated hitter Todd Langman a life
The error signalled an open invitation to a South Australian offence that made the Queenslanders pay dearly, scoring 4 runs (all unearned) as four consecutive batters hit safely and placing the Rams in an ominous hole

But the big story on the day was Ruzic who fired a complete-game, 3-hit gem to stamp his mark as the 2007 tournament’s most dominant pitcher to date
Ruzic’s statistics this year are simply staggering
After two games, the pitching giant has fired 16 shutout innings, allowing just 5 hits and striking out 17, and making an almost indisputable case for the 2007 pitching crown

South Australian Head Coach Mark Haylock was almost speechless when describing Ruzic’s performance
“What can you say? He was outstanding today - unbelievable” Haylock said
“He looks about eight feet tall when he’s up there, and when he pitches like he did today, he’s always going to be pretty tough to beat”

The win means South Australia will now face the loser of the NSW / Victoria clash in tomorrow’s preliminary final - but after their first finals victory in two decades the “Barossa Bashers” will not be getting too far ahead of themselves

“We (South Australia) were something like 0-18 in playoffs going into that game” SA centre fielder Marc Tainty said
“I know we never won one in the old ABL, so it’s good to get it (the win) out of the way” he said

Queensland’s unexpected exit from this year’s tournament leaves the door wide open for highly favoured NSW to claim their third Shield title in the last four years and confirm their status as a modern Claxton dynasty