Won by New South Wales - 1 runs to 0

Playing designated hitter
Batting #3

Queensland - top first innings
Linger flied out to rf (0-0)
Dutton singled to center field (2-2)
Dutton stole second
Roneberg flied into double play rf to ss (2-2)
----------Dutton out on the play
0 runs - 1 hit - 0 errors - 0 LOB

Queensland - top fourth innings
D'Louhy to p for Benson
Linger singled to center field (1-2)
Dutton reached on a fielder's choice (1-2)
----------Linger out at second ss to 2b
Roneberg grounded out to 1b unassisted (0-1)
----------Dutton advanced to second
Dutton advanced to third on a wild pitch
Utting struck out swinging (1-2)
0 runs - 1 hit - 0 errors - 1 LOB

Queensland - top seventh innings
Roneberg grounded out to p (0-0)
Utting grounded out to ss (2-0)
Sutherland grounded out to ss (0-1)
0 runs - 0 hits - 0 errors - 0 LOB

Plate appearances - 3
At bats - 3
Hits - 0
Infield ground outs - 2
Outfield fly outs - 1
Batting Average - 0.000
Slugging Percentage - 0.000
On Base Percentage - 0.000

Plate appearances - 38
At bats - 32
Hits - 13
----------7 x singles
----------4 x doubles
----------2 x home runs
Runs batted in - 9
Runs scored - 6
Walks - 6
Strike outs - 3
Stolen base - 1
Infield ground outs - 8
Infield fly outs - 2
Outfield fly outs - 6
Runners left in scoring position - 6
Batting Average - 0.406
Slugging Percentage - 0.719
On Base Percentage - 0.500

Well, as former American-born Aussie pro wrestling commentator Jack Little would often effuse ... "How about That!!"

The last game we reported was that near farcical 32-hit walkathon in Game Two of Victoria's meaningless home series against South Australia
What a delightful contrast this huge game would provide with a superb 1-0, pitching dominated, contest of the highest quality

According to our Sydney based correspondent, this really was a marvellous advertisement for the quality of Australian baseball
I have to tell you that 'Flintoff & Dunn' absolutely love this type of baseball game
I'm assured that the defence of both teams was, not only errorless, but often of supreme quality

He may not win the 2008 Golden Arm Award, now that his team has missed the Grand Final series, but Queensland's 'AA' Twin Tristan Crawford should have been near the forefront of the voting, especially after his one-man eight inning start in this most important of preliminary games
Crawford pitched a quite outstanding game for the Rams and only in one of those innings did he allow more than one base runner
Unfortunately his memorable day would be somewhat spoiled when he had to deal with the toughest part of the New South Wales lineup in the fourth inning
With one strike out already tucked away, those most prolific of AMLB hitters, also 'Flintoff & Dunn HALL-OF-FAMERS', Gavin Fingleson and Brendan Kingman managed to punch singles into right field
Next up was young prodigy Mitch Dening who executed what was asked by grounding out (read hitting) to the right side in order to advance the runners
It may have been decisive when 'The Mailman' Pat Maat whacked the game winning RBI into left field
That one run would be enough!

The New South Welshmen would throw a committee of pitchers up against Tristan Crawford in this game but, it has to said, their sterling combined efforts would ultimately prove one run better in that vital run column in this game

Leading the way for the Patriots at the start was Toronto Blue Jays' 'A' leaguer Shane Benson who has now made one of the most effective AMLB debuts one could imagine
Only a Brad Dutton single in the first inning would blemish a "perfect" three innings to get this pressure-packed game underway in fine style for New South Wales - need we say more!

19yo Gavin Dlouhy was next to take the ball for the light blues after cutting his teeth with the Australian Provincials at Claxton Shield 2007 and then in his rookie professional season with the New York Mets
Young Gavin allowed leadoff hits in both the fourth and fifth innings but, most importantly, he made sure that the "goose eggs" kept adding to the away half of the scoreboard
The fourth inning was the only time that Queensland got a runner to third base after he delivered a wild pitch, but he responded in terrific fashion to have the dangerous Andrew Utting struck out "whiffing"!

Enter, centre stage, 21yo Todd Grattan for the moment of his baseball life!
Ahem, how do you explain this folks?
What about if we just emphasise the pure statistical fact that Todd faced the minimum of eleven batters, after Dlouhy got one out in the sixth, to close the game with two strike outs, a fly ball out and eight precision ground ball outs?
Yes, that's right, Todd Grattan did not allow one single batter to reach base while delivering 1-2-3 ground outs in the seventh and ninth innings
He may do plenty more in Australian 'big league' baseball, but he will do well to top this magic moment

Just to repeat it one more time, not just for effect, but also because they deserve it - Shane Benson, Gavin Dlouhy and Todd Grattan combined for a terrific three-hit shutout in a game of tremendous importance
Did I happen to mention that this fabulous trio did not issue as much as one solitary walk in this game? - none!!! ...... Caps off to you fellas!

No need to spend too much time on the offence in this game but let's just take a moment to consider the impact of New South Wales evergreen hitting machine 'Slugga' Kingman who rose to the massive occasion as he most often does to show all of the aspiring young stars how to get the job done
In such a non-offensive day, his 2-2 with a walk was, in context, not unlike his 1998 ABL MVP season when he batted a crazy .487 - you've gotta love this guy!!

Credit also to young Patrick Maat whose team leading 11th RBI came at the most vital of times

Well performed Shannon Pender and Gavin Fingleson were the other safe hitters, while we don't overlook Mitch Dening's master class on hitting when it counted most in this game

In this case we are not going to even attempt to deride Queensland's dearth of safe hits, with only the very well-performed names of Sutherland, Dutton and Linger troubling the statisticians

This is one of those games where, really, neither team truly deserved to lose and, while the Queenslanders cannot be popping the champagne corks tonight, they must not be too hard on themselves

On the other hand, the New South Wales boys do deserve their opportunity to celebrate a tense and exciting series win

So, the New South Wales Patriots have now earned the right to take on the West Australians (or the Perth Heat as they prefer) for the National Championship

Tristan Crawford, Shane Benson, Gavin Dlouhy and Todd Grattan - you've made this a memorable game!

Hmmmm, I'm not sure who decided that New South Wales would enjoy the luxury of hosting the concluding series, when everyone knows what the equation is, but it is obvious to the unbiased observer that the scheduling of this series did not favour the Queenslanders
This was magnified in the early part of Claxton Shield 2008 when south Queensland's flooding rains caused postponements that banked-up on them in the latter part of the preliminary stages
We can only guess how much effect that this had on the Rams but, suffice to say, it could not have helped them!

I don't think that this is cause enough to take anything away from the New South Wales Patriots who could only deal with the opponents that confronted them, and they did this in most impressive style

To start with the Queensland team, who have finished their campaign, it does need to be said that these guys did "inflate" some of their statistics during that blowout series against the flagging Australian Provincials
However, this does not change the fact that the stars will usually shine brightest

David Sutherland may have led the way with his mighty .442 batting average and we take nothing at all away from him, but Brett Roneberg's .406 average with team highs .719 for slugging and .500 for on base percentage place him at the top of our list
We can only wonder what might have been for him in the end if he had not started this New South Wales series with an ankle strain that might have prevented some from participating - but not, we hasten to add, Brett Roneberg, who always gives everything he can for Australian baseball

Little known (to us?) James Linger put his name up in fluorescent lights with his .393 from a few less at bats, while emerging Philadelphia Phillies' pro Joel Naughton underlined his long-held potential with a .316 average to sneak ahead of former Helms Award winner Brad Dutton who clearly knows how to hit a baseball
I don't want to over-emphasise Keiran Bradford's 2-3 as an AMLB rookie, but he did do it - while we take more notice of Daniel Lamb-Hunt's promising 4-10

Pitching wise, Queensland have had several sterling contributors with regular starters Chris Mowday (2-0, 1.17ERA), Tristan Crawford (2-1, 1.96ERA) and Drew Naylor (1-0, 3.60ERA) all doing terrific jobs for the Rams
Experienced P.J Bevis led the way for their relievers, while Simon Morriss and John Veitch both pitched several more innings than him

We will say a lot more about the New South Wales lads once their Claxton Shield 2008 has concluded but, what does already strike 'Flintoff & Dunn' is the fact that they have produced such tremendous young talent to be dominated by Mitch Dening who really knows how to handle a bat with his brilliant .409 batting average
However, he might have to share top billing with young Mets' catching prospect Pat Maat who batted a great .361 plus his monster eleven RBI's
Former "unlucky pro" Tim Auty has been no less than brilliant with .360 from a team-high 50 at bats, while Tim Atherton is their only other hitter to stand above the .300 plateau with an excellent .357 from fewer at bats
We will not say too much about former Minnesota pro Michael Lysaught here, but we haven't overlooked his .408 on base percentage, or his five stolen bases

In our view, Tim Cox will probably contest the Golden Arm Award with a couple of West Aussies during the upcoming Grand Final Series
His 3-0, 1.00ERA record is nothing short of magnificent, while his quality bullpen mate Matthew Bennett has not been close to "chopped liver" with his 2-1, 2.82ERA as a regular starting pitcher

Where New South Wales may claim an advantage over most is the incredible depth of their bullpen that currently includes Benson, Tippett, Dlouhy, Grattan, Williams and Harris as their major star performers

The Queensland Rams lost a three game series to the New South Wales Patriots in the final weekend of regular season play in Australia’s Claxton Shield competition
This gives New South Wales a 9-3 record, earning them the Eastern Division title
The Rams finished in second place with a 8-4 record, and the Australian Provincial team finished with a 1-11 record

The NSW Patriots will face the Perth Heat in next weekend’s Final Series
Perth earned the Southern Division title with a 8-4 record
The Victoria Aces came in second with a 7-5 record, and South Australia finished with a 3-9 record

Queensland won the first game of the series with New South Wales, by a 2-1 score
Pirate farmhand Brett Roneberg was the DH, and he went 1-for-3
Pitchers were in charge, as the Rams were held to only six hits in the game, and New South Wales managed only five hits
The Rams scored their two runs in the sixth inning
SS Brad Dutton led off with a single, and Roneberg followed with another single
Roneberg was removed in favor of a pinch-runner, and both runners advanced on a ground out
Another single brought in one baserunner, and the second scored on a sacrifice fly
New South Wales scored their lone run in the eighth inning, on a double, a ground out, and a fielder’s choice

The Patriots came back to win the second game 5-3, giving each team an 8-3 record, and keeping them in a tie for the division lead
1B David Sutherland and Brett Roneberg each had two hits, and Roneberg contributed an RBI, but their efforts were not enough
Roneberg had a single in the first inning, but he was out in a subsequent double play
Roneberg’s single in the sixth inning gave the Rams the game-tying RBI
He was again replaced with a pinch-runner, who later scored on a sacrifice fly, to make the score 3-2
New South Wales came back with a three-run seventh inning to give them the lead and the win

The final game was a 1-0 pitching duel
Queensland’s Tristan Crawford (Twins) pitched a complete game (eight innings), allowing only one run on five hits, while striking out six batters, and had a 117 pitch count, but he was the hard-luck game loser
The New South Wales run came in the fourth inning, on three singles
Three New South Wales pitchers combined to limit the Rams to three hits, and Roneberg was hitless in the contest

Roneberg finished the Claxton Shield Tournament with a .406 average in 32 at-bats
Of his 13 hits, 4 were doubles and 2 were homers, and he added 9 RBI's