2002 Cairns Baseball League Finals

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NOTE - a video was added to this page ... scroll right to the bottom

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The 2002 Finals Series

Sunday 22nd September 2002

All players within the Cairns League must have participated in at least six games to be eligible to play in the Finals Series
Being a "late arrival", Brett needed to play these six games over two weekends!!!

Today he was in the line-up for three full games!!!

As a "warm-up", he played with the Cubs "B" Grade team, in which he had one at-bat without a hit, picked two walks, and stole once

The Cubs "A" Grade team were scheduled to play a double-header, against the Reds and Shogun Heat teams

Brett played centrefield in both games
and his batting statistics for the two games were
6 x at-bats
4 x hits
2 x walks, and
6 x runs driven in

Four hits!!! - Batting average 0.667!!! - A good day!!!
but it was made even better as
THREE of the hits were HOME RUNS
and the other was a DOUBLE!!!
SLUGGING AVERAGE - 2.333!!!
WOW!!!

Plus he was on the mound!!!
Pitched the final innings of the second game
Threw to 5 batters, throwing 11 strikes and 7 balls
with 1 x strike out and 1 x walk
Did not give up any runs

"Load was too great" - article published in the Cairns Post following the above games - the Cubs lost both games!!! - and the article gives a few details on Brett's "power day", plus brief reports on each of the games

Sunday 29th September 2002

"Stars to take centre stage" - a preview of the game between Cubs and Shogun Heat - details the match-up between Brett and Cameron Cairncross - published in the Cairns Post on Saturday 28th September 2002

Lining up once more for the Cubs "A" Grade team, he played one game today, against the Shogun Heat team

Brett played centrefield and was at number three in the batting order
His batting statistics for the game were
5 x at-bats
3 x hits, which were one double and two singles
1 x walks, and
3 x runs driven in
He also stole once, and made an error!!!
(his throw from centrefield to third base was high, went over the fence and out of play!!!)

Again he was on the mound!!!
Pitched the last two innings
Threw to 7 batters, throwing 22 strikes and 11 balls
with 4 x strike outs and gave up 1 x hit
Did not give up any runs

"Cubs cool in heat" - article published in the Cairns Post - Cubs had a win!!!

----------two photos published with the above article - Shogun Heat players Aki Mori (hitter) and Masa Endo (pitcher)

Sunday 6th October 2002

"Rivals to prove point" - preview of the game between Cubs and Reds - published in the Cairns Post on Saturday 5th October 2002

Sharon with Brett, who is in the Cubs uniform and about to leave for the game - two photos ..........nice shots

Once again playing for the Cubs "A" Grade team, Brett had a great day with the bat against the Reds team

He played centrefield and was at number three in the batting order
His batting statistics for the game were
5 x at-bats
5 x hits, ALL OF THEM DOUBLES!!! (two bounced over the fence!!!)
and 2 x runs driven in

Once more he was on the mound!!!
Pitched the final innings
Threw to 3 batters, AND STRUCK THEM ALL OUT!!!
He threw a total of 12 pitches, of which 9 were strikes!!!
Striking out all the batters he faced, he did not allow any baserunners or runs to score

"Cubs flex finals muscles" - article published in the Cairns Post - Cubs had a big win over Reds!!! - and it includes a photo of Cubs Scott Webb sliding into base to beat the tag by Reds Peter Underwood .........."an outstanding performance" by Brett!!!

--STATISTICS--
Click here for the details of Brett's
batting and pitching during the four "regular season/fixture" games

Sunday 13th October 2002
THE PRELIMINARY FINAL

"Premiers' dominance on line" - preview of the game between Cubs and Reds - includes comments on Brett's hitting, pitching, and "presence" on the team - published in the Cairns Post - Saturday 12th October 2002

The preliminary final - with the Cubs "A" Grade team playing Reds to determine which team advanced to the "best-of-three" Grand Final series against the Shogun Heat team (who finished the season as Minor Premiers)

Brett played centrefield and was at number three in the batting order
His batting statistics for the game were
4 x at-bats
2 x hits, both singles
and picked one walk and scored once

He pitched the final three innings of the game
Threw to thirteen batters, striking out four
He walked four, with one of these reaching home for an earned run
Of his 55 pitches, 28 were strikes, 27 were balls, and he threw one wild pitch

Cubs won!!!

"Reds' finals exit marks end of era" - article and game report published in the Cairns Post - Reds ten-year reign as champions is over!!! - mentions Brett's batting and pitching

----------photo published with the above article - Greg Wicks on the mound and sending down a pitch

Brett in the batters box, and ready to hit ..........a nice shot of the home-plate area, a section of the spectators, and the trees, etc surrounding the field - and includes a "very small" Geoff and Sharon!!!

Waiting to crush the ball!!! - Photo Number One - Photo Number Two

Brett and some of the Cubs players celebrate after the game - and were joined by a couple of Shogun Heat players who had come along to see who they would be playing in the Grand Final!!!

Brett with John Smith (Shogun Heat) - and Barry Foxover

Wednesday 16th October 2002
GRAND FINAL - GAME ONE

Lining up against Shogun Heat, the Cubs "A" Grade team contested the first game of the Grand Final series
The game was tied 4-4 at the end of nine innings and went into extra-innings, finishing at the end of eleven in around four hours

Brett played centrefield and was at number three in the batting order
His batting statistics for the game were
4 x at-bats
1 x hit, a double
He was walked twice (once intentionally), and stole once
In the outfield he took an "excellent" catch

Coming onto the mound at the bottom of the eighth innings, Brett pitched the last four innings
He faced ??? batters, striking out seven
He did not allow any hits, and walked only one hitter
One un-earned run scored while he was pitching
Of his 64 pitches, 40 were strikes, 24 were balls, and he threw one wild pitch

Cubs won!!! - and lead the "best of 3 series" 1-0!!!

"Cubs win nail-biter" - game report published in the Cairns Post - "the most awesome game" seen in Cairns!!! - and mentions Brett's catch in the outfield

Sunday 20th October 2002
GRAND FINAL - GAME TWO

"Get into Baseball" - a copy of a leaflet organised by the League Executive - used for a letter-box-drop on Wednesday 16th October 2002 - promoting Grand Final day, and mentions both Brett and Cameron Cairncross

"Ultimate prize awaits" - a preview of the second game of the Grand Final series - includes a few comments on the starting and relief pitchers in game one ..........plus a photo of Brett ---(RONEBERG: Did plenty of work)

Game Two of the Grand Final series, with the Cubs "A" Grade team playing Shogun Heat

Brett played centrefield and was at number three in the batting order
In the field he made six put-outs (catches), and one assist while pitching
His batting statistics for the game were
4 x at-bats
3 x hits, including TWO HOME RUNS!!!
and drove in four runs!!!
He was walked once (intentionally), struck out once
scored two runs, and was left-on-base twice

Coming onto the mound at the top of the seventh innings, Brett pitched the last three innings
He faced 13 batters, striking out four
Two Shogun Heat players got hits, another picked a walk, and Brett hit one batter with a pitched ball
......but Brett and catcher Matt Bolton said the umpires call was (swear word!!!) wrong!!!
He did not give up any runs in a very tight ballgame!!!
Of his 51 pitches, 33 were strikes, and 18 were balls

Cubs won!!! - Cairns Baseball League CHAMPIONS!!!

"Cubs in a late rush for a grand dream" - game report published in the Cairns Post - mentions Brett's two home runs and his stint on the mound - "a class act" - and also includes a few comments from Brett ..........a great article!!!

----------photo published with the above article - Greg Wicks sending down a pitch

Four photos taken during the game - includes Brett at bat, receiving an intentional walk, etc - and "Dad and Mum" watching!!!

The bottom of the ninth!!! - and the defence used by Shogun Heat to try to stop the winning run from scoring - details on the tactics used, and a photo of Brett at second base

POST GAME AWARDS

Following the game, Brett was awarded
The Barry Foxover - Cairns Baseball League
"Player of the Finals"

and here is the Award!!!

----------photo of Masa Endo on the mound - published with the above article

VIDEO

Three segments from television news sports reports

These segments cover the Preliminary Final and both Grand Final Series Games

Great coverage and reporting ... with heaps of shots of Brett !!

(web site notes - this video was uploaded on Wednesday 24th June 2009 and is in 'flv' format - the video
file name is '0video12.flv' and the full address is 'http://www.ronebergcairns.com/0video12.flv' - the
associated player, which also has been uploaded to the same directory, has the file name of 'player.swf')