For the first time in the nearly 20-year history of the Mount Gambier Legends Baseball Club, two teams represented the club at the Australian Masters Games in Adelaide.

After putting two teams together for the recent local Masters Baseball in Mount Gambier and at the Southern Districts Baseball Club in Christies Beach, it was decided to enter both teams in the Australian Masters.

One team was entered into the Over 35 competition while the second team participated in the Over 50 competition.

Only five teams registered for both competitions so a double round robin series was played consisting of eight games over five days by each Mount Gambier team, followed by finals.

The Over 35 team came up against the eventual gold medallists Chugganauts in round one where the local team got a bit of a baseball lesson when they failed to collect a safe-hit and were comprehensively beaten 15-2.

The Mount Gambier Legends put in a better effort in game two against the Glenelg Gunslingers to go down 10-0 after failing to push a runner across the plate.

They then played Golden Grove Blue Dogs which resulted in another loss but a closer margin.

The Mount Gambier Legends Over 35 team were still in the hunt midway through the game against the Blue Dogs after giving up eight runs in the first two digs but scoring five of their own.

However, their opponent added another three whilst the Legends could only score another two, finally going down 11-7.

The Blue Lake team scored their first win in game four against the Adelaide Aces 13-6 when good batting and tighter pitching saw the Legends hit the board at last.

Game five saw a second win for the local team with 5-4 the result of their return game against the Golden Grove Blue Dogs.

Although being outhit 9-3, the Legends played solid baseball in the field to shut down the Blue Dogs’ runners.

In the next game, Chugganauts got on top of Legends early and never looked back, defeating the blue and gold team 12-0.

Despite outhitting the Adelaide Aces 12-8 and being eight runs up going into the last inning, it was heart break for the Mount Gambier team to go down by a solitary run 11-10 in game seven.

A win was needed in the last game of the round robin series to ensure a bronze medal playoff or a loss decided by other results.

Unfortunately, it was the Glenelg Gunslingers who roared out of the batting box and never looked back with a crushing 14-1 victory however, all was not lost as the Legends finished fourth.

The Legends were one all with the Golden Grove Blue Dogs going into the medal playoff.

After being two all at the end of the first inning, the Blue Dogs put the game to bed in the second when they scored six runs with the local team only able to add a further three as the Blue Dogs ran out bronze medallists 12-5.

Medals were presented to the victors immediately following the game and the Chugganauts won Gold against the Glenelg Gunslingers who picked up Silver in the Over 35 competition.

Meanwhile in the Over 50s competition, the Mount Gambier Legends were also touched up in the first game by the eventual gold medallists when they went down to KAOS 17-2.

The Ballarat Golddiggers were next up and the Legends were up by one in the penultimate inning but could not hold on, eventually going down 11-7.

The Legends’ only win for the series came against Adelaide Aces when they out gunned the Aces in the batting box and from the mound.

Pitcher Don Paterson kept the opposition to just five hits while the blue and gold out hit the Aces’ batters with seven.

In game four, after being in front for two digs the Legends fell behind when Sydney Tide went berserk in the third picking up eight hits and a mercy inning nine runs in which they went on to an easy 17-4 win.

It was a much better game against KAOS the second time around with the local team only going down by a solitary run.

KAOS could not handle the slow pitching of Phillip Mitchell and the Legends held an 11-6 lead going into the even fifth inning but a pitching change saw the KAOS batters hit all over the field to take the win.

The Golddiggers rematch saw the opposition put the pedal to the metal and seal their second spot on the ladder with a 17-4 win over the Legends despite the locals’ best efforts to get runs on the board.

Unfortunately, the Legends were caught out by mistakenly pitching David Mitchell when he was supposed to not pitch at all with the game awarded to the Golddiggers as a forfeit 9-0.

With a double header on the last day, the Legends required a win to head to the bronze medal playoff and the Adelaide Aces were their best chance, having beaten them first time around.

However, the Aces were definitely not singing from the same hymn book and pulled off a 14-1 upset.

Going into game eight, the Legends were still in the hunt with a shot as Adelaide were only on three points while Legends had two.

Unfortunately for the Legends, Sydney Tide had their first eight batters cross the plate before an out was made in the first dig, basically putting the game out of reach and 11 errors for eight unearned runs to the Legends left the Tide to run out winners 12-5.

KAOS won gold, the Golddiggers scored silver and Sydney Tide defeated Adelaide Aces to win bronze.

Over 50 Mount Gambier Legends player Darryl “Sid” Hosking said injuries played a part in the makeup of both teams, with eight games in five days causing pandemonium with lineups.

“Also pitch counts on the pitchers caused much stress on particularly the coaches as they had to juggle their pitchers over games, innings and so many games in a short space of time,” he said.

“Whilst the Legends were unsuccessful, for many it was an eye opener and a learning curve as it was their first time playing at an Australian Masters.

“Winning is not the be all and end all but mainly about enjoying the game of baseball against new teams, playing with and against players that you have not played with before and most of all having fun.

“It is more fun if you win though.”

The Mount Gambier Legends Baseball Club thanked the local businesses who supported them for their generosity and support toward the two team’s expenses.

Planning will begin to have Legends represented at the Pan Pacs in the Gold Coast in October 2024 with next year marking the 20th anniversary of the Legends first Masters Games in Alice Springs.