The junior battle between bat and ball in the 2021/22 Mount Gambier and District Cricket Association summer reached new heights with Grand Final spots up for grabs across three grades last weekend.
The action kicked off last Thursday night where the top Under 17’s and Under 12’s sides faced off.
In the O’Donohue Shield the favourites proved their class by compiling a couple of comprehensive wins to enter the deciders with an abundance of confidence.
Minor premier Millicent overcame a scare to knock over East/North Gambier at Marist Park.
The favourites batted first, but suffered an early heart attack after Connor Richards struck twice in as many balls.
The early wobble left Jacob Todd and Ellis Cushion to get the innings back on track and their important contributions of 20 and 42 respectively did just that.
At 3/75 Millicent looked on track to post a solid score until Bulldogs captain Jack Lawrence tore through the middle order.
His spell sparked a collapse of 5/17 which got the dogs barking and hopeful of an upset.
But the topsy-turvy innings had one more twist left as Charlie Bevan hit 25 off 28 balls to propel Millicent to 136 against the run of play.
It proved to be more than enough as East/North Gambier crumbled under Millicent’s pressure with the ball.
Rajat Pandey, Lawrence and Richards offered brief resistance, but they were the only ones to reach double figures as Kallan Bevan had some fun collecting 5/10.
The home side was skittled for 68 to seal Millicent’s Grand Final ticket.
South Gambier showed no mercy against Penola/Millicent over at Scott Park.
Despite both openers falling cheaply, the likes Jayden Prior (42), Jed Sims (53) and Elwood Geary (60) were in peak form, smashing the ball all over the park.
Sims and Geary were particularly destructive scoring 103 for the third wicket in quick time scoring a collective total of 16 boundaries and four sixes.
Even though Campbell Hateley and Thomas Lambert managed to take some late poles, but they could not stop South Gambier from compiling a mammoth 9/250.
In pursuit of the big score Penola/Millicent started strong after Eli Hunter and Ashton Lindner kept out the new ball with confidence.
The duo scored 62 runs before the first wicket fell, but once South busted through the dam, the wickets could not stop flowing.
All hope for Penola/Millicent was dashed as the side was bundled out for 99 in an innings which included six ducks.
Zac Shanks, Geary and James Miller did most of the damage.
The most memorable scenes took place at Malseed Park where there were no nails left as the Mil Lel v Penola/Naracoorte contest went down to the final ball.
Needing 128 for victory, few would have given Penola/Naracoorte a chance when number 11 Angus McLachlan strolled to the crease with only 98 runs on the scoreboard after losing 6/27.
But McLachlan turned into Jack Leach as he dropped anchor at his end, while Bernie Watson set about pushing his team to glory at the other.
The pair pushed the game into a final over with five runs required, but two dots to start proceedings by Archer Virtanen put Mil Lel in the box seat.
A single brought McLachlan back on strike and after he could not score from the fourth ball of the over hope was starting to fade for Penola/Naracoorte.
But MacLachlan delivered under pressure and struck two runs from the penultimate ball which meant another double would be enough.
With all results possible as the final ball was bowled, some parents could not look as MacLachlan found another gap to tie the scores.
The batters then turned around chasing the final run required for an unlikely win, but in scenes reminiscent of the infamous 1999 World Cup semi-final, Watson was run out for his heroic 16 and the game ended as a tie.
The dramatic finish brought the contest into a super over where Mil Lel held its nerve and secured an unforgettable win after outscoring its opponents 13-12 in the sudden death playoff.
Lachlan Cameron and Georgia Little were the key figures with the bat and ball in the thrilling battle.
The other Hall Trophy contest was a not quite as close, but was still enthralling with Jaggar Geary almost snatching a win from the jaws of defeat.
After Campbell Hateley (46) drove Millicent to a formidable 8/163 West Gambier needed a miracle in their run chase after seven of their top eight fell for single-figure scores.
However, the exception was Geary, who carried the team on his shoulders during an inspirational innings.
His unbeaten 64 included five fours and three sixes, but sadly he ran out of partners 32 runs short of victory.
Despite the disappointment of the Under 14’s semi, Jaggar Geary was back at it again, this time being the driving force behind South Gambier Maroon’s triumph over Mount Burr in the Sims Shield playoff at Reidy Park.
Opening the batting the youngster blazed 39 runs in quick time to lead a fully-firing top order towards an imposing 6/170.
But it was with the ball where Jaggar Geary made headlines as the Demons sealed a convincing 109-run win.
He may had been the fourth-change bowler, but no one made the same impact as the right-armer could do no wrong taking a rare and unforgettable hat-trick.
Jaggar Geary also completed his spell with another pole with finish with 4/4 from three overs.
Millicent showed its firepower in the other Under 12’s semi-final against North Gambier at Steeline Park.
Led by an imperious half century from Ryder Lindner, Millicent compiled 4/227 from just 30 overs on the scoreboard which was always going to be a scary prospect for the Tigers.
Only two batters could reach double figures as North was knocked over for 83.
