It was a picture-perfect night at Blue Lake Sports Park for the inaugural All Stars Fully Loaded softball match, raising funds for the Mount Gambier Cancer Support Group.
With a great crowd in attendance the Golden Girls took on the Elite 11, ready to put on a good show.
But there were bragging rights on the line, with teammates facing off against each other for the first time.
Fully Loaded softball involves every innings starting with loaded bases, and with the fences brought in it promised to be a run-fest.
Golden Girls batted first and opened with two runs, but were well held by Demons’ pitcher catcher combination of Billie Jones and Em Hart.
Jones kept momentum for her side with a double and a fly from sister Dana Jones helped Elite 11 lead 4-2 after the first.
The Golden Girls rallied with two out in the second innings to pile on six runs thanks to some heads-up base running by Sarah Polderman and a beautiful hit to Cindy Burford.
Lily Clifford-Finch was absolutely dominating at left field for the Golden Girls, arguably best on ground with a handful of excellent catches to deny any home run aspirations.
Maddy Sutherland smoked one in the second for Elite 11 to start a good run of hits which saw them score four, meaning scores were level at 8-8 after two innings.
The close game continued with scores still level at 10-10 after three, with tight fielding and good pitching denying easy runs.
Polderman pulled in absolutely everything for her side at short stop, with Kezia Feast matching her with commitment and encouragement to her teammates.
The top of the fourth led Elite 11 to put four on the board before an out was recorded and it looked like the game was slipping away. But superstar and crowd favorite Jarvo Queale pitched brilliantly to induce three fly outs to abruptly end the innings and give her side a chance to steal, needing five runs in the last at bat.
Fittingly it was Clifford-Finch who drew the match for the Golden Girls with a lovely hit to centrefield and she was the winning run to cross the plate on an RBI from Wanderers teammate Abbey Lovekin.
The Golden Girls were crowned the victors to the delight of coach Nat Anderson, with Elite 11 gracious in defeat.
Organiser Mel Chuck could not have been happier with the culmination of a huge amount of effort and planning by her team by raising in excess of $3000 for charity.
Born from a desire to honour their late teammate Kristyn Dawe, the Mount Gambier Softball League raised the funds for the Mount Gambier Cancer Support group which provides incredible and much needed work in the community, giving all players ample inspiration on the night.
