Tigers advanced to the decider and have the almighty task next week after taking the win against South in the Mount Gambier and District Baseball League preliminary final on Saturday afternoon.
With Blue Lake Sports Park seeing the largest crowd for the year flock to the main diamond to watch what was going to be one of the most anticipated games in local baseball history.
Featuring a rivalry that matches the North Gambier v East Gambier in the Western Border Football League or Apollo v International in the Limestone Coast Football Association, the baseball version in a sudden-death contest was going to be a tense affair.
South began proceedings with the bat and it was a nervous start for Tigers after back to back errors left the Indians with runners aboard and zero out.
But Alex Reppin showed why he has been a class act of the league for many years providing Tigers with ground balls and fly balls to see the innings over with no damage.
Tigers took the game in their own hands and with back-to-back hits from Jesse Forster and Hayden Jones.
Tigers were in command when Nugget Ransom drove over the plate for the first run of the game, followed by a Tyler Horrigan blast that doubled the tally and the Tigers were up and about.
It was then a back-and-forth affair over the next four innings with neither side able to get a run and pressure read mounting on both sides.
Garth Ransom then showed why he is the reigning league best and fairest with his second hit in the game beating out the infield throw.
Horrigan also knocked a shot in to left field and an over throw from South’s Ben Nash saw Garth Ransom scorer.
Suddenly the game was getting away from South and Tigers had found an extra gear.
A pitching change saw Bruce Morale replace Dean Hamilton on the mound and much of the crowd was expecting some fire works but it was not to be.
The last two innings saw three hit batters and two more runs for Tigers whilst South failed to score.
It meant Tigers only needed eight bats to seal the victory and advance to the big dance and take on the refining premiers in a best of three game series which starts at 8pm this Friday night.
Key performances from Reppin on the mound, plus Garth Ransom and Matt Thompson with the bat sealed the deal, while Ryan Placcuci hit South’s sole hit in the 6-0 defeat.
