THE 26th South African Masters Baseball tournament drew to a close on Saturday at Londt Park.
Hats off to the Mandela Bay Baseball Association for organising and managing a highly successful event that saw 13 teams compete in three divisions.
The highly competitive Elite division was won by Eastern Gauteng who narrowly beat WP in the final. The Mandela-Bay Elite team lost a closely contested semi-final game against WP that could have gone either way but some power batting by the visitors gave them the edge.
The pitching on both sides ensured a tight affair with Nantie Hayward performing well for MBA and Ricky Adams for WP, WP winning the semi-finals 7-2.
Congratulations go to Wiehann Rautenbach, Nantie Hayward and Keith Grobler and Trevor Thorogood who were selected for the SA Masters Squad at the conclusion of the SA Masters Championships.
The Veterans division, for the 2nd year running, was won by a deserving Gauteng team who beat Eastern Gauteng in the final. The experience of former-EP players Marius and Johan Lourens proved too much for the Easterns team and helped their team to a 10-8 victory.
The very closely contested Challenge division was won by the Mandela Bay team who had to overcome a close semi-final game against KZN before defeating Eastern Gauteng in the final.
In the final, the pitching-catching combination of Mervin Johnson and Francois Bezuidenhout worked well for the MBA side and Lyall Meyer closed the game off. With two runners on bases Kurt Geswint sealed the victory for the Mandela-Bay Challenge team, by hitting a home-run, bringing in three runs. MBA won the final 4-3 against Easterns.
“All in all, the SA Masters Baseball Tournament was a huge success and we look forward to hosting the SA Baseball Championships in 2019 at the same venue,” said Terrence Gouws from Mandela Bay Baseball Association.
The MBA also thanked Parks Rugby Club, Londt Park Sports Club, Tigers Baseball Club and the main sponsor Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa for their support of the tournament.
- For more info on baseball in the Eastern Province contact Terrence Gouws on 082 875 7180.
