BALLARAT is the Victorian provincial baseball division two champion.
After narrowly qualifying for the final, Ballarat defeated reigning title-holder North Eastern 2-1 at Ballarat's Prince of Wales Park yesterday.
Despite losing its last round-robin game to Bendigo yesterday morning, Ballarat squeezed into the championship final ahead of Bendigo on percentage after each had chalked up three wins and two losses over three days.
As expected, the pitchers held sway in the final.
Ballarat's Rory Meddick was supreme in containing dangerous hitters, especially in the game-defining seventh innings when the North Eastern outfit landed two runners on base and threatened to take the initiative.
With hits at a premium, Matt Jones and Paul Gladman were heroic in the clutch for Ballarat, hitting safely to score runs in the second and fourth innings respectively.
North Eastern troubled the scorers just once - in the bottom of the sixth innings.
"This was a real team effort," buoyant Ballarat coach Hamish Burrows said.
"Every player in the squad contributed something over the weekend.
"Rory was terrific in the final, but it was an all-round effort that got us there in the first place.
"This is a shot in the arm for Ballarat baseball.
"Everyone knew what their job was and I'm just rapt that the clubs could work together to bring the title back to Ballarat," he said.
Ballarat is expected to be offered the opportunity to return to division one next year, although it will be mindful of the much tougher competition provided by the Melbourne metropolitan teams.
In another blockbuster, Dandenong was typically dogged in coming from behind to defeat Diamond Valley 3-2 in the division one final.
Ballarat baseball earns promotion
