Porepunkah has two teams in the NEBA grand finals after a strong weekend of matches, while C grade still with the opportunity to also make it. Under 12 The Porepunkah Panthers under 12s side is into the grand final after defeating the Wangaratta Rangers 16-8 on Sunday. In front of a supportive crowd, the Panthers combined good batting, base running and fielding to set up the win. The first innings had Wangaratta score six runs, and the Panthers respond by scoring five. The second innings was the perfect innings for the Porepunkah, shutting out Wangaratta with three up three down. Panther Jimi Rocket Jagger fired one from centre field to Mina Meddings who tagged out the runner at second base for the first out. Pitcher Sophie Giuliano fielded and threw to first base for the second out, while Archer Harris at third base showed a strong arm with accuracy to get the third out, hitting the glove of first base Nick Giuliano. After keeping Wangaratta scoreless the Panthers took control and battled in six runs. With the score 11-6 Panthers’ way going into the third, it was a strong showing in the field again for Porepunkah who allowed Wangaratta only one run. The Panthers were then kept scoreless in their innings, but the last innings had Porepunkah take the game away by allowing Wangaratta only one run again. The Panthers then went in and scored five runs, with Casey Pronk, Sophie Giuliano and Jimi Rocket all racking up three safe hits for the day. The grand final will be this coming Sunday at Wangaratta’s Targoora Park, starting at 10.30am. B grade In the qualifying final against the Wangaratta Rangers, it was the Porepunkah Panthers who came out on top to advance to the grand final. Porepunkah’s starting pitcher Luka Barthelmes started off on fire, quickly striking out a batter and forcing a flyball caught by Rian Banks at first, while the third out came via a ground ball to shortstop Josh Harris. Porepunkah managed one run in their at bat, with Luka Barthelmes hitting safely then stealing his way around to third base to score on a wild pitch. The second innings had Wangaratta scoreless, with the highlight being Panther Paul Meddings taking a hard hit catch in centrefield. The bases were loaded, with two out and on a full count it was Panther Damon Barker who came in with the clutch hit, going long into the fence for a three base hit. Jarrod Smith continued his good form hitting safely to bring in Damon and score himself on a wild pitch. Wangaratta hit back in the third innings scoring three runs and keeping Porepunkah scoreless. Change-up pitcher Dean Anders allowed only one run to cross the plate, with a groundout to Josh Harris at shortstop. The Panthers also had a double play with Luka Barthelmes taking a catch in right field then throwing to second base to get the base runner out. In the fifth innings the game was broken apart by the Panthers - two flyballs caught by Randy Skippen at second and Rian Banks at first and a throw out by Jarrod Smith at third base kept the Rangers scoreless. Porepunkah went in and batted in seven runs, with Dean Anders, Mason Anders and Randy Skippen getting in on the action with safe hits. Great effort in making the grand final and having the week off. Final score: Porepunkah 15 def 4 Wangaratta. Under 15 The 15 Panthers went in an epic semi-final which went to nine Innings. In what was a pitcher’s duel, Paige Anders started on the bump for the Panthers - after going three up three down in the top of the first, the Bears scored two runs in their first innings to start the scoreboard ticking. The second innings remained scoreless with both pitchers finding the zone frequently. In the top of the third, Kobe Buckland had a quality at bat ending with a base on balls. With Steph Alexander in the box, she put the first ball in play (against a pitcher throwing smoke), to bat Kobe home and put the Panthers on the scoreboard. The scores remained the same until the top of the 5th. Knowing this would most likely be the last innings, the Panthers’ leadoff, Rory Clark, received a walk and then stole second base. Cohen Guest-Smith, up next, continued from the last game smashed a single to bring Rory home. Stealing his way to third base, Cohen was able to take advantage of a passed ball and scored the equalising run. At this point the regular game time of 1hr and 20 minutes had just passed - in the regular season, a draw would be recorded and the game finished, but with a result needed for the finals, the game went into extra innings Both teams remained scoreless in that innings, although Zakk Podubinski found contact and was out to some sharp fielding. In the seventh, Rory found a single and after stealing second was in scoring position - Cohen was again able to deliver, hitting a hard ground ball, scoring Rory and putting the Panthers in front for the first time for the day. The Bears responded in the bottom of the innings after receiving a walk and making their way around the base path. Some exceptional fielding from the Panthers, both Paige at short stop, a super sharp catch and equally sharp pick up and throw as well as Hunter Harris hunting one down, keeping the scoreboard even and continuing the extra innings. The eighth remained scoreless, but in the bottom of the ninth, the Bears strung a couple of nice hits together and were able to score the winning run.
