Bears walk-off to GBA championship

A WALK-OFF single in the final inning of the women’s grand final by Nyah O’Brien has crowned Bellarine Bears White the region’s inaugural champions of women’s baseball.

The Bears won the Geelong Baseball Association Women’s Grand Final against Corio Tiger Sharks Aqua on Sunday afternoon 10-9 in a back-and-forth contest that was decided in the fourth and final inning.

Bears coach Alex Hockey was nervous heading into the final but was glad to come away with the positive result.

“It was very exciting to get the win,” Hockey said.

“It was a really tough game and one hell of a win to be honest, to do it in walk-off fashion made it that much more memorable.”

Bears White led by six runs in the second inning of play, but an offensive onslaught in the third frame swung the game in Corio’s favour, with the Sharks scoring six runs to take a 9-8 lead with one inning to play.

Down to their last three outs in the bottom of the fourth inning, Bellarine’s Heather Nicol got on base before Sophia Law made it all the way round to third base with a triple, scoring Nicol in the process and tying the score 9-9.

On the final play of the day, O’Brien secured a hit to bring Law home and win the game for the Bears in blockbuster fashion.

“The Tiger Sharks really came at us in the third inning, which really forced us to step up,” Hockey said.

“We were able to retain some good batting and we capitalised on a couple of Corio’s errors, they put the challenge up to us and luckily we answered back.”

Geelong Baseball Association president Danny Timmers reflected on the women’s league’s inaugural grand final game with pride and a massive step for the women’s baseball in the region.

“To have eight women’s teams this year has been a credit to all the current clubs in promoting and supporting Women’s Baseball into the Geelong Community,” Timmers said.

“The spirit in which the Women’s competition has been played has been fantastic all season. We look forward to the continued participation and growth of the competition next season.”

The Bellarine Bears currently have three sides in Geelong’s women’s competition.