Year 8 Boys win LMR finals

SCHOOL SPORT VICTORIA – LODDON MALLEE REGION FINALS

Cricket – Year 8 Boys

The Year 8 Boys are no strangers to the early morning start, taking off to Donald at 6:45am for the next round of cricket. A delay occurred due to the sprinklers being left on overnight, but ground staff quickly rectified the damp outfield and the game commenced.

Game 1 vs Swan Hill College
After winning the toss, captain Riley Travaglia chose to send Swan Hill into bat, due to a handful of players lacking experience with batting on turf wickets. Aydan Hand and Callan Orr caused havoc with the new ball and did not allow Swan Hill to score freely. Hand bowled the perfect delivery to dismiss the first batter, taking the top of the middle stump. Orr and Travaglia also chimed in with a wicket, keeping Swan Hill to 3/62 off 14 overs.

After going in to bat, CMC didn’t get off to the best start with the bat sitting at 2/0 after 3 overs. It wasn’t what we needed to chase down the total. Griffin O’Shea stepped out to the crease and was soon joined by Travaglia to kickstart the innings. At 4/20 odd, Travaglia hit a couple of fours and a big six straight down the ground. He eventually went out when the boys were at 5/35.

Hand was dismissed and Chad Mannes entered. His cricket smarts were on display, looking to hit the ball and run at every opportunity. O’Shea caught on, smashed a couple of boundaries and the two guided the team towards victory. Calm and collected, Xavier Horan was next in and CMC chased down the total of 62 with the loss of 7 wickets and an over to spare. It was an incredibly tense game and CMC showed great resilience and spirit to be able to grind it out under pressure.

Batting: (7/63): O’Shea – 20*, Travaglia – 17, Mannes – 8

Bowling: (3/62): Hand – 1/4 off 3 overs, Orr – 1/12 off 3 overs, Travaglia – 1/15 off 3 overs

Game 2 vs St Joseph’s College Mildura
There was no rest between games, so CMC went straight into playing the next game. They were sent into bat and with the momentum and excitement of Game 1, it wasn’t the worst result. The improvement in running between wickets was evident as the batting innings started a lot better than the previous game. Tyce Griffin nudged his way to double figures, and once again Travaglia and O’Shea kept the momentum in the middle order. In controversial fashion, the boys started walking off after the 13th over with the score at 9/79. With the prompt correction, the score elevated to 9/86 with some handy last-over runs.

St Joe’s went out to bat with a positive mindset. They made their way to 28 before the first wicket fell; a clean gather from Griffin which allowed Jacobi Kramer to dislodge the bails with the batsman short. Travaglia dismissed the other opener with a sharp catch from Hand at square leg. Zane MacDonald swapped the gloves for a chance to bowl this game and was rewarded with a wicket from a lofted ball caught on the boundary by Griffin. St Joe’s finished on 3/67 in reply and CMC had qualified for the next stage.

Batting: (9/86): Travaglia – 12, O’Shea – 12, Griffin – 10

Bowling: (3/67): Travaglia – 1/6 off 3 overs, MacDonald – 1/5 off 1 over

A special thanks to Lucas Wheelhouse who helped and managed the scorebook for the day. And as always, thanks to Mrs Speed for all the preparation, organisation and for driving the bus to and from Donald!

Mr Alex Code, Coach

TEAM: Lucas Wheelhouse, Griffin O’Shea, Maxwell Nicholas, Aydan Hand, Zavier Ralphs, Riley Travaglia, Callan Orr, Elliot Ryan, Mr Alex Code (Coach), Xavier Horan, Zane MacDonald, Tyce Griffin, Joshua Kelly, Jacobi Kramer, Chad Mannes