The Western Province senior side retained the national baseball title for the 17th consecutive year by beating Gauteng 13-8 in the final in Johannesburg yesterday.
WP started with Lloyd Stevens on the mound and he was immediately put under pressure by Gauteng, who scored seven runs in the first two innings.
Fortunately for Stevens his batting side supported him well to get the score to 7-5 after the two innings.
By the end of the third, scores were tied at 7-7 and Gauteng had replaced their starting pitcher Hein Robb with Kieran Cree.
Stevens managed to keep the host province scoreless for the next three innings. He was replaced by experienced Darren Smith after allowing the first hitter to get on base in the sixth inning. The runner scored for Gauteng to take a 8-7 lead.
WP immediately equalised in the sixth inning and scored a further four runs in the seventh to take a 12-8 lead. Another run was scored in the eighth inning to secure WP a 13-8 victory.
Top hitters for Gauteng were Rowan Ebersohn 3/4, with Kieran Bibis, Hein Robb and Cuan Bergman, all batting 2/4.
Dale Feldtman 4/4 and Charl Cordier 3/5 (one home run) and Jonathan Phillips 2-5 (one home run) did well for Western Province.
Gauteng beat WP B 9-6 and WP A beat Gauteng U23 17-2, to reach the finals.
Gauteng U23 beat WP B 11-10 to end third in the tournament.