Redlands Green were confident of retaining the Queensland Cup when the Men’s Softball State Championships were played in Ormiston from October 13-15 only for wet weather to rain on their parade.
Redlands Green took out the Queensland Cup in 2016 and were on track to defend their crown at the Redlands Softball Association fields in Sturgeon Street before the rain intervened.
Redlands Green had only dropped one game against Logan on the competition’s first day by a narrow score of 3-2 and went on to win their way through to a rematch with them in the grand final, only for the match to be rained out on the Sunday.
The win on the Friday meant the Logan side took top spot on the table and Queensland Cup due to the washed out grand final, but Redlands Green player coach Luke Vandegriendt said had the match been played he was confident his team would have more than held their own.
“We played them earlier in the year in the final of a moneyball tournament and we managed to win the money there,” he said.
“We both won all of our games except for when we played each other on the first day they beat us 3-2.
“It was a great game, there was seven innings and it went right down to the wire.
“It’s a bit unfortunate we didn’t get to play them in the grand final but you can’t help the weather.”
Apart from their only loss to Logan, Redlands Green defeated Caboolture, Redcliffe, Wynnum, and Rockhampton during the tournament.
The tournament also served as a selection opportunity for the State team the Queensland Patriots with the Redlands Green team gaining a number of selections.
“All up we had 10 of our players make the Queensland Patriots team,” Vandegriendt said.
The team is now considering whether to play in another money tournament in Canberra in December.