Cumberland Force have come from fourth to claim the 2018 Winter League championship in a dramatic nine-innings final at Blacktown International Sportspark on Sunday night.

Cumberland edged into the finals in fourth but knocked out all three teams that finished above them to claim the title.

Starting with the third-placed Phantoms, Force won 4-2 to book a spot in the preliminary final. Facing the second-placed Hawks who went down 6-2 to the first-placed Phoenix in the major semi-final, Cumberland won 5-2 to set up a grand final with Phoenix.

The match itself was a nail-biter. Cumberland started strongly, scoring two runs at the top of the second. But Phoenix hit back immediately to lead 4-2 as the teams went into the third. Cumberland responded in the fifth two another two runs to tie things up, with the score remaining that way until the first extra inning, when the teams traded a run before Emily Paull hit to shortstop to give enough time for tiebreak runner Emma Umadhay to get home and seal the 6-5 win.

The Winter League Team MVP’s are:

• All Stars: Monique Pomare
• Blue Jays: Natalie McLeod
• Country Coasties: Bree Payton
• Cumberland Force: Emily Paull
• Hawks: Emily Whittaker
• Hills: Ashleigh Viera
• Manly Eagles: Mya Geros
• Phantoms: Bridie Murphy
• Phoenix: Mia Gilmore
• Sharks: Patricia Leung
• Sweet Heat: Georgia Barton

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Hit Squad continue form to Development League – Girls victory

Hit Squad went into the finals weekend with an undefeated record in 2018 but that would quickly change.

In the major semi-final, Macarthur upset the ladder leaders with a 7-5 win, sealing its grand final position and forcing Hit Squad to go the hard way to the title.

Coming up against Phantoms, Hit Squad made no mistake with a 13-1 win to book its own place in the grand final and meaning the top two teams would play off for the title.

Macarthur were up for the challenge, getting out to an early lead but Hit Squad would not be denied, scoring seven unanswered runs early to make the score 10-5 before a run each made it 11-6.

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Macarthur romp to Development League – Boys title

Macarthur asserted its dominance in the competition with an undefeated run through the boys Development League competition.

The side went undefeated in the competition and started the day with an 11-0 win over Cumberland Force.

Blue Jays and Barbarians played back-to-back with Blue Jays coming out victorious on both occasions, winning 5-4 in the final round robin match before a 13-10 win in the semi-final.

It pitted Blue Jays against Macarthur. Despite Blue Jays getting out to a 6-1 lead early, Macarthur finished strongly to claim an 11-6 win.