By JARROD POTTER
TRUE dodgeballers were crowned on Thursday night as Shake n’ Bake dodged, ducked, dipped, and dived its way past U Can’t Catch This 10-9 to win the inaugural Cranbourne crown.
The premier sporting event of 2014 took place last week as Melbourne Dodgeball League’s Cranbourne competition culminated in a high-intensity finale.
Spanning 50 minutes of ball-busting, fast-paced but, thankfully, wrench-less action, mixed teams of four guys and two girls clashed to take the championship as the lead went back and forth.
Playing to the classic rules of American gyms – hit someone on the full and they’re out or catch the ball to eliminate an opponent and bring a team mate back in – U Can’t Catch This held on against an early run from Shake n’ Bake.
Point-for-point through most of the match, the inspired efforts of Paul Smith and Alcon Holdenbottle helped Shake n’ Bake extended the gap to 8-5 with 13 minutes left before the underdogs roared back into the match.
Peter Chang and David Ward forced Shake n’ Bake back into a corner as they claimed three of the next four points for U Can’t Catch This to take the match to 9-8 with three minutes left.
It would have been over had Shake n’ Bake captain Clint Burgess not attempted an outrageous catch in the dying seconds of regulation time but his fumble let U Can’t Catch This take the point, level the ledger at 9-9 and force the grand final into a nail-biting golden-point decider.
Shake n’ Bake’s champion dodger Smith was eliminated in the final point through a strong catch leaving Holdenbottle to make the winning shot and take the title.
Although a best on ground wasn’t awarded on the night by the league, Shake n’ Bake’s Smith featured prominently in just about every point – catching, dodging, blocking and eliminating the opposition – and rightfully deserved a trophy.
Shake n’ Bake’s prize was a kit of personalised team jerseys to highlight its achievements which the captain hoped to replicate in the upcoming season.
Burgess said the team of family friends was ready to defend its title – even if they need to do it again in golden-point overtime just to impress the audience.
“We could’ve taken it a game earlier – but we did it in the tiebreaker just for the fans,” Burgess said.
“We’ll be good to go again next season.”
Melbourne Dodgeball League founder Tyler Bowman said the Cranbourne grand final was the best he’d seen and encouraged more players to get down and make the next season – starting 17 July – even better.
“It was great – one of my favourite locations, friendly atmosphere, everyone was really nice and a very good grand final – one of the most intense ones we’ve had,” Bowman said.
For more information on Cranbourne league dodgeball, visit www.mdl.org.au or phone 0450 872 519.
