A HOST of Shoalhaven District Junior Cricket Association products have excelled for the Greater Southern Marlins at the recent NSW Youth Championships at Dubbo.
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The under 14s side, featuring Berry's Max Carr-McCarron and Tom Fletcher, Shoalhaven Ex-Servicemens' Matthew Higham and Ulladulla United's Ryan Gilkes, opened their campaign on September 29 against Murrumbidgee.
At Lady Cutler Field, the Marlins (0/99) defeated their rivals (3/98) in a 20-over match, with Jared Galvin (48 not out) and Luke Bramble (45 not out) starring.
Next up for the Marlins was a clash with fellow Thunder pool opponents CAW Murray.
After electing to bat first, Bramble (70), Galvin (46) and Fletcher (20) steered the Marlins to 3/166 before they rolled CAW Murray for 76, with Will Speering (2/11), Gilkes (2/12) and Aiden Formosa (2/12) claiming multiple scalps.
The Marlins made it three wins on the trot when they edged Central West (3/125 to 6/121), thanks to Speering (4/26), Fletcher (55), Higham (22) and Gilkes (19 not out).
But their win streak came to a halt in game four, when they were defeated by Far West (3/101 to 6/100) - despite top efforts from Gilkes (48) and Higham (19).
In their final fixture of the opening round, the Marlins went down to ACT/Southern Districts Kings (181 to 111), with Machael Amadio (3/18) and Isaac Laughton (38) doing all they could in the loss.
The final two fixtures of the Marlins schedule will see them play ACT/SD Barons (October 20) at Prell Oval and the Illawarra Highlanders (November 3).
While the under 15s Marlins side, coached by Batemans Bay's Andrew Malcolm and including Berry's Alec Dobson and Christian Page, Bay's Lachlan Malcolm and Ulladulla's Drew and Jay Ramsden, started their tournament against Murrumbidgee.
Despite 54 from Dobson and 2/16 from Cooper Harrison, the Marlins went down 4/133 to 4/127 at Lady Cutler Field.
But the Marlins responded in game two of their Thunder Pool, defeating CAW Murray 4/118 to 7/117 - with Malcolm (49 not out) and Cooper Hayes (2/5) dominating.
The third game of their tournament, against Central West, was a thriller.
The hosts batted first, making 8/105 from their 20 overs before the Marlins reached 7/105 in their innings - paced by Dobson's 39.
This sent to the match to a super over, which the Marlins held on to win, after batting first.
In round four, the Marlins were pitted against Far West and made light work of their opponents - bowling them out for 70 before reaching the target (4/71) in the 12th over.
The stars in the win were Dobson (3/9) and Malcolm (33 not out).
The final match the Marlins played at Dubbo saw them edge out ACT/SD Kings at Victoria Park, in a 50-over match.
A massive 104 not out by Malcolm steered the Marlins to 5/211 from their 50 overs, with Harrison also batting well for his 54.
In reply, the Kings were all out for 160, thanks to 3/29 from Mitchell Constantinou.
The Marlins next play the ACT/SD Barons on October 20 at Seiffert Park before taking on the Illawarra Highlanders on November 3.
The final Marlins team in action at Dubbo was the under 13s squad, headlined by Bomaderry's Jackson Ingram and Berry's Matthew Page.
The Marlins defeated Murrumbidgee (1/102 to 5/99) in game one, thanks to 72 not out from Ingram, before downing CAW Murray (4/40 to 35) in game two - with Baxter McDonald taking 5/5.
Game three pitted the Marlins against Central West, who they edged 2/106 to 2/104 - with Ingram (61) top-scoring.
The Marlins maintained their unbeaten record in games four and five, defeating Far West (6/134 to 6/91) and ACT/SD Kings (90 to 41)
In the wins, Ingram scored a total of 73 runs s Blake Mackrell took five scalps.
They next face ACT/SD Barons (October 20) and Illawarra Highlanders (November 3).