Orange under-12s coach Stu Middleton has heaped praise on his players after they lost to Bathurst in the final of the Mitchell Cricket Council's inter-town competition.
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His side went into the final as massive outsiders, having lost to Bathurst last game and only making the final thanks to Mudgee winning their first game of the season against Blue Mountains in the final match.
The hosts were held to 138 from their 40 overs, but Middleton knew his side would "always be up against it" with the bat, and despite a valiant partnership between Hayden Griffith and Ollie Brincat, the side could only reach 89 in reply.
However, Middleton said he was proud of the squad, with most in their first season of representative cricket.
"I'm really proud of them for this season, the rep stuff is a step up and played on turf which they're not used to so it was pleasing to see," he said.
Coaching them was such a treat.
- Stu Middleton
"It was a total improvement from where we were at the start of the season in game one … they played their guts out."
Bathurst gun Mark Sheather proved the key difference with the ball, taking apart any resistance Griffith and Brincat had mounted.
Sheather took 5-6, which Middleton said some of the runs were extras, and his boys just "couldn't get it off the pitch".
"He bowled full and straight and he was really hard to get him away," he said.
"We spoke about how we needed to survive his spell and get through his overs but he was just too good."
Middleton said seeing the group come together across different clubs was really promising.
"You've got two to three kids per club, coming together to build partnerships and friendships and coaching them was such a treat," he saiod.
Most of the side will stay together, with four or five boys ageing out into under 14s, which Middleton hopes will add to the side's strength next season.
Meanwhile, Gus Cornish and Luke Hunter weren't given enough - if any - support in the under 14 grand final, also against Bathurst.
Hunter hit 58 and Cornish an unbeaten 55 to hit the bulk of Orange's 7-151, with the next-highest score just five runs to four different batters.
Angus Partsons took 3-10 off 10 for Bathurst to help restrict Orange's score, while Blake Kreuzberger bowled seven overs without conceding a run.
Kruezberger then backed up with the bat, hitting an unbeaten 92 to guide the hosts home only three wickets down with nearly 20 overs to spare as Flynn Taylor (26 not out) provided support.
The opener hit 15 fours and one six in his 86-ball match-winning innings.
Bathurst completed a clean sweep of the junior grades, winning the under-16 grand final against Blue Mountains by 36 runs.
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