Under-16s nearly claim come-from-behind victory over reigning premiers

With eight games held virtually back-to-back over the weekend at Blacktown International Sports park, the 10 members of the Orange side came together with three players from Wagga Wagga and two from Sydney associations to nearly overcome reigning champions Macarthur.

The side lost the grand final 7-6, hitting three home runs in the final innings to nearly claim the title from behind.

The grand final was an absolute cracker, with the side's coach Geoff Kelly recounting Softball NSW officials saying it one of the best finals they'd seen in years.

Orange took a two-run lead after a scoreless first three innings, before a home run with all bases loaded from Macaurthur's Riley Sutcliffe allowed the Sydney side to go 6-2 up after the fourth.

With two more scoreless innings to follow, Orange had all the pressure riding on them in the final innings, needing four runs to draw level and force the game into a decider, but fell just one run short.

With the final score a 7-6, Kelly said he couldn't be prouder of his charges for not just the final game, but the whole tournament.

"We were really happy with how we went, we'd never trained together as a side before our first game," he said.

"I thought we'd be competitive, aiming for top four but we were really happy to make the grand final."

The side's batting was the force behind the surge to the top of the pool games, with Jayden McDonald, James George, Ky Hurst and Bailey Peschka all hitting brilliantly according to Kelly, with the side's appeal with the bat coming from enthusiasm.

"Our fielding and pitching and all that is normally pretty good but they went really well with their batting," he said.

"They all enjoyed themselves, it was a bit of fun and they were all really upbeat which I think rubbed off in their batting."

Orange didn't take the easy way into the final either, needing to beat a strong Penrith side to have a chance at challenging Macarthur, but dispatched the Sydney side with a comfortable scoreline in the end.

They won 20-11 in a dominant display of hitting, which was a theme they carried on from the eight games over the weekend.

It continued a tradition of Wagga and Orange associations sharing players ahead of big tournaments, with the two groups regularly sharing players when one or the other is short.