On a highway-like wicket at Bathurst's Morse Park 1, Blake Weymouth said he felt like it was his day virtually from ball one on Saturday afternoon and the boom Orange City youngster cashed in too, in a big way.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
He caressed his first ball for three and continued on for another 54 overs, not giving a chance before eventually being dismissed late in the day for 111 but still inspiring his side's eight-wicket romp over Centennials.
He took the reins as his side chased down 275 for victory with eight wickets to spare and half an hour left in the bank too, the unbeaten Warriors sending an ominous warning to all their Bathurst-Orange Inter-District Cricket rivals in the process.
It took an absolute screamer to dismiss the 16-year-old, NSW Combined High Schools opening bat too. Weymouth creamed one through cover, only to watch a full-stretch Ryan Gurney snare a stunner.
It was one of those digs where it kind of just felt like my day right from the start.
- Orange City's Blake Weymouth
"I guess maybe it was a little bit disappointing but only because it was at that stage of the game I think," Weymouth said, his side only needed 60 to win when he became the second wicket to fall.
"But I creamed it and it was a really good catch so you can't be too disappointed with that I guess, you just sort of have to say 'good catch, mate'.
"I was pretty pleased with the innings anyway, I hadn't score as many runs as I'd like (in the early stages of the season), so it was good to go big.
"It was one of those digs where it kind of just felt like my day right from the start, I got going a little bit after that and felt pretty good. It was good to get such a big win and nice to see [Ben Schofield] and [Lachie Coyte] get more runs too."
Weymouth combined with Schofield (60) in a foundation-setting, 157-run opening stand which all-but took the game away from Centennials, who'd resumed at 9-268 before losing their final wicket six runs later.
After his opening partner was trapped in front Weymouth then combined with Coyte to add another 48 for the second wicket, Coyte eventually went on to finish 61 not out and guide the Warriors home alongside Shaun Grenfell (30 not out).
The ton was Weymouth's second in the top grade after notching his first with an unbeaten 125 against CYMS last summer and his attention now turns to Western Zone's McDonald's Country Cricket NSW Colts Championship tilt at Bathurst, from Friday onward.
Matt Corben (92) and Bailey Ferguson (95 not out) both fell just short of tons in Cavaliers' big win over City Colts at Riawena Oval as well, the former was run out by gun fielder Josh Toole before he declared on the latter.
Corben didn't take a ruthless, Michael Atherton-like approach though, the former English skipper declared, seemingly out of the blue, with Graeme Hick two shy of a landmark ton against Australia in 1995's Sydney Test.
Cavaliers' skipper gave Ferguson a chance. He initially intended to declare when Ferguson was on 91, but instead gave him a 20-minute window to notch triple figures.
He didn't quite get there and Corben was forced to declare on him as the maroons chased an outright result, they were 7-352 and 157 in front of City Colts at the time.
They couldn't force maximum points though, the visiting Bathurst side worked their way to 2-77 when stumps were called, with Cavaliers taking their first innings win to leave City Colts winless on the bottom of the table through four rounds.
Of the other best-performed players over the weekend, Centrals' Fletcher Rose (71), St Pat's Old Boys' duo of Andrew Brown (73 not out) and Adam Ryan (51 not out), CYMS' Tom Belmonte (71) and Kinross' Will Luelf (78 not out) all notched half tons.
St Pat's Old Boys' Matt Fearnley proved the best of the bowlers, he picked up 3-13 on Saturday to go along with his list huge haul of 7-49, finishing with game figures of 10-62.
WANT MORE ORANGE NEWS AND SPORT?
- Receive our free newsletters delivered to your inbox, as well as breaking news alerts. Sign up below ...
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
