What Troy O'Keeffe has done this summer is nothing short of remarkable.
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The Orange City veteran went from a third grade spin bowler to a BOIDC premiership-winning wicket keeper, all in the span of a few months.
Orange City put the finishing touches on a trying campaign on Sunday afternoon, downing minor premiers St Pat's Old Boys by two wickets in a dramatic finale.
But, none of it would have happened if it wasn't for O'Keeffe.
After wicket keeping for 80 overs on the first day of play, the big man was called upon with 28 runs required on Sunday afternoon at Bathurst Sportsground.
For over two hours, O'Keeffe stood at the crease, scratching and clawing for every last single before hitting the winning runs in over 86.
"It's all a bit of a blur to be honest," O'Keeffe said.
"I'd given away wicket keeping for the season ... it was becoming too much on the body.
"After the 80 overs on Saturday, I wasn't sure how well I'd go on the Sunday afternoon if I was required."
As it turned out, he went about as well as you could imagine ... with help from his teammates.
"Harry [McGregor] was as cool as a cucumber," he said, the young paceman scoring one run off 48 balls at the other end.
"A lot of the work was done in the early innings.
"Blakey Weymouth had a really good 48 and Ben Schofield (31) and Shaun Grenfell (27) scored at a reasonable rate.
"That gave Harry and I all the time in the world."
It's the fourth successive top grade premiership for the Warriors when including their 2017-18 and 2018-19 titles in the ODCA.
City skipper Ed Morrish was just as elated as his wicket keeper.
"That was a gutsy win. Games like that are not so much about how good you are but how much heart you've got," he said.
"People doubted us because last year we were given the title due to COVID, so we wanted to go out and prove that we were that team."
Saints were in serious danger in their innings on Saturday before Cooper Brien (29), Hamish Siegert (46) and Josh Wilcox (45) added more than 100 runs over the space of two partnerships.
O'Keeffe and McGregor each survived a scare when they were nearly caught, and their nervous chase was prolonged further by a drinks break with 10 runs to get.
But there was no need to fear as the pair etched their names into the City history books with a partnership to remember.
McGregor was City's best with the ball, taking 3-42 from 16 overs on day one.
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