After four gruelling rounds of tournament play, three new Public Health memorandums on community sport during the COVID-19 pandemic and two washout rounds, the Cynics concluded the Tatonka Cup on Saturday August 22 at Flat Rock Reserve.

While the tournament did not climax as many expected in a 3-game Grand Final series, players and coaches braved the Antarctic wind chill to showcase some (mostly) competitive baseball in what will likely be the last on-field event of 2020.

Despite their being no official winner, the Cynics on behalf of all baseball in NSW are, above all, happy to have brought some baseball to the returning veterans, club members and up-and-coming rookies that joined us for our six-week endeavour.

We would like to thank (in no particular order) the following:

Sydney University Sport and Fitness, for their continued and generous support of the club throughout a difficult year.
Willoughby Council and North Sydney Bears Baseball Club, for the use of their facilities at Flat Rock Reserve.
Moorebank Royals Baseball Club, for the use of their facilities at Hammondville Oval.
Young Henrys, for the continued sponsorship and support of the Club (both on and off the field).
NSW Baseball Umpires Association, and in particular, Jerry Cobb, for their efforts in officiating the tournament.

Final Tournament Standings:

Nihilists (7-1)

Scottish Common-Sense Realists (3-5)

Hedonists (2-6)

Following the completion of all games, the following players were recognised for their outstanding achievements on and off the field:

Tournament MVP: Tommy Stanton (Nihilists)

Batting Champion: Chris Douglass (Hedonists)

Pitcher of the Tournament: Ben Cobb (SCSR)

Gold Glove: Tiger Ma (SCSR)

Best Rookie of the Tournament: Tom Pellow (Nihilists), Alex Pellow (Nihilists)

Biggest Own of the Tournament: Cooper Horton [of Josh Peruch] (Hedonists)

Best and Fairest: Steven Watts (Hedonists), Adam Green (Nihilists), Xavier Horsley (SCSR)

Most/Least COVID Safe: Ben Warnock (SCSR)/Zac McAlister (Nihilists)

Pam Garrett (The Stump) Award: Matt Kelleher (Nihilists), Ben Warnock (SCSR), Mitchell Liddle (Nihilists)

Thank you once again to all involved. We hope that the tournament was well received and provided some semblance of normality in the face of a period that sparsely resembles normal. We remain optimistic that as the pandemic continues to improve, we will be back on the diamond as soon as possible. Until then, all praise be to Tatonka.

- Cynics Executive Committee 2020

Cynics Intra-Squad Tournament Wrap!