Another Past vs Present game in the books

Sydney Uni Baseball celebrated its rich history with its annual Past vs Present game Saturday, July 4th on a pristine day at Petersham Oval. Seven decades of Sydney Uni baseball were represented on the field and in the stands.

 After some late cancellations to the Past team roster ('work', 'family', 'sick' or 'injured'), the game got underway slightly behind schedule, as members of the past team were late due to misplaced baseball cleats and gloves. 

Without declaring conflicts of interest, club coach and Past team member Rob Giallombardo instructed the Present team to start 1st grader Lachlan Brook on the hill. Things suddently seemed a lot more serious than advertised, and the Past team had little offensive battery in this period of the game Some rust in the Past defense allowed the Present to get ahead with 3 runs against the once formidable Jon 'Duck' Nicoll.

The bats woke up for the Past team with change on the mound to undergrad Jean Ahn, and along with some interesting rule changes and adjudications to favour the Past team, a competitive game of baseball was on the cards. A questionable foul call led to the next pitch to Shanin Hislop going for home run to straight-away centre. One of the biggest ever seen by the players and crowd tied the game 3-3.

Sustained pressure from the Past, along with some recruitment of pitching stock from the Present, saw Past edge ahead 6-3. A late game highlight saw Anthony Carroll defect from the Past team to pitch for the Present, striking out Shanin Hislop. 

With one last inning to play and 2 outs needed, the Past team acquired first grade pitcher Gabe Quoyle (a trade, grandfather clause or representative of alumnus Darby Quoyle, it wasn't clarified). Somewhat steady hands in the Past infield minimised damage to finish the game with a 6-4 Past victory. 

Members of team Purgatory - old enough to share memories with Past team members of the glory days, but seemingly young enough to continue performing with the current 2026 SUBC squad, assisted more behind the scenes. Special thanks to Mitch 'Padre' Liddle for cooking up a BBQ for the club to enjoy while our student PCBL team played in their comp afterwards and the boys got to soak in some winter sun.