2023 was a massive year in sport for the Yarra Ranges and it’s time to reflect on some highlights!
Back to back premiership wins for Upper Ferntree Gully Baseball Club
For a second consecutive season, Upwey Ferntree Gully Baseball Club won the Division 1 first, bringing home the Victorian Club Championships in the process.
First-team coach Donovan Hendricks said the premiership win and Club Championships were a phenomenal achievement for the playing group across the entire club.
“Our club has now won five premierships and the first set was a threepeat and now we’ve gone back to back,” he said.
At the time the Club president Dwain Richardson said his message to his players ahead of next season was for the moment to enjoy being a part of something special and to try and continue building on what they’ve already achieved.
“We’ve got a great community of people that just love each other, love coming down and playing for each other; if you can get that right, you’ll get success on the field,” he said.
“Extraordinary” premiership win for Olinda’s female cricketers
Olinda Cricket Club’s women’s side won its first grand final in the Ferntree Gully & District Cricket Association’s Women’s League on Sunday 12 March, playing off against South Belgrave.
Women’s coordinator and co-captain of the First XI women’s team at Olinda Cricket Club, Nikki Burgess, said it was a “very close match” at the opponent’s home ground.
“It was really quite an even playing field, and great to have the result we did; there was a lot of celebrating amongst the girls and the wider club and the wider community, in general, have been very supportive,” Burgess said.
Despite the win, Burgess said it has been difficult getting women into the club since the team formed in 2020.
“When we first started, there hadn’t been women’s teams for 109 years,” she said.
“We would love to see the Olinda Cricket Club become a destination club for women’s cricket for multiple senior women’s teams.”
Local baseballer stealing bases on the word stage
Upwey Ferntree Gully Baseball Club’s Jack Ratcliffe was one of a small pool of highly talented Australian baseball players named in the Under 18 team going to Japan for the Baseball World Cup.
When Star Mail last spoke to Jack, he was preparing to go to New Zealand for the World Cup Qualifiers against Guam and New Zealand, in which he helped to secure Australia’s place in the upcoming tournament.
Now the young 17-year-old has been selected to play for the team, after what his father described as a ‘gruelling’ selection camp.
Simon Ratcliffe, who also has a strong history of baseball with the Upwey Ferntree Gully club, said the boys were put to the test to be selected for the team.
“It’s always special when your son is coming up and he’s good enough to succeed and use these opportunities in his career,” he said.
Windsor lands AFL dream
Wingman Caleb Windsor from Lysterfield Junior FC was snapped up as pick seven by the Melbourne Football Club in the draft on Monday 20 November.
The speedy winger has joined the Dees from the Eastern Ranges Football Club and Vic Metro, coming from the Lysterfield Junior Football Club and playing a standout game for South Belgrave Football Club in the middle of the year against the Mitcham Tigers.
“I was happy I played in that match, especially obviously now knowing that that would be my last game of local footy for a while,“ 18-year-old Windsor told the Star Mail.
Going into the draft, Windsor said he felt “a bit nervous, but mostly excited”.
“It was probably one of the best moments in my life, the best feeling I’ve ever felt,” he said.
Former South Belgrave head coach, Luke Galliot said having an AFL player come from the Hills community is “huge“ for the club.
“We’ll be excited as soon as [Caleb] gets to it; he’s got all the attributes to be a really good senior player at the highest level,” he said.
Local V8 supercar driver looking to career ahead
Antonio Molluso, from Silvan, debuted in a V8 car in Phillip Island in May where he placed third, followed by a second-place get at Sandown Raceway in August.
“We raced previously in Hyundai Excel; an entry level two car racing, [with] low powered front wheel drive, so not fast compared to a V8 Supercar,” the 21-year-old said.
He said he is working closely with V8 Supercar team Erebus Motorsport who are leading the championship at the moment.
“They’ve welcomed me along and have a good interest in me, but they want to see the results on track as well.”
Antonio’s racing journey can be seen on Instagram via the mollusomotorsports handle.
Emerald shines brightest
Emerald had a thumping 59-point win over Berwick Springs at Healesville in the 2023 Outer East’s Division One football competition’s grand final.
The Bombers kicked the opening five goals of the contest in a dominant, disciplined and brutal display of football while defending tenaciously at the other end in the 14.16 100 to 5.11 41 result, in what Sein Clearihan described as the side’s best performance of the season.
Clearihan, basking in the glory of his first premiership as senior coach, described the achievement as “surreal”, beaming with pride over the resilience his team displayed.
“You’ve got to live for the minute,” he said.
The Bombers could have been forgiven for wearing mental scars from the heartbreaking extra time loss two weeks earlier, or the cluster of ACLs that ruined four players’ years before they began, or the loss of Clearihan’s father late in the season.
But pressure makes gemstones, and in this case, or in this case, Emeralds.
“They’ve been the dominant side all year and today they just went about it. You couldn’t write it,” he said.
Olinda-Ferny Creek Senior Women cement themselves in history after 2023 Grand Final win
In August the Olinda-Ferny Creek’s Senior Women’s team cemented their place in history after a jubilant 43-point victory over Pakenham in front of a packed house at Healesville on Sunday 13 August.
All elements added up to what was a fairytale victory and the culmination of three years of toil and effort by a host of people past and present, on and off the field.
Half the mountain was at the game and celebrated with the girls well into the morning and the game itself was an enjoyable spectacle in front of a vocal, energetic crowd.
Olinda-Ferny Creek took home the premiership with a score of 60 points from nine goals and six points, to Pakenham’s 17 points from two goals and five points.
Congratulations to the team, coach Simon Gilson and his support group, and the OFCFNC as a whole.
