Canberra Cavalry's John Murphy (C) celebrates with teammates Mitch Dening (19) and Michael Crouse (30) after hitting a home run during the eighth inning. Photo: Reuters
The Canberra Cavalry have defied the odds to be crowned the best team in Asia and the players credit a tight bond for lifting them to unmatched success in Australian baseball.
The Cavalry won the Asia Series on Thursday morning when they beat Taiwanese team the Uni-President Lions 14-4 in Taiwan.
The team's win will inject $500,000 into the Australian Baseball League coffers and caps a remarkable turnaround from the bottom of the Australian ladder to the top of Asia.
The defending ABL champions returned to Australia on Thursday night and will be back on the field to play against the Brisbane Bandits in Canberra on Friday.
To win the Asia Series, the Cavalry - with a modest roster spend of $47,000 - conquered teams boasting million-dollar talent who spend more than $20 million on their rosters.
In contrast, Cavalry players juggle full-time work with their baseball careers.
The Cavalry are the first Australian team to win a game in the Asia Series. The $500,000 prize will be spread around the ABL. The sport's popularity is growing with American powerhouses, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers, to open the season in Sydney in March.
The inspiration for the Cavalry's rise is a rap by US hip-hop artist Drake: ''Started from the bottom now we're here.''
Cavalry catcher Jack Murphy has been part of the transformation, joining the team after its second consecutive ABL wooden spoon. Now they are one of the best teams outside of the US.
The close bonds coach Michael Collins has helped develop is the secret to their success.
''There are guys on our team that work nine-to-five [jobs] back in Australia, they have families, they're not your stereotypical professional baseball players and last year when we won the ABL that surprised a lot of people because Canberra had been a city that had been beat up a lot as far as baseball is concerned,'' Murphy said.
''We feel like we've come from many different places, but now we've managed to put together a really winning team … we started from the bottom and now we're the champions of the Asian Series.''
Murphy was outstanding in the Asia League series, smashing the Cavalry into the final and then delivering a knock-out blow in the decider with a grand slam, a four-run home run, with the game still in the balance.
The Cavalry jumped to an early lead, but the Lions pounced and it was 4-2 in the blink of an eye.
The tide turned when Michael Crouse scored and the Cavalry grabbed the Lions by the throat in the seventh innings.
The Canberra team belted 11 runs in two innings and the contest was over.
Murphy was named most valuable player, producing a massive grand slam, a four-run homer, during the blitzkrieg.
Collins had praise for his bullpen. ''We're pumped, we made a couple of errors there early in that game, it led to a few runs and credit to our team, we stuck with it,'' he said. ''Our defence came good, [our] offence swung the bats the whole game and exploded there at the end.''
Michael Wells, who had an average of .545 for the tournament, said it was a dream come true. ''It's pretty surreal, to put up 11 runs in two innings - you couldn't even dream of doing something like that,'' Wells said.
''I just love playing this game and my coaches over the last few years have given me the opportunity to help us win ball games.
''They showed faith in me and I love playing for Michael, I love my teammates, they're a fantastic bunch of guys.
''The last couple of years we've just had a fantastic bunch of guys and we just want to play hard for each other.''
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