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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
National
Josh Callinan

Euphoric feeling as Wingrove claims maiden Claxton Shield

Newcastle's Rixon Wingrove (right) celebrates on Sunday night with Adelaide Giants defeating Perth Heath to claim the Australian Baseball League's Claxton Shield. Pictures by Ryan Schembri
The Adelaide Giants collected their first national crown since 1980.
Left-handed batter Rixon Wingrove takes off during Sunday's decider in Adelaide.

Newcastle's Rixon Wingrove summed up the feeling with one word - "euphoric".

Amid the celebrations from a title success, Wingrove was still coming to terms with claiming his maiden Claxton Shield and helping Adelaide Giants break a 43-year drought in the Australian Baseball League (ABL).

"Euphoric," Wingrove said when contacted by the Newcastle Herald.

"It's something I've never had the pleasure of experiencing before and sharing it with some of my best friends, who I've had since I was a kid, means more than anything to me."

The Phoenix Charlestown product, now aged 22, played a pivotal role in the third-and-deciding game of the ABL championship series.

The Giants broke the overall deadlock by beating Perth Heat 5-2 in Adelaide on Sunday with left-handed Wingrove hitting a double at the bottom of the eighth.

His teammate advanced for a 4-2 lead while later in the same innings Wingrove made it home for Adelaide's final run.

"That was the point, once I scored off Quincy's hit, I thought 'wow, we're actually going to do this here'," Wingrove said.

"We were three outs away and there was no longer any stress. We got to enjoy it a bit. It still feels surreal."

The Giants, who last held the national trophy aloft in 1980, were forced to fight back from a game-one loss (9-5) in Perth on Friday and triumphed by seven (9-2) in game two in Adelaide on Saturday.

"We were on the back foot to start with but game three was winner takes all. It was incredible to win at home," he said.

Wingrove hopes to earn selection in the Aussie squad bound for next month's World Baseball Classic.

He then reports to spring training with US franchise the Philadelphia Phillies.

Meanwhile, Toronto's Boss Moanaroa was named players' player for ABL side Canberra Cavalry on Monday.

To see more stories and read today's paper download the Newcastle Herald news app here.

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