BATHURST'S Poppi Stephen and Charlotte Shoemark not only took out the School Sports Australia Under 12s Girls Cricket Championships but they did so as two of the best players in NSW's successful campaign at Darwin.
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Stephen was awarded player's player of the tournament for NSW following their 52 run victory over South Australia in Friday's decider while Shoemark was named player of the final after her game-high score of 33 and a pair of catches in the field.
It was a trip to remember for the City Colts Cricket Club pair, along with Dubbo's Lily Railz, who were the only three non-Sydney selections in the NSW team.
The title win and the pair of accolades at a national tournament are among the most significant achievements from junior Bathurst cricketers in recent times - made all the more special by the fact there were two players from the city sharing in the glory.
Stephen had done most of her damage in the tournament with the ball and she produced two of her best games in the two most crucial matches.
She took 5-20 in NSW's thrilling one wicket semi-final victory over Queensland Maroon and backed that up in the final with two wickets and a run out.
Shoemark had signalled her intentions early in the competition with a 46 run effort in a round one win over Victoria, and the top order batter saw out 60 deliveries during her crucial, patient knock in the final.
That last effort with the bat helped set up NSW for a total of 180.
Stephen contributed 10 to that total, and a ninth wicket stand of 46 runs between Eloise Lawry (26) and Ava Dragovic (17 not out) helped dig the Blues out of trouble.
Just as South Australia were looking to gain some momentum in their chase, at 2-52, Stephen struck in a big way.
After being hit for four by SA skipper Ivy Hobbs (19) on the first ball of the over Stephen produced an excellent comeback yorker to clean bowl her.
Just three balls later Stephen picked up the key wicket of opener Bridget Slattery (17) with a run out at the bowler's end.
From there South Australia's speedy run rate dropped significantly and the pressure began to mount.
Stephen clean bowled Mollie McArdle (19) to put an end to a brief but promising 31-run partnership for the eighth wicket.
South Australia eventually fell for 128 in the 29th over.
Stephen said it was an immensely satisfying way to round out a great tournament.
"It's really exciting because that semi-final was my first ever five-for. Then after I got to three wickets in the final I was thinking to myself 'Gee, this is going pretty good. I think we might win this game'," she said.
"The girl that hit me for four was the girl that got me out. After she hit that shot I thought 'I'm not going to let you hit me around any more'.
"They had a pretty good run rate going before that run out. My teammate Kaya [Kumar] threw the ball right over the stumps and I was able to hit them."
Shoemark was able to play her usual patient game out in the middle and gain good insight into how the pitch was playing.
After watching her fellow opener Gayathri Naik be dismissed on just the third ball of the innings Shoemark knew she had a job to do.
"It was pretty tough, and it was swinging a little bit. They were bowling a good length ... and the ball was keeping low, but it was a pretty good day for me," she said.
"It was a pretty good tournament. I got out on a couple of dodgy shots but that's okay."
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