Since then they’ve won Canberra’s first ever Claxton Shield as ABL champions and now they’ve conquered the multi-million dollar teams of Asia. Base runner Liu Fu-hao (56) of Taiwan's Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions slides to second base while Shane Opitz of Australia's Canberra Cavalry waits during the third inning of the final of the Asia Series at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium November 20, 2013. Credit:Reuters It was the perfect opening by Cavalry starter Ethan Cole with three-up, three-down to bring the Canberra offence to the plate. As he’s done all tournament, second base Jon Berti got on base and it wasn’t long before he was crossing home plate. With Mitch Denning also getting on board, Jack Murphy smashed one to left field and the Cavs were away, leading 2-0 after the first inning.

But make an error at your peril – a Berti fumble and a walk both got home to level the score. And it was more errors in third that saw the Lions get in front, with Berti’s partner-in-crime Shane Opitz fumbling while trying to turn a double play. The Lions pounced and it was 4-2 in the blink of an eye. Cole’s night was done and Eric Massingham ended the third inning with a double play. Murphy looked to have repeated his heroics of the semi-final, where he scored an extra-innings two-run homer, smashing the ball to centre-field, only for Tang Chao-Ting to produce a brilliant diving catch.

It ended the third inning and saved two certain runs. But the Cavs refuse to lie down. Crouse was able to score, despite Aaron Sloan grounding into a double play and it was back to a 4-3 Lions lead after four. Massingham was able to steady the ship for the Cavs, but his night was done after Lions runners got to second and third in the top of the sixth. Mike Ekstrom came out of the bullpen and was able to quell the danger.

His presence was crucial and it allowed the Cavs hitters to wait for their chance. That chance came in the bottom of the seventh. It started with a Shane Opitz single and the Cavs ended up scoring five runs to bolt out to an 8-4 lead. Berti then produced one of the most amazing defensive plays to turn a certain hit to give the Lions a sniff into a double play. The Cavs added six runs in the bottom of the eighth, including a four-run homer by Jack Murphy, and then it was Sean Wesley Toler time.

Uni Lions 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 4 10 0 Loading Cavalry 2 0 0 1 0 0 5 6 x – 14 20 3 Cavalry best – CF Dening (5-5, 2RBI, SB), 2B Berti (3-5, 2RBI), C Murphy (2-4, 7RBI, HR), DH Wells (2-5, 2RBI), P Massingham (3I, 3H, 0R, 2K), P Ekstrom (1.2I, 0H, 0R, 2K).