The NSW Under 18 Women capped off a fantastic week on the diamonds, defeating Queensland yesterday evening in a dominant Grand Final performance to defend our U18 Women's National title and take home a 29th Elinor McKenzie Shield for NSW. The six-day National Championship was held at Mirrabooka, WA between January 16-21 2024. 

Recap

Our Under 18 Women had a scintillating start to the tournament with outstanding performances against both the ACT and WA on Day 1 defeating both teams comprehensively to place their mark on the competition. As the days passed the dominant performances kept rolling in as our Under 18 Women reeled in more impressive wins against quality opposition to take our undefeated streak to six games by the end of Day 3. 

The first and only loss was against Queensland who pulled out all the stops to edge us out 5-4 in a thrilling game of softball to start Day 4 proceedings. The loss to QLD didn't waver NSW's spirit instead it made our women in blue determined to achieve national glory. This led to NSW achieving another three comprehensive victories against ACT, Victoria and South Australia respectively to round out our round games in style locking in first place heading into finals action on Day 6. Our finals campaign got underway against formidable opponents QLD our NSW Under 18 Women held their own with scintillating performances from both Jayda Lorigan and Kate Luyten led NSW to a thrilling 3-1 victory to secure their place in the Grand Final. 

In front of a packed audience, our NSW Under 18 Women would play Queensland in the Grand Final at 5:30 pm on a spectacular Sunday evening and were excited to showcase their skills against formidable opposition. The NSW Under 18 Women were behind the eight ball early after Queensland scored an early innings run to be in front 1-0 heading into the top of the third inning. In true NSW fashion, our women in blue came roaring back into the contest with some fantastic hitting from Jayda Lorigan and Kate Luyten in the third inning to give NSW a 2-1 lead. The momentum had swung in our favour with more outstanding hitting from Maya Gillies and Maddi Durnell took NSW to a 5-1 lead heading into the 5th inning. Queensland attempted a spirited comeback but a masterful pitching performance from Jayda Lorigan restricted the opportunities for QLD to score allowing NSW to extend their lead further. The NSW Under 18 Women wrapped up the game 8-1 in a fantastic team performance. 

Watch the Grand Final Here: 2024 Elinor McKenzie Shield Grand Final NSW vs QLD

Individual Award Winners 

Grand Final MVP -  Jayda Lorigan

Tournament MVP & Best Batter - Kate Luyten