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2036 Championship - Wellington Fury v Christchurch Cowboys

Before it even started, the 2036 Championship Series made history, with this year marking the 1st time 2 New Zealand-based teams were playing each other. While Australian media worried the series’ broadcasts wouldn’t rate well as a result, they needn’t have. Both teams boasted enough Australians to keep the nationalistic Australian-based fan happy, and fans in general were as excited as they always were to watch the Championship.

If Mitch Cornell thought he and his Cowboys would get off as quietly at the beginning of this series as they had in the Division Finals, he had another thing coming. The media barrage in the 2 days leading up to the 1st game was brutal and relentless.

The Fury had won only 2 of 12 regular season games between the 2 sides. If the best offensive team, and 2nd-best defensive team, couldn’t knock off the Fury, a “team at the end of its fairy-tale,” according to one commentator, then they “needed to spend the entire offseason hiding in Bottle Lake Forest Park, learning how to be men again.”

Declan Considine, in his 5th year as manager of the Fury, was not happy with how the media were presenting the situation. At the Game 1 pre-match presser, he said, “Look, if you guys want to rip up the Cowboys, be my guest. I doubt they’re watching you guys anyway, and to be honest, I think Mitch likes the attention. But listen, my lads have worked their arses off this season. They’ve fought and scrapped and scraped to get here, and they deserve some credit for that. So you need to stop the stupid comparisons and the insults. Not for their sake, because they don’t watch you either. But for your sake, because this is all just juvenile.”

Immediately, one of the journos replied, “Hey, at least we can tie our own shoes.”

It was a reference to a story earlier in the year, in which 20 year-old Fury rookie Adrian McHugh was quoted as saying he wore velcro cleats because he always had trouble getting the “over-under shoelace thing sorted.”

Considine, 55, looked at the ceiling, shook his head, and left the room. Word was relayed a few minutes later that the Fury would hold no more press conferences for the duration of the Championship, and no players would be available to talk to the media.

Game 1

Gallagher v Juarez.

Wayne Schmidt’s 2-run dinger in the top of the 2nd put the Fury up 2-0, and from there until the 8th it was both pitchers trading punches. The Cowboys got on the board in the bottom of the 8th thanks to 3 consecutive no-out singles. Oliver Sharp then walked to load the bases, giving the Cowboys a real opportunity to take the lead and possibly the game away from the Fury. Harry Leseberg struck out swinging on 3 pitches, and then Jarod Atkins ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning and end the threat.

The Fury scored a 2-out insurance run in the top of the 9th to make it 3-1, and it was just as well they did. Naismith came out to close the game, and gave up a leadoff single to Trent Cashmore. Gomez’s ground out advanced Cashmore to 3rd, and Arnold Tipping’s single put runners on the corners and the winning run at the plate. Clancy Rankin thumped 1 to deep center and for a few moments the home crowd thought it was gone, but it hit the wall, and only brought Cashmore home. Still, with runners at 2nd and 3rd, with 1 out, the Cowboys had to be liking their chances. Ming Sun popped up to 2nd. 2 out. Bailey Johnston walked to load the bases, but rookie Oliver Sharp hit the 1st pitch of his AB firmly to 3rd who made no mistake with the regulation throw to 3rd.

3-2 Fury in a nail-biting finish for their fans (and manager).

Juarez threw 7.2 innings, allowing 5 hits and 3 walks, K’ing 4, for 2 earned runs. That was enough to get him the loss. Gallagher was great in his 8 innings, allowing only 5 hits and 1 walk for 1 earned run. He struck out 6.

No Fury players could be reached for comment after the game.

Game 2

Schwer v Coulton. And Schwer was fantastic, dominating through 8 innings, allowing only 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 7.

Harley Puckeridge got the scoring underway in the 1st with a 2-run HR. And that was all the run production until the 8th, when the Fury went single, sac bunt, IBB, (pitching change) rbi-single, rbi-single, K, popup F4, to make it 4-0. The Cowboys managed to get runners on 2nd and 3rd in the bottom of the 8th with 2outs, but couldn’t bring either of them home.

Just to make sure there was no doubt about the outcome, the Fury batted around in the top of the 9th, scoring 5 (double, single, rbi-double, BB, sac fly, BB, (pitching change) rbi-BB, popup F4, 2-rbi single, K).

9-0 Fury and they were up 2 to nothing in the series.

Coulton wasn’t terrible, just outclassed by Schwer. In 7.1 innings, Coulton allowed 7 hits and 2 walks, striking out 6, for 4 earned runs.

Game 3

The series went to Wellington, and the Cowboys were deep in a hole. The Fury still weren’t talking to the media, but their performances were plenty loud, so the journos had nothing to do but keep bringing up the old Cowboys’ lack of mental fitness chestnut. It was an awkward time for media, fans, and the AUNZBL.

Thurgood would face off against Radford.

Once again, a 2-run HR was the first scoring act of the game. Drew Geoghegan was the hitter this time, in the bottom of the 1st. The Cowboys offense clicked into gear in the 3rd however, as they batted around, scoring 7. Everything happened with 2 outs, too, and Thurgood stalked off at the end of the inning looking both bewildered and angry. Oliver Sharp singled, then stole 2nd. Harry Leseberg battled 11 pitches for a walk, then Jarod Atkins doubled over the head of the leftfielder to bring both runners home. Trent Cashmore singled, and a wayward throw from the RF saw Atkins come home and Cashmore move up to 2nd. Gomez walked on 9 pitches, then Arnold Tipping loaded the bases with a single over the head of 2nd base. Clancy Rankin made sure the damage was irreversible, lofting the 1-0 pitch down the right field line and just over the wall for a Grand Slam! 7-2 Cowboys.

And then, just like that, the Cowboys’ offense sputtered to a halt again. But the Fury couldn’t find their way back into the game either, a Harley Puckeridge 437-foot solo shot in the 7th their only addition to the score. 7-3 Cowboys.

Thurgood stayed in for an extra inning after his beating, but no longer. He gave up 5 hits and 2 walks for 7 earned runs, striking out 3. Radford got the win, restricting the Fury to 5 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings, fanning 4, for 3 earned runs.

Cowboys reliever Blair Bansfield came out of the game complaining of a sore back. Medical staff said the extent of the injury wouldn’t be known until after they’d run a battery of tests and scans.

Game 4

The Cowboys would start Juarez for this one, while the Fury went with 21-game starter Karl Murphy (10-9, 3.66 ERA, 4.24 FIP, 1.35 WHIP).

The Fury got on the board in the bottom of the 1st with a Danny Goodwin solo HR. The Cowboys evened it up in the top of the 2nd with a Ming Sung solo effort, and then added 2 runs across the 4th and 5th to go ahead 3-1. In the bottom of the 6th Wayne Schmidt hit a 2-out, 2-run HR to even the scores, and then Brice, Simon Calleson, and Dolgonos hit consecutive singles to make it 4-3 Fury.

Trent Cashmore belted a solo HR in the top half of the 7th to make it 4-4, and that was all the scoring through regulation innings. The Cowboys loaded the bases in the top of the 11th with 1 out, but had a runner thrown out at home off a nubber back to the pitcher, and limply ended the inning with a regulation groundball to the shortstop.

In the bottom of the 11th, Geoghegan led off with a 1st-pitch single, advanced to 2nd on a wild pitch, then to 3rd on a ground out. The next batter was intentionally walked to set up the double play. Richard Lewis came up to bat and hit the 2-2 pitch softly towards the hole at 2nd, forcing the 2B to run onto the infield grass. Geoghegan took off with the contact and as there was no chance of the double play, the 2B fired it home, but Geoghegan beat out the throw with a foot-first slide to win the game. 5-4 Fury, and a Championship was just about in their grasp.

Juarez gave up 9 hits and a walk in 5.2 IP, sitting 7 down on strikes. Murphy allowed 7 hits and 2 walks, striking out 3, in 7 innings.

Harry Leseberg strained his oblique and would miss the rest of the series. The Cowboys also found out that Blair Bansfield had a ruptured disc in his back and would be out for 8-9 months.

Game 5

The media were certainly singing the Fury’s praises now, but still neither manager nor players would give interviews or appear at press conferences. Word was the AUNZBL had issued a half-hearted demand to Fury management that the media agreement be honoured, but they said nothing publicly, and the Fury didn’t back down. GM Dean Warren, who’d been overseeing the organization since 2025, was doing interviews, but they appeared purposefully vague and generic. Owner Jeremy Wilcox was “out of the country on business.”

On the mound, it was Gallagher v Joe Turton (12-9, 3.99 ERA, 4.02 FIP, 1.21 WHIP), who’d had a tumultuous time out of the bullpen for the Cowboys in the postseason.

The Cowboys’ offense busted out in this one, as they scored 6 unanswered runs through the 1st 3 innings, sending Gallagher to an early shower. They scored another in the 5th to make it 7-0, before the Fury hit back with 3 in the bottom of the inning, 2 coming via solo HRs (Brice, Baxter). But any thoughts of a comeback were quickly snuffed out, as the Cowboys scored 4 in the 6th to make it 11-3 and beyond doubt. A couple more runs were traded, the final score: Cowboys 12, Fury 5.

Turton looked much more comfortable starting than he had coming on in relief. He allowed 7 hits and walked none in 7 innings, striking out 2, for 3 earned runs. Gallagher conceded 9 hits and 1 walk for 6 runs (5 earned) in 2.2 innings.

Oliver Sharp went 4-4, and tied the AUNZBL playoff record for runs scored with 4. Rankin hit a solo HR in the 3rd.

Harley Puckeridge limped out of the game in the 5th inning. His ankle, while not sprained, was bruised enough to sideline him for the rest of the series. A real blow for the Fury, who would miss the threat of his power.

Game 6

Schwer and Coulton to duke it out again. And both pitchers came to play.

Neither team scored through 5. In the 6th, Lou Stapleton led off with a triple to deep center. Danny Goodwin popped out to 2nd base, and Richard Lewis was intentionally walked to set up the double play. Not the right move, as it turned out, with Rich Bannon doubling into rightfield to score both runners. Ming Sun got 1 back in the bottom of the inning with a massive 443-foot solo blast over straightaway centre.

Then the pitchers’ resumed dueling. Coulton retired the side in order in the top of the 7th, Schwer likewise in the bottom of the inning. Okubo came out to pitch the 8th, struck out the 1st batter, and got the 2nd on a ground out. Richard Lewis beat out the throw from 3rd for an infield single, but was caught stealing 2nd to end the inning. With 1 out in the bottom of the 8th, Oliver Sharp doubled, then Arnold Tipping’s single just beyond the edge of the infield put runners on the corners. Ming Sun then cracked a sharp groundball to 1st and the Fury turned a 3-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Vankrimpen came on for the Cowboys to pitch the top of the 9th. With 1 out, Drew Geoghegan hit a line-drive single to right centre, but Wayne Schmidt struck out and Jason Brice hit a regulation fly to right to stop any chance of the Fury adding an insurance run.

If Naismith was feeling any nerves in the bottom of the 9th, he didn’t show it, striding out to the mound with head held high. Antony Backhouse led off the inning and hit his 1-0 pitch along the ground straight to 2nd for a regulation out. Jarod Atkins hit his 1-0 pitch firmly to 3rd, and was thrown out by half a step. Trent Cashmore could only make weak contact on his 1-2 pitch, the shortstop making no mistake with his throw to 1st.

2-1 victory to the Fury, and a 4-2 series win.

Naismith was mobbed by his teammates, and the celebrations on Cowboys Ballpark lasted more than half an hour.

Schwer was once again on top of his game, conceding 5 hits and 3 walks through 8, striking out 6, for 1 earned run. Coulton allowed 4 hits and 3 walks through 7, striking out 3.

An announcement was made to media that Considine would front the aftermatch press conference. When he did walk in, 5 minutes late, it was standing room only. Immediately a barrage of questions fired, a volley of hands raised, and a mess of recording devices activated.

Considine raised both hands and the noise quieted. With a large smile, he said, “I bet you lot haven’t learned a thing from all this, have you?”

Then he turned and marched out of the room.

The same quick-witted journo who’d made the jab about McHugh at the beginning of the series was first out of the blocks here, too. To Considine’s back, he said, “What is there to learn? That the Cowboys are still chokers?”

It should’ve come as no surprise to anyone who’d followed the series that the majority of headlines across news-sites that evening and the next looked something like: Fury, Least Deserving Champions Ever?

Carlo Schwer was the very deserving winner of the Hurler of the Series. He threw 16.0 innings across 2 starts, allowing only 8 hits and 4 walks, the only run scored off him being a solo HR. He had an ERA of 0.56 and struck out 13.

Slugger of the Series was a more difficult pick. In the end it went to Jason Brice, who put up a .333/.333/.500 stat-line, with 1HR.