Kooringal High School have shed their bridesmaid's tag to claim their first Katrina Powell Shield title since 2018.
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Some late hitting from Anneka Piercy was just enough to hand Kooringal a 4-3 win over Wagga High School in a thrilling final on Tuesday.
The two evenly-matched teams were separated by just one run in the lead-up round robin game, with Wagga High taking a 4-3 win on that occasion, but in the final Kooringal turned the tables.
In a replay of last year's ecider, Kooringal bounced out of the blocks, scoring in the first innings, and were never behind in the contest.
However the defending champions scored in both the fifth and sixth innings to lock things up.
Coach Jess McCarthy was thrilled to come home with the silverware after being on the losing end of the past three grand finals.
"It was a nice surprise for the girls as we didn't know what to expect going into the game but they played really well," McCarthy said.
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Piercy capped off a big game when she broke the three-all deadlock in the bottom of the sixth.
It was the best of three safe hits to Piercy, who was also a dominating figure at third base for the winners.
However pitcher Alex Maiden also did well for Kooringal, combining with catcher Makaide Gale to have 5 K-2s.
Her Wagga High opposite Isabella Weir was also in good touch, snaring 2 K-2s and conceding only six hits.
It was undoubtedly one of the best finals of the Katrina Powell Shield competition for some years and the large vocal crowd was on the edge of their seats as the game looked headed for a tie-breaking innings before Piercy finished it.
McCarthy thought being able to spend some more time together really helped the side turn the tide.
"We did manage to squeeze in a training session as all the girls don't play together in the local competition but they all know how each other plays," she said.
"It was a bit of a refresher to get them all together and they just had to play smart."
Meanwhile Mater Dei Catholic College scored a big win in the third-placed playoff.
They accounted for The Riverina Anglican College 10-4.