The Canberra Cavalry spent Friday night driving back to the capital after their Claxton Shield bid was brought to a heart-shattering end by the Victorian lockdown.
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Keith Ward's outfit beat the Adelaide Giants 3-2 at Melbourne Ballpark to advance to Saturday's preliminary final, but were informed shortly thereafter it would count for naught.
Victorian Premier Dan Andrews announced during the match that the state would enter a five-day lockdown following a surge in COVID-19 cases linked to the Holiday Inn outbreak.
It forced the cancellation of this weekend's Australian Baseball League playoffs, with the Claxton Shield to be awarded to the winner of Friday night's qualifying final between the Melbourne Aces and Perth Heat.
The Cavalry also faced the threat of being left stranded in Melbourne after the ACT government imposed new COVID-19 restrictions on arrivals from Victoria.
From 11.59pm Friday, returning travellers from Victoria will be required to isolate for five days - although that situation could change.
Cavalry staff and players drove hired cars back to Canberra that evening to avoid the lockdown as flights were booked out.
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They were initially scheduled to fly back from Melbourne on Monday morning, pending the results of the preliminary final.
Cavalry general manager Sunny Singh said the team was disappointed to end their campaign prematurely, but that player welfare came first.
"It's hollow. It's hollow because they're here to play ball, they're winning big games and opportunities like this don't come up often," Singh said.
"You never know when your last finals game is, and we had a real chance of winning this thing.
"We knocked out Adelaide, but there's always going to be that sense of unfinished business."
Canberra bounced back from a 19-4 loss to Melbourne to beat Adelaide in the eliminator, with Mikey Reynolds and Steven Kent leading the Cavalry's charge.
Reynolds drove in three runs against his former team to hand Canberra an early lead, while Kent struck out six and kept the Giants scoreless until the sixth innings.
Kent allowed just two runs, before Josh Warner and Rhys Niit closed out the win.
"There's plenty of positives, not just out of this week but for the season," Singh said.
"I can't tell you how proud I am of what these players have been able to achieve this season, what they've overcome week after week. I can't put that into words."
Lucie Bertoldo
Lucie Bertoldo is a sports reporter for the Canberra Times.
Lucie Bertoldo is a sports reporter for the Canberra Times.
