It has been a long wait but the Mariners are finally back on the field in 2022.
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The region's torrid weather in recent times across the Shoalhaven and Illawarra had left Baseball Illawarra in limbo as the season was unable to get underway.
Alas that problem is no more.
On Saturday Mariners third grade travelled to Fred Finch Park at Berkeley to take on the Dapto Chiefs with Shoalhaven taking home the win, 20-5.
The Mariners came out strong from the start, bringing in 11 runs in the first innings.
Single hits went to Brad Scott (2), Leigh Wooten (2), Blake Mitchell (2), Gabe Tate (3), James Lee, Cameron McNicol (2) and Antony Lee.
Stand out batter of the game was Lee Lawson who had an infield single, a double to right field and a triple to centrefield.
Pitching duties were shared between Emmi Lee and Lee Lawson - Lawson having five strikeouts throughout the game, an awesome effort by the two athletes.
Catching duties in the match were well performed by Gabe Tate, with some stand out fielding from Blake Mitchell and James Lee.
Sunday saw the Mariners finally have their first home games of the season with both fourth and fifth grade taking the field on the day.
Shoalhaven fifth grade took to the field against the Shellharbour Warriors, with the Warriors unfortunately taking out the win 19-8.
The Mariners came out guns blazing with batting excellence that saw them take and hold the lead through the first, second and third innings.
The fourth innings was where the Warriors came alive, climbing back to go ahead by two, with the final nail in the coffin coming in the fifth innings, where the Mariners made just too many mistakes which cost them the match.
Single hits went to Ben Quiney, Mitch Burgess (2), Tony Green- Kandarakis, Zac Ghilezan and Jack Hobday (2).
Pitching duties were shared between Ben Quiney with 2 strikeouts and Kailey Ehrig making her pitching debut having one strikeout.
Catching duties were performed by Mitch Burgess along with some nice backing up in the field from Kailey Ehrig and a great catch in leftfield from Zac Ghilezan.
Mariners fourth grade side pulled through however with a decisive 17-9 win over the Warriors.
The home side came out pumped at Ison Park, ready to play some ball.
Capitalising on every opportunity, the Mariners dictated the match from the start to finish.
Single hits went to Timothy Parkes, Bruce Jones, Simon Levy, Zac Douglas (2), Matt Calderon, Greg Turner (3), Andrew Pearson (2) and Bianca Cotter (2).
Bruce Jones punctuated the win with a great triple hit out to rightfield.
Pitching duties were shared between Matt Calderon 52 pitches 34 strikes with 2 strikeout, Andrew Pearson 56 pitches 30 strikes with 1 strikeout and Zac Douglas 10 pitches with 6 strikes.
Leith Grant did a great job catching to all 3 of his pitchers. Simon Levy took some nice catches in centrefield while Zac Douglas fielded well at short stop.