With the sun climbing high in the sky and the mercury rising, the visitors won the toss and elected to bat.
Barooga’s bowlers were keeping Nathalia in check, and at 5/71 the home side had the upper hand.
But the arrival of Luke Quinn at the crease turned the game on its head
From 79 balls, the veteran belted an unbeaten 117 runs in an innings that included 12 fours and six sixes.
He and Nate Summerville (24 from 54) put on 119 for the sixth wicket before Archie Congues (13 off 10) helped take the total to a formidable 6/236.
Nathalia’s opening bowlers, Dylan Cunningham and Archie Congues, ensured the run chase was in tatters from the get-go.
Cunningham tore through the top order with a hat-trick that left Barooga at 5/2.
Batting at number four, Barooga’s Hugh Sutton played a lone hand, his 50 off only 58 balls helping his side to a total of 10/103 — 133 runs short of Nathalia’s 6/236.
Barooga captain Brendan Lewis said his side could take some positives from the performance.
“Hugh Sutton’s 50 was awesome,” he said.
“He did a superb job and to make 50 is really good.
“He pulled on the Barooga shirt, and he fought Nathalia by himself and with pride.
“That’s what you love to see as a captain, as a coach.”
Lewis added that Ethan Bovalina (13 off 40) also batted well for a young player.
“Sam Leigh (10 off 37) batted himself into form as well,” he said.
“But we all got a bit tired (in the field) in the last 10 overs and let through a few runs.
“We just didn’t apply ourselves with our batting.
“We’ll address that this week at training, and move on pretty quickly from it and address the things that happened.”
Lewis said it was an awesome knock from the veteran Luke Quinn.
“Luke Quinn, who’s obviously a superstar in the league, came out and smashed us out of the park,” he said.
“[He’s] like a fine bottle of wine at the moment, he’s getting better with age.”
Going into two-day cricket with a clash with second-placed Cobram this weekend, Lewis said it was a big chance for his side.
“The way I look at our team, we’re a lot more suited to two-day cricket,” he said.
“At the same time, we know Cobram’s a very good two-day cricket side, as the results from last year show.
“They’re going to want to get straight back on the board against a team like us.
“Shaun Downie is a bit like Luke Quinn — he’s getting better with age as well.
“You’ve really got to try to get them out on their first 20 runs. Once they get to 20, they’re very hard to get out.”
Lewis said Barooga was prepared for when Downie stepped to the batting crease.
“At the same time, Cobram’s got 10 other blokes who can bat as well. So getting just one of them isn’t the main key — it’s all of them,” he said.
In B-grade action, Barooga topped Katandra at home with 10/99 to the Swans’ 10/54. A neat 25 from Nate Leith and 14 from Riley Adams led the home side to its second victory this season.
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