The AutoOne Midland Carine Cats sent a clear message to the rest of the competition in the final round of the State League season, delivering a commanding double-header sweep of the Royals and Fremantle Mariners — and tuning up perfectly for their sudden-death semi-final rematch next week.

From a 15-0 mercy-rule thumping to a gritty 7-4 win, the Cats flexed every bit of their form, depth, and finals readiness.

From the very first pitch, the Cats were dialled in.

Lauren Brown set the tone with a trademark slap and burn to first base, outpacing the Royals' shortstop. From there, the hit parade began, with Olivia Kuzminski, Annaliese Daley, and Shelby Watts all landing clean shots to left field – and a series of errant Royals throws saw four runs cross the plate before the Royals could blink.

On the mound, Amy Mather was simply untouchable. In what may be her best outing of the season, she threw a complete game shutout, conceding just one hit while striking out two in a cool and clinical performance in the three innings rout.

The Cats added four more runs in the second, with hits from Brown, Tabitha Rewell, and Sara Riou, before Kuzminski crushed a triple to left, continuing her rich vein of form.

But it was the third innings blowout that truly ended the contest: seven runs, multiple hits from Watts, and a centre-field rocket from Riou capped off a 15-0 statement victory, wrapped up in just one hour via the run-ahead rule.

After the Game 1 walkover, Game 2 against the Fremantle Mariners was a much tighter affair – the kind of finals-style contest the Cats needed before their do-or-die rematch next week.
Amy Mather returned to the circle for her second start of the day and held strong early, though Fremantle managed to get the jump with two early runs. The Cats replied with one of their own thanks to singles from Riou and Kuzminski, before both defences locked in for a scoreless second.

Shelby Watts kept the energy high with a triple to right field, but Carine couldn’t cash in. Then came a highlight moment: Lauren Brown launched a missile from left field, catching a Mariners runner trying to steal home and flipping the momentum back to Carine.
Riding that lift, the Cats surged in the bottom of the third: Rewell, Riou, and McKenzie Vawser all notched outfield singles to flip the scoreboard and take a 4-2 lead.

Fremantle narrowed the gap with another run in the fourth, before Ash Harwood took over in the circle for the final innings. Despite being greeted by a double, Harwood stayed composed, conceding only one run to tie things up at 4-4.

Then came the final offensive push. Riou singled, Kuzminski walked, and Vawser came up clutch – again – lacing a triple to right field to score two, then crossing home herself on a sacrifice fly by Daley.

With a 7-4 lead, all the Cats needed was a clean finish – and Dempsey Henderson delivered, charging hard from right field and helping create a tag-out at third to shut the door on Fremantle.

With one game now standing between the Cats and a shot at the three-game Grand Final Series against Bayswater Monarchs, the focus turns to next week's semi-final rematch against the Fremantle Mariners – the third meeting between the sides in just two weeks.

The sudden-death semi-final will be do or die, with the winner earning a place in the grand final series. The Cats have the form, the depth, and the fight – now it’s time to bring it home.