Western finishes third, fifth respectively in Under 16s and 19s Female Country Championships

Western finished fifth in the eight-team competition, improving with every performance to win their last two games of the tournament over Central North and Greater Illawarra.

They were also strongly positioned in their two games that were washed out during the rain-affected Twenty20 event.

There could be even more good times to come for the region's 19s side given that the Central West under 16s finished third in their championships just a few days earlier.

The under 16s came up just shy of a grand final appearance after winning two of their three pool matches.

Under 19s coach Steve Muller said the performance throughout the competition from his side shows that the Western region has plenty to be excited about in the future.

"They had two convincing wins against Greater Illawarra and Central North. They had draws against Central Coast and Newcastle and they were in strong positions in both of those games when they were washed out

"After a slow start they had a successful time in Tuggerah. Between the under 19s and 16s they only lost one game each.

"To beat Greater Illawarra and Central North, and to compete really well against Newcastle and the Central Coast, it shows that the hard work the girls have put in over the winter has paid off.

"We're looking really strong in the younger age groups as well. There's a lot of girls coming through the academy. It bodes well for the future."

The under 16s started their tournament off with a thumping 67 run victory over Riverina, led by an opening partnership century stand between Maddy Spence (56) and Nikera Hann (40).

Callee Black's 2-15 was a highlight in an otherwise tough follow-up loss for Western against Newcastle.

Black then belted 10 boundaries in an unbeaten knock of 59 to take Western to 4-112 against Central Coast.

Spence led the way with the ball to take 2-5 as Western held on to win by 12 runs.

Hann and Spence each took two wickets, Black took 1-5 off her four overs and Karly Woods hit a team high 16 in Western's thrilling three wicket win against Greater Illawarra in the third place play off.

The under 19s got off to a rough start in their tournament with a 10 wicket loss to eventual runners-up North Coastal.

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Spence (14) and Gabby Kelly's (12) late efforts helped to take Western to a respectable total of 95 but the team couldn't find a breakthrough against the North Coastal opening pair.

In the following match Western had Central Coast at 7-113 through 17 overs when rain ended the contest early.

In a true team effort with the ball, all seven of Western's bowlers took a wicket each.

Ella Tilburg then produced the highlight of the tournament for Western with her unbeaten 82 from 70 deliveries against Newcastle.

Hann (18) played a great supporting role in a century partnership as Western finished at 4-120.

Western bowled just four deliveries when the rain once again brought play to a stop.

The team then picked up an eight run success against Central North, scoring 6-103 before their opponents ran out of deliveries in their pursuit, with one wicket in hand.

Western skipper Katie Letcher went close to a run-a-ball for her team-high 26 while Spence led the way with the ball with 3-18.

The team finished on a high with their 22-run victory over Illawarra, where Letcher (35 not out) and Tilburg (34 not out) opened the batting in style.

Muller said that while some players produced stunning performances it's always satisfying to see great team efforts at the representative level.

"We know the names like Callee Black, who's done very well, but young Ella Tilburg from Blayney got the highest score of the carnival," he said.

"Scoring 80 in a team total of 110 is very impressive. She was hitting it all around the paddock. I wouldn't be surprised if she was knocking down the door for higher selection. She backed it up with another 34 not out in the next game.

"She had a lot of other girls around here. Nikera Hann and Katie Letcher were impressive. The girls were great right across the board."

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