Berkeley chasing fourth-straight Illawarra Baseball title

The Eagles will take on Wollongong in the grand final, the Cardinals entering the game as minor premiers.

Wollongong won three of the four clashes between the two sides this season, with Blanch labelling his team the underdogs this weekend.

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While it's not a position Berkeley typically find themselves in, the captain said it is one his players will embrace on Saturday.

"The last three years, we've been the best team all year," Blanch said. "No team was close to us and that showed in our grand final wins.

"This year we're going in as underdogs. People have been talking all year about this Cardinals side, the Blue Sox guys they've got.

"I'm confident in the experience of my squad. We're all a bunch of best mates, we want to win for each other and do something that hasn't been done for a long time.

"The Cardinals are just worried about beating us and stopping us from getting four in a row, stopping the dynasty we've created. We don't have any plans of ending this dynasty anytime soon."

Blanch will turn to his big guns right from the first pitch, with Australian representative Tim Atherton to throw the first innings.

It's a strategy designed to ensure his side remains ahead of the game, rather than chasing runs in a desperate attempt to remain in contact with the Cardinals.

Atherton is in for a tough afternoon, with Wollongong boasting a deep batting lineup filled with Australian Baseball League players.

Blanch, however, is confident the pitcher will be up to the task.

"Pitching is going to be huge for us. We've got Tim Atherton, an Australian representative starting.

"He's going to be massive for us, he'll come in and hopefully throw seven solid innings, allowing us to jump out to an early lead.

"We know opposition batters will struggle facing Tim, so we need to make sure we do our part with the bat and get the job done. As long as we get the job done with the bat and we get a good outing from Tim, that will have us well placed."

The Cardinals have won their past four heading into the clash, with captain-coach Scott Sartori confident his side can unseat the defending champions.

The veteran acknowledges Wollongong's batters must get to Atherton early and force the Eagles to turn to their bullpen.

Should they do that, Sartori said, they will be on the way to claiming the title.

"We've been developing momentum these last few rounds," Sartori said. "We're starting to build confidence. Last time we played Berkeley we came out on top, so we're confident we can go in and get the win.

"If Tim is going to start and try throw as manny innings as he can, we have to have good at bats against him. We've got to score runs against their pitching, whether it's him or someone else.

"Good at bats will determine whether we can score a few runs off him."