Balgownie captain Graeme Batty is confident Saturday's superb innings will be the start of a productive summer with the bat.
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The veteran missed most of last season after undergoing shoulder surgery.
Batty fired an unbeaten 75 to lead the Magpies to an eight-wicket win over Corrimal, his side having bowled the Cougars out for 155.
With a top-heavy batting lineup, the skipper recognises he must continue to compile big scores if his team is to return to the finals.
"It was good to get some runs after a bit of a layoff," Batty said. "We're pretty honest with each other, we know what wins us games, the top-order has to fire.
"We had a winnable game against Northern Districts who are favourites to win it and we let that slip. If our top-order fires, we won't lose too many games."
While the top-order batsmen delivered on Saturday, it was the bowlers who set up the win in the first innings.
Jamie Fleming finished with figures of 3-17 off 10 overs, while part-time bowler Adam Berwick took 2-36.
Batty recognises his side lacks firepower with the ball, but he's looking forward to welcoming back Jason Bunyan from a leg injury suffered during the football season.
"To get Jason back will help us big time. He's a strike bowler that we desperately need. We're lacking a bowler, so we'll have to do our best with spinners and part-timers and then bat well."
Saturday's other games saw Northern Districts defeat Dapto and Keira edge Helensburgh. Wollongong bounced back with a win over Uni and Wests triumphed over Port Kembla.