"Adam's swearing was taken out of context. He was swearing at himself, not at another player or an umpire."
Tempers were often as hot as the day, hovering in the late 20s.
At the bottom of the fifth inning, coach Woon and Flaxmere player-coach Luke Herrick eye-balled one another as Herrick accused the Saints players of ignoring the spirit of the game for continuing to bunt when they were six runs ahead.
Both teams cleared the dug out with Saints second baseman Xavier Herrick leading the charge and sprinting towards his father.
It certainly didn't appear as if he was going to ask him what he wanted for Christmas before teammates held him back.
"We would not have minded if they were four runs up and Paul would have been the first to complain if we applied the same tactics in similar circumstances," Herrick snr said afterwards.
"Obviously not having the girls and having to play three games in these temperatures made it tough on us today.
"But I'm rapt with the manner in which five of our senior B players stepped up and while Saints deserved the title this loss will make us more determined to take out the post-Christmas title," he added.
Flaxmere missed the services of the White Sox pitcher-catcher combination of Rita Hokianga and Melanie Gettins who were attending a national squad training camp as well as American first-base player Alyssa James, who started her Christmas holidays early.
Coach Woon had every right to be impressed with the batting displayed by his young troops who collected eight hits off Flaxmere hurler Tamihana Hokianga who recorded six strikeouts.
He was also proud of the manner captain and short stop Luke Woon pitched after his younger brother was ejected.
The Woon brothers each collected three strikeouts and while Luke conceded four hits Adam only leaked one.
Coach Woon said with six of his players and Flaxmere's Dallas Brown in the Bay under-19 squad, the signs were good for the January 5-8 nationals.
Brown and Luke and Adam Woon all hit three baggers in the grand final.
Earlier in the day, first baseman Fred Jackson and Xavier Herrick both hit home runs as Saints beat top qualifiers Flaxmere 9-1 in the double-life semifinal. Flaxmere beat Fast Pitch 8-4 in the sudden-death semifinal to book their final berth.
Fast Pitch had earlier beaten Maraenui Pumas 15-9 in the single life semifinal. In the grand final Saints led 3-0 after the first turn at bat.
Adam Woon, who along with teammate and twin brother Bradley Woon celebrated their 18th birthday yesterday, scored on a pass ball, and so did Jackson while third baseman Tridan McClutchie hit outfielder Sam Coldicutt home.
Saints other four runs were scored in the third inning. McClutchie hit Xavier Herrick home, Jackson scored on a sacrifice hit from catcher Matt Williams, McClutchie stole home and designated player Caleb Leddie scored on Luke Woon's three bagger.
Designated runner James Thompson scored Flaxmere's only run in the fourth inning when he beat the tag at home after a sacrifice fly from Luke Herrick.