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The Northern Territory Buffaloes was a baseball team from the Northern Territory that competed in the Australian national Claxton Shield competition from 1981 until 1989. Although the Buffaloes won only one game during its nine-year admittance, they were competitive and played several close games. A total of xx players represented the Northern Territory at Claxton Shield level. Bill Hutcheson, a catcher from originally Tennant Creek and later Darwin, was the only player to play in all nine Claxton Shields for the Territory.

History
Like many other states, the Northern Territory had played baseball informally for many years dating back to the 1950s before entering the national Claxton Shield competition in 1981. In 1968, the Northern Territory Baseball League was established and over the next decade the popularity and standard of baseball rapidly grew and developed. The Kriewaldt Shield became the Northern Territory's major baseball competition with all major centers, Darwin, Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine and Mount Isa all having established baseball competitions. The Kriewaldt Shield was held annually (usually late in the year) and rotated between the playing centres. Northern Territory representative players were selected from this competition.

Unlike the other states, which played the major competition in their respective the capital cities, the distance between Darwin and Alice Springs created difficulties. Darwin had about 75% of all the registered players and the strongest competition, but Alice Springs had better playing conditions, was located closer to every other capital city and had a purpose-built baseball ground at Treager Park.

During the 1970s, baseball administrators including John Chin and Max Rider in Darwin; Lyle Kempster, Jack Deer, Bob Harvey and Dennis Hall in Alice Springs; Jack Ford and Kevin Conway in Tennant Creek all worked tiersly to grow the sport and gain admittance to the national competition.

In the late 1970s, several NT baseball teams toured the other states exposing the players to a higher competition. During these tours, baseball administrators lobbied hard for the inclusion of the NT into the national Claxton Shield competition. The break would come in 1978 when behind starting pitcher Wayne Longstaff, the NT defeated Queensland.

1981 Claxton Shield
The 1981 Claxton Shield team was selected following the Kriewaldt Shield held in Alice Springs in late 1980. Of the 18 players, ten came from two Darwin clubs, Nightcliff and East Darwin. Those two clubs would go on to play in the 1981 Darwin Baseball League Grand Final. John Tarca from Tennant Creek was appointed the inaugural coach. Several fringe South Australian players relocated to the Northern Territory with three being selected; Graeme Masters, Bill Fryar and Steve Tarte. The team included the first underarm (softball) pitcher in the history of the Claxton Shield, Tony Prescott from Alice Springs. Prescott would go on to record the lowest ERA for all Territory pitchers at 4.32. The Buffaloes closest game was against Queensland with a 9 - 5 loss and they did not score at least one run in only one game, their last against New South Wales. Despite not winning a game during the tournament, all other sides agreed the Territory team deserved credit for making the trip and being competitive.

1982 Claxton Shield
Of the inaugural 18 players only six returned for the 1982 tournament held in Sydney. Several players who had played the year before declared themselves unavailable, had left the Northern Territory, or were not selected. Of the nine Buffalo teams that played Claxton Shield, the 1982 side retuned the worst record, losing all but one game by the 10-run mercy rule. Their closest game was an 11 - 4 loss to New South Wales. Despite the poor team performance in this series, Tony Prescott was outstanding finishing in the pitching leaders with a very respectable ERA of 3.38. Cyril Dixon led the hitters with an average of .241. As experienced the previous year, quality pitching depth hurt the Buffaloes performance.

1983 Claxton Shield
Following a MVP award performance at the 1982 Kriewaldt Shield, Bruce Dicker, a former Victorian representative player was appointed player-coach for the January 1983 series held in Perth. In the first game however, Dicker broke a finger on his throwing hand and was sidelined for the rest of the series. Despite this loss, the Territory played their most competitive game to date.

Closest game:

A 5 - 2 loss to Western Australia. The Buffaloes tied the game 2 all when Bill Fryar doubled down the left field line with the bases loaded early in the gmae. Despite a strong pitching performance by Vic Stanfield, they could not add to their score and eventually lost 5 - 2.

1984 Claxton Shield
Kevin Greatrex.

1988 Claxton Shield

 * At the 1984 Claxton Shield, the Buffaloes scored 11 runs against South Australia in the 1st inning, but lost the game in extra innings, 12 - 11. Bill Hutcheson became the first Territorian to hit a home run, against Victoria.


 * At the 1985 Claxton Shield, the Buffaloes held a 15 - 0 lead against New South Wales after 5 innings, only to lose the game 16 - 15.


 * At the 1987 Claxton Shield, the Buffaloes win their first (and only) game against South Australia. Buffalo player Brad Kerr wins "Rookie of the Year", the only Territory player to win any award at a Claxton Shield.


 * At the 1988 Claxton Shield, Buffalo teenager Scott McCormack pitched 10 strong innings against Victoria, only to lose the game in extra innings 3 - 2.