Tight bowling figures from Merrivale's Charlie James (3-12 off 10 overs) and Dennington's Callum Leahy (3-7 off 6.1) against South West helped Gold cement its status atop the under 15 ladder heading into Thursday's semi-finals.

A night match between Hamilton and Wimmera Mallee - which was still in the balance as The Standard went to print on Wednesday - was to reveal Gold's Thursday opponent.

Alexander said James excelled initially bowling into the wind.

"The boys bowled pretty well. (South West) were a pretty disciplined batting sides and weren't going to throw their wickets away, that was pretty evident early on," he said.

"They were certainly make the boys work all the way through. Charlie opened and bowled into the wind and took a wicket with his first ball.

"We had them on the back foot early and were quite good in restricting their scoring rate, I suppose. From there we were able to turn the screws and take wickets at regular intervals."

Alexander said South West was determined and praised its resolve to reach 123 in 49 overs.

Gold passed the total in 34 overs after Merrivale's Toby Madden and Dennington's Mason Porter put on a partnership of 76 to propel their side into the box seat.

He reserved praise for the duo and also for James and Leahy.

IN OTHER NEWS:

"(James) is just really consistent with his line and length and being a left-armer, he's got that nice little in-swinger and that creates a lot of problems for kids on turf," Alexander said.

"It's getting that little bit of swing and he's had a lot of bowled and LBW dismissals. He's been great at the top, keeping the pressure on right from the start.

"Callum's a young leggie and that was pleasing that he was able to get three wickets (on Wednesday). He's getting more confident as the week goes on."

Elsewhere, Warrnambool Blue batter Matthew Gome posted an unbeaten 102-run haul from 102 balls.

Remarkably, just 24 of his total came from boundaries. Gome's innings anchored a 240-run haul for Blue, setting up a dominant 134-run victory over Portland at Sunnyside Recreation Reserve. He also took 1-6 with the ball.

Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.