RINGWOOD ace Andrew Jones has thrown the Saints into the Melbourne Winter Baseball League play-off race with a 12-1 rout of North Balwyn.

It was Jones's last match for the Saints before playing college baseball in the US. "Our pitching was fantastic again: Andrew has done the job for us all year," Saints manager Chris Hodkinson said.

"It was a pressure game for us to stay alive for finals - everybody chipped in and just did the job."

Ringwood was never headed in the rout with all batters troubling the scorers. "We were just too strong for them - played well across the park," Hodkinson said.

Ringwood now face the unenviable task of having to beat second-placed Greensborough on Saturday to make it to the finals. "We've got to get through this week - if we win we're right; if we lose, we're done."

In other matches, Heathmont was able to shut out Greensborough's dangerous attack to win 2-0. Heathmont will look to beat the lowly placed Croydon on Saturday to boost its contender status.

In B-grade, Ringwood has had its finals hopes dashed when the umpires deemed the Forest Hill diamond unplayable. The match was drawn 0-0.

Ringwood must now beat fourth-placed La Trobe University and have Diamond Creek upset Knox to make it to the finals.