On a ladies day that brought many supporters to the GBC the tigers were able to take care of the Saints 7-1.
Facing their import we knew this was going to be a tough task so we handed the ball to our ace Hayden McGearey. After allowing a first inning run, Hayds put up zeros the rest of the way firing 7 innings in the outing.
After Sturt took the lead in the top of the first we hit right back in the bottom of the frame thanks to back to back home runs by Max Brown and Terrell Joyce. Terrell then added to this with another 2 run shot that landed in the pat beyond RF in the 3rd inning to extend the lead 5-1.
Beau Bishop came up with a clutch 2 run single in the 7th to put the game out of reach 7-1.
It was good to see Wes Roemer work into some form firing the last 2 innings of the game.
Travelling out to Port Adelaide is always a tough task and we knew this was going to be another tough encounter and they came at us with their import once again.
After trading zeros in the first 2 innings we took the lead in the 3rd thanks to a 2 out rbi single to Beau Bishop. We then added another run in the 4th thanks to a Terrell Joyce home run and tacked on another run in the 5th with Mason Clavell picking up his first ever A-grade knock.
Port fired back in the bottom of the 6th with every ball they hit seemingly finding a hole and knotted the game at 3-3.
In the top of the seventh we regained the lead that to clutch back to back home runs again to Max Brown and Terrell Joyce.
Terrell Joyce finished them off in the bottom of the seventh to notch another complete game victory for the good guys.
This weekend we travel out to Henley & Grange for another import match.
The Big Dawg keeps it hot.
With a handful of games left we needed to keep on pushing against every time in order to maintain our push towards the finals. The Big Dawg started us off with a single up the middle and would score our first run on a ground out. Ben Dixon kept the innings going with a 2 out single and Steak Teakle knocked in a pair with a single down the line.
Jayden Eldridge took the ball and the 3 run lead and went to work, a misplayed fly ball resulting in their only run over his 3 innings work. Tristan Stevens lead off the top of the 2nd with a single and Ben Clavell would later hit a bases clearing double to extend the lead, Singles to Dixon, Teakle, The Big Dawg and Alex Witty helped us put a 5 spot on them and get a bit more comfortable after 2 innings.
Turning the clock back to sometime in the late 90s saw Kloeds take the pill and get on the bump for 2 innings work. Facing the minimum and recording his first strikeout in a long time, that poor hitter.
Witty quietly went about getting his third hit for the day and we tacked on another run. Tristan Stevens took over from Kloeds and recorded the final 3 outs.
That win was enough to cement top spot, even though the champagne, ski goggles and mini-me’s were nowhere to be seen we are excited by the prospect of home finals for a change. We still have some unfinished business left with 3 games to play, so there is no let up from here.
In what was a dirty day for the Al Gores, we had our collective pants pulled down by a team that beat us in all facets of the game.
Despite an excellent return to the lineup of our young catcher in Killer, we stranded too many runners, didn’t live up to our reputation on defense and had any mistake punished by a team that is gaining momentum as a serious premiership challenger.
The Tiges started out looking OK with hits to Freezer, Killer and the Krajinator that had the sacks fuller than Tracey Grimshaw’s dinner plate. Unfortunately, despite having only one out - we couldn’t force HSR to colour in any circles as the inning ended with two pop flies.
Kymbo Slice rolled through the first before striking trouble in the second. A pop fly hit the deck as it flew out of the sun like a Mitsubishi Zero, temporarily blinding the aforementioned Slice and giving the home team a sniff. A base hit was followed by an uncharacteristic wild throw, and the Al Gores found themselves 3-0 down after two. This inning was a harbinger of things to come as every mistake we made was capitalised on by a hungry Sturt outfit.
Despite having a crack, we were no match for the Saints who dominated the game running out 9-2 winners.
We are under no illusion that if we want to be considered a factor in the real stuff, that we need to work harder and come to play the full game from pitch one until the last out is made. I have no doubt that the character of these boys will come to the fore as we work towards getting ourselves into a strong position to mount a serious challenge in the major round.
Our first chance to redeem ourselves comes on the road against the Rams of Henley and Grange this Saturday.
Played the top side & WON! Jackson Pallot had a great day on the mound, solid through the whole game giving up only 7 hits against the most potent offense in division 5.
Bats were solid throughout the game - Dave Munday the sleeping giant picked a good day to wake up, going 3-3 including a long hit to the fence at centre left. Other batting highlights were Stojani & Wilbur 3-4, and Oliver 2-3.
Everyone did their job, with hard aggressive base running and solid defence resulting in a great team win.
Playing West Torrens for the second round this year, Bayles made his first start on the mound and proceeded to engage in a fully non-sanctioned game of cat and mouse with the West Torrens Batters. A number of times they were able to get a runner or two on with the lead runner advancing to 3rd only to be stranded a number of times due to some great pitching and defensive fielding.
With the bat we were consistent and managed to take the lead early and hold it. While the game wasn’t high scoring it was strong defensively which we want leading into finals. Again with 3 players away we were supported by the ever shrinking toothpick Stix and Tom Burton who showed his cat like reflexes not only in the field but also in the dugout to avoid decapitation by a line drive foul ball into the dugout. Sorry Tom. Base running support was also given by Luke Bramley for a battered and bruised Hague who once again become a ball magnet taking his HPB tally into double digits and climbing fast.
The game was closed out by Sanga who also closed out the 7’s so there was a great effort there along with Big Daddy Ekburg who is trying to make up for his 0-8 batting streak with disputed air time in the field. The Lurker hit and Lurked in the field and Bradey ate watermelon.
This weeks fines summary is in the form of animations...
Potsie and Bayles:
Bayles paid his fine by doing this:
Potsie earned a fine of an undisclosed amount by doing this:
We need more Potsie’s.
Another close game unfortunately this one didn’t go our way, we all had our chances to change result but didn’t get it done ,
Leon Eldridge played his balls out again .he pitched brilliantly and hit extremely well ,his efforts have been excellent he is having a very good year ,well done!
The Teams fielding was very sound, Tom took a catch full stretch running backward it was a high light of the game well done Tom.
As mention Leon got three good hits and Flynn drove a ball into left centre, other than that not too much happened with the bats, we just needed to score a few more their guy pitched well
This week Glenelg took on the reigning premier East Torrens (ET) at Glenelg.
The last time we played was back in round one when we lost 3-6 and, having played ET in the last two grand finals (one win each), we knew another tough game was ahead.
Dave Mitchell started on the hill, keeping ET scoreless in the first two innings. With the bat we scored our first run in the second, as a leadoff walk to Rob Hayward gave our subsequent hitters the chance to move the runner on – something which was achieved.
An error followed by a few hits in the top of the third gave ET their first two runs, however we quickly tied the game up with a second run in the bottom of the third, thanks to another leadoff walk – this time to Corban Ceglar and support from the following hitters.
The runs continued for ET in the next two innings, scoring three runs in each. This saw the score read 2-8.
Peter Fenwick took over the pitching duties in the top of the sixth and did what was needed in keeping ET scoreless. We fought back in the bottom of the sixth posting three runs as we strung some hits together and produced a productive innings.
With the score now reading 5-8 one innings remained and we were certainly not out of reach. Another scoreless innings to ET gave us the opportunity to steal the win – but unfortunately, despite getting our leadoff hitter aboard, we were unable to score.
This game was another tight game played in the right spirit between two quality teams – something that is likely to be season again in the post season.
The loss brought our 13-game winning streak to an end, but more importantly provided a friendly reminder as to the quality of baseball we will see during the finals.
Hits to Pick (2) and Fenwick, Hayward, Sandercock, McIntosh, Hill & Northam (1).
Another tight game and hard-fought win to the Tigers keep us within a sniff of the top 6.
Pottsy started and pitched 4 innings for 7 runs (5 earnt) and the mighty Sanga came in for a shut-out (24 strikes, 10 balls, 4 strike-outs).
Again, our better fielding and bats kept us in the game with most players getting hits.
A crack at Golden Grove this week keeps us in finals contention but the two sides we are fighting for the top 6 spot with both have easy runs hom e.
Runs: 2 – Bramley, Burton; 1 – Harry, Stix, Foletti, HP, Adsy, Hiphoppapotamus