A warm day at the bay for the big match up in what essentially was a 4 point game against arch rivals the Hawks from down South.
A few soldiers down due to injury and state 18’s commitments all was set for what ended up being an epic extra innings contest.
In what proved to be a pitcher’s duel all day with both teams scoreless through to the bottom of the 12th, the deadlock was broken with a clutch home run by Mason Clavell for the walk off win.
For the good guys Daisy was outstanding on the hill with a quality 7 innings start, ably backed up 3 innings of relief by Jayden, and 2 innings of close work by Chris.
Backing up from the epic game on Sunday, we fronted up on balmy night for our first twilight game of the year as the away team at home to take on the Eagles, again for another 4 point game.
We welcomed back Beau from Auckland duties and he got things rolling early with a double, and then scored off a long ball from Tyson to give us an early ascendancy.
Chris got the start and was toiling away in the warm conditions to give us yet another quality start, at 2 all through 5 innings, we gave him some run support on the back of some patient at bats, and well driven hits by Zeddy and Sonny, to take a 6-2 lead. We tacked on another run and Jayden threw the last innings to close out the threat.
After starting the new year away at Gawler it was nice to have a home game to get reacquainted with the good old GBC
Oz got the Brett ball to take on the top of the ladder Hawks and they quickly showed why they are top of the pops
They managed to dunk a couple of cheap hits and a few errors caused the young studs to be trailing 3 nil before they even swung the sticks.
We managed to get a couple of hits in the first through Rion and Mags but unfortunately where not able to score.
Oz went back to work and was solid over the next 4 frames allowing two unearned runs. Hayden did the last two with workmen like proficiency
We seemed to have left the bats at Gawler as Hobson from south wound back the clock in a vintage display showing are young guys what a deadly off speed can do if you’re not set early enough striking out 12 of them.
We did manage to score a couple late with Brian Heller making his return back to div 2 leading of the 6 with a hit mags hitting a ground rule double Hayden getting intentionally walked to his amusement and Jaikob Mathews collecting his first hit driving in two.
Other positives where a nice first and third play made by Darcy throwing the runner out at home the solid defence by Rion at third who also collected a hit and two walks and Jacob showing his range at short making some clutch plays.
It would be almost sacrilege if I did not mention this guy. He has gone to every position he has been asked to play without batting an eyelid. The scary thing is everywhere he goes he makes great plays no more than last weekend when the old bodied man named mags was chucked out in left.
He made to awesome catches that both saved runs and collected two of our five hits. All I can say is thanks Mags and I hope the young guys learn from the way he goes about it. He never gives up.
We start a back to back road trip out north this weekend Starting with Northern Districts. let’s hope the minds are focused and the bodies ready as it is getting to the business end of the season and boy is it tight
A beautiful morning for baseball greeted us as we went to match up against our southern foes. A good tight battle was expected and it certainly played out that way.
Will Burke got the start for us and was dancing in and out of trouble – keeping the opposition off the scoreboard for the most part but driving his pitch count up early. South’s scored one on a passed ball in the early innings but we kept grinding against the opposition early and took advantage of some extra outs from their defense to jump out to a 6-1 lead.
Unfortunately the game flipped itself in the fifth as we brought on young Darcy Gluyas to pitch and he did a phenomenal job making the Souths hitters put the ball in play and earn their bases, unfortunately we had an uncharacteristic inning defensively with multiple errors occurring in the one frame and Souths put up a seven spot – most of which were unearned.
We get to the bottom of the last and gave them a real fright. Laverty reached on an error, Brian Hiller (who’d had a strong day behind the dish) tripled him home and we had the tying run on third with none out. Souths played smart baseball, mixing in some deliberate walks around a strikeout, fielders choice groundout and finally with the bases loaded a full count strike out ended proceedings.
Great finals style game situations to prepare our young charges for the later half of the season and a nice little wake up call for the second half of the year also wont be wasted. Souths showed their ability and promise to be a team that has the potential to make a late charge in the standings in this unpredictable new version of division 3 baseball. Offensively we were led by Leon Eldridge, Brian Hiller and Rion Sato but everyone got on base and show’d us enough to know we have a very talented squad assembled.
A clear blue sky welcomed us back home for the first time since November as we faced off against a familiar foe in The Hawks. With a few returning soldiers I got a line-up sorted, checked everything was in order on the sheets and shook hands with an old mate at the dish meeting before the umpires sent us our separate ways.
Fresh from quad bike adventures T Stevenson took to the rubber to kick off proceedings against the souths hitters, retiring them in order and sending GrAbroe up to start off the home half with a base knock. Further first inning hits to Shawby, Quals and DH for the day D Carter saw us jump out to a 3-0 lead. Stevens had great command at the plate, going 4 strong shutout innings, the only real scare to the unmanned scoreboard was a miscommunicated fly ball that dropped, but a 8-6-2 cut the would be runner down at the plate to keep the southerners at a zero.
We plated 5 in our 3rd innings and 8-0 looked pretty good here, Abroe with a big 2 out single to knock in the 5th run was a pleasing sight. The bottom of the 4th went a similar way with a lead off HPB followed up by knocks to Quals, Kloeds, a 2 run double to Lenny Eldridge was the first of 5 hits in row and suddenly its was 14-0 after a change of pitcher and a sac fly knocked in the coach from 3B.
Bender Handy put his hand up to finish off the remainder of the game and with a close call going from an innings ending strike 3 to ball 4 the South hitters got their tales up and dropped a couple into the alleys to put some panic back in the coaches mind. Bender hit a double late to get us a couple extra runs, South chipped away on the back of a few ground balls with eyes and another fence rattler up in the jet stream, but we managed the required outs to get time and game called.
Kloeds turned back the clock at 3B with a few nice defensive plays and showed he can still be a handy left side guy when given the chance. A good team W from every guy with every starter getting amongst the knocks.
Another super sun-drenched day of Saturday baseball was on the menu at Gerry Anderson Fields, with a full slate of games programmed at the home of baseball. The Snakes Alives, sitting third, started the day three points adrift of the second placed Southern FalconHawks, making this contest a must-win for the Tiges.
Kymbo Ninja-Slice was given the task of silencing the visitor’s bats after they put up a nine spot on us just a few weeks earlier at FalconHawk Park. The Great Northern connoisseur worked around a couple of walks to keep the visitors off the scoreboard in a solid start to the all-important contest.
There was good news and bad for the good guys in our part of the first as the Captain led things off with a single. The Fenomenon followed up by grounding one to short but the throw went wide right, scooting away to the fence that almost claimed John Loy’s yellow dress pants just a few short seasons ago. The Captain, sensing the opportunity to put some pressure on, put on the afterburners to third….unfortunately his Usain Boltesque speed was too much for his hammy and it was exit lemon 12, enter not Bob Bradley 4 very early in this one. The Krajinator deftly knocked a single and the good guys were on the board 1-0 after an inning.
The slice kept the FalconHawks off the board through three, and in the bottom half we got some home cooking going with walks to King Cave Rescue and big Kraj followed by a couple of steals and a single to Mister Freeze that had HSR reaching for some green (pencil of course) to colour in run number two. A wild pitch saw the Mumbai Masher bolt home and after three it was good guys 3, visitors zero.
A base on balls and a single had the FalconHawks cooking before a sac bunt was dropped down to move the runners – the ninja was having none of this as he swooped in like the luck dragon from “Never Ending Story”, picked up the pill and piffed it to nail the lead runner at third. The Hawks number nine hitter was having none of this, middling one for a double to get the Hawks on the board twice, and at the half way mark it was Tiges 3, Hawks 2.
After a sensational job on the hill, the Slice handed the pill to Hollywood and it was game back on. Goldmember 12 racked up a couple of K’s but a couple of walks and a single had the scores tied at 3-3.
Both teams had a few chances to take the lead but managed to shoot themselves in the foot late, as the game went into the final inning. After coach Borrito booted one to give the visitors a chance, a hit and a couple of K’s from a fired up Hollywood had the visitors with two out, second and third occupied, and ex-Tiger Gary Rice at the dish. The unstoppable sex machine called to Borrito for the intentional walk, with Vanilla Rice already having a couple of knocks for the day. With the bases juiced, Hollywood piffed it down with all he had left to magnificently whiff the Last-chance Hawk and end the half-inning, saving the coaches bacon in the process….
Down to the bottom of the last and some good things (Vdub reaching base, Ghost Faced Killa executing a sweet bunt, USM stealing two bases) happened, plus a bad thing (one of our best for the day getting thrown out at third) to leave the situation as this…. assistant coach on third, coach at the plate, two out, game on the line. As coach Beef Borrito found himself in the hole at 0-2 and with us down to our last strike, he remembered the famous words of one of Glenelg’s finest - who has inexplicably disappeared without a trace from the club in the recent times (kind of like Miranda in “Picnic at Hanging Rock”). The great man once said to me, “get the win, get some booze into ya”. Inspirational. The knuckle offering came down, and Borrito knew what had to be done. The bat was swung, it made some sort of less than stellar contact with the dancing Brett pill, and the pearl floated in a beautiful arc over the second basemans head, mis-hit just enough as to give centrefield no chance to snaffle the catch. President Matty Jones immediately jumped on his Spotify premium account, stoked up the Bose speakers and queued Kenny Loggins who belted out “HIGHWAY TO THE DEE-BLE ZONE…….GONNA HIT IT RIGHT IN-TO THE DEEBLE ZOOOOOONE ”. The Cave dweller touched home and this one was over, a draining 4-3 winner which led to the tastiest beverages with your best mates, just like the great rib cooking man had said.
The Div six tigers
Took on the Southern Falcons
At sunny Glenelg.
Thanks Harry Leaker,
Dave Jucha and Luke Brambley
helping us field team.
We started quite well,
Lead-off M Leaker getting
two first inning hits.
Seven first inning
Runs for the home side, made the
Game comfortable.
Most all batted well
Rob, WTC and Sam
Along with Marty
Had multiple knocks.
Dave Jucha served the big hit,
A three run homer.
The pitching trio
Sanga and the two Leakers
Were rarley pressured.
Aside the errors
For Marty when Harry pitched
And Vice-Versa we
Fielded adequate.
Another top play was Rob
Haywood pulling the
Ball down the left line
striking third base for a hit,
(Base, not the player)
We were victorious
Maybe 16 to 6, or
Something similar
Thanks Pete for scoring
and Tommy H umpiring,
Perpendicular
Photo credit www.lainiehiller.com
