Our second home game of the season saw us take on the Adelaide Angels in a twilight match last week.
As expected, it was a tough game against the second ranked team, losing 24-1.
Credit to the Tigers, our pitchers had a huge task facing a daunting line up with strength through all 9 batters.
Before we started, we had a clear conversation with our pitchers that we want them to not fear throwing strikes. Getting the ball in play is an opportunity to get outs. Hits against us mean we are throwing strikes which is our goal and it was encouraging to see both our pitchers get up there and keep throwing strikes.
Kai. C went 3.2 innings and his pitch count, facing 28 batters! He struck out one, with 14 hits.
Ollie stepped up as relief and faced 18 batters in 1.2 innings, with 9 hits.
Despite the onslaught of hits against us, it paints a clear picture that our pitchers are doing what we want them to do – to throw strikes. So we cannot fault their efforts. In addition, we made three outs every inning until the final dig.
The Tigers faced some top pitching in the batters box, only managing two hits for the game from Charlie (double) and Sam, scoring one run with an RBI for Ollie.
Even though it is another tough loss to bear, it is another opportunity to take away some learning. We are swinging at more pitches, we are getting bat to ball, we are throwing strikes and making outs – it’s going to help us when we play other teams that we are more competitive with.
From this game we move on and use our learnings.
Bouncing back from our mid-week loss to Adelaide, we stepped out on GBC turf against the Cardinals for a great win, 7-2.
We took the first innings to really get into the game as the Cardinals got in early with a run, but starting pitcher Charlie shut them down very quickly with 3Ks and another in the second. Hits for Charlie, Callum and Ollie scored our first run across the plate in the bottom of the second to tie it up.
Charlie pitched his third inning of the game, striking out another 3 they still managed their second (and last) run of the game.
Getting onto their starter proved too much of a threat to the Cardinals, relieving him in the middle of the third. With an increase in velocity, we had to change tactics and be choosy with more erratic pitching. Getting on base with walks and an HPB, we scored two more runs with very aggressive baserunning and an RBI single from Sam.
Callum relieved in the fourth, striking out one and some routine outs keeping them scoreless for the inning. The kids still attacked in the box aggressively sneaking on base with walks and dropped third strikes against the right hander - their base running rewarding them with three more runs in the fourth.
The final two defensive innings were pretty unrewarding for the Cardinals, with Callum striking out three more batters and only one hit against.
As they struggled to get across the plate, we continued our attack on the base paths scoring our seventh run our last effort.
All in all, after coming away from the game with 7 runs from just four hits we have to acknowledge their improved confidence and knowledge of the game. They are learning that when we are not getting on base easily from hits, we attack from another angle and that it comes together as a team effort to get those runs in these situations. Important to note also, this game was our first errorless game of the season.
A great effort from both our pitchers - very deserving of a summary:
Charlie: 3 innings, 14 batters, 7Ks, 2 hits, 2 runs
Callum: 3 innings, 15 batters, 4Ks, 1 hit, 0 runs
After a tough couple of weeks, with only 1 point from 4 after going 16-18 & 17-17, the runs were abundant again - but this time for both points and a 17-7 win against Kensington at the home of Tigers baseball. We've now seen 50 Henley Tigers across the plate in 3 games with a combination of good hitting, patient at-bats and great aggressive running!
A twin attack on the mound from H&G, plus some great fielding and on-point at-bats, made for a well rounded effort from the whole team.
A few call-outs for the Glenelg boys:
Owen - some patient at-bats and aggressive running as well as some really situation-aware fielding in the middle infield.
Ethan - providing quality coverage in centre field and a strong presence at the plate.
Fin - great patient at-bats (finding a different way to get on base every time) and finishing the last inning with all 3 outs at first base.
Matt - patiently bided his time starting on the bench and was ready for action when immediately called upon for a great catch at right field.
Harrison- a shout out for being under the pump with injury but still keeping the guys motivated from the dugout as well as being ready and able if called upon for action.
All in all, a great win and a strong team effort from all the boys.
Now onto a Friday night fixture against a Senators team just two spots, and one point, below us on the ladder.... play ball.
A tough day of baseball for the U11’s as we came up against Woodville Senators. A slow start had us trailing the entire game. Despite having a few players getting on base early, we were unable to push them around. Woodville starting pitcher kept us scoreless through his 2 innings of work. In the box we managed 3 solid hits to the outfield by Jimmy Newbold, Mason Osborn & Zac Maclean. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough on the day which saw us go down 7-0. The team are ready to give it all they’ve got this weekend against the Redsox before we take a break. Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!
