Hard fought battle, with the Reds. Pitching for the good guys was excellent with a combined shut out. Jayden started on the hill and was great through his 4 innings of work, giving up only 2 hits and punching out 7. He then handed the ball over to Harro who was equally as efficient, before veteran Daisy came on for the final innings and three strikeouts.
Runs were also hard to come by with our first run being scored on an error before, Wurf, Darc & ERoss all chiming in with RBI hits.
HITS: ERoss, Hilly, Mouse, Tyson, Wurf
Backing up from a solid start on Sunday we flipped the ball to Jayden again who gave us another solid start through 4 innings, Harro & Flynn kept the brakes on the Dodgers bats and we did enough with our own to come away with our first back to back wins of the season.
Highlights with the bat came via a two run no doubter from Hilly, and the an RBI single from the ever improving Darcy Gluyas.
HITS: Daisy, Darcy - 2, Joe, ERoss, Hilly (hr), Tyson, Mouse - 1
Looking to take some improved form into a twilight against one of the form teams of the competition, we had our chances right throughout the game. Pitching was good again with Flynn this time keeping us in the game before rolling his ankle and having to be removed from the game. Harro continued on where Flynn left off and we were right in the game going into the last innings tied at 3-3. Unfortunately the Rams were able to execute better than us and scored a couple runs that ended up being the difference. Nonetheless some improved form from the lads to take into the big Blake Horrocks Memorial round against Souths this weekend.
Heat affected game, so we had to get busy early, unfortunately it was the Reds who had to early momentum in a game which looked like it had slipped us by.
We head into the last innings 4-2 down and needing something, a lead-off single to Henry starts the rally, Patrick hustles to force and error and Squints executes the bunt to load the bases, and the bays have something cooking. Up steps Tommy H, a doubles to centre the game is all of sudden tied up 4-4 with a couple of runners on. At the plate is the ever improving Kai Reid who mashes a double to right field to score the win and execute the walk off to perfection.
Travelling out to Gawler in search of a 3 game winning streak, against a team we had an almighty battle with last time to lose 2-1 at home.
In a game that didn't really showcase the game of baseball we only got through 5 innings completed innings in the 2 hours. Our pitchers kept us in it all day with Errol, Patrick & Flynn all being OK, and getting some run support against Gawler's crafty veteran we eeked out an 8-7 win.
Highlights being a 2 run bomb to Quals, lowlights being a nasty injury to Blake Hall. Onto an important match up against South's this weekend.
Where back 2021 is here and we took on the might of Norths in a heat reduced game on Sunday.
Unfortunately that is all the excitement out of the way as we just did not get out of first gear the entire game.
Conor started and had trouble finding his rhythm after an extended break and not a lot of practice leading up to the game. He gave it his all as conor does but his game was over after 2 innings. Although not ideal the fact that he is throwing full size diamond for the first time and willing to keep working on it is a credit to him and I am sure he is going to be a handy arm for the future.
In the box there was not a lot to cheer about Blake reached base three out of three times and Kai got one cheap hit and one ripper hit to score a run and Henry smashed a double but that was about it.
We made some mistakes in the field at inappropriate times which allowed 8 northerners to cross the plate 4 of which were unearned and we could only muster 3 tigers home on our attempts.
One great positive for the game was we still had a chance to cause some damage loading the bases in the last inning only to fall short by recording three outs.
Thanks for Alice for playing second again for us and copping one in the leg while batting and Millhouse for changing into his uniform and coming into right field to cover for below
The game could be summed up in one play really, routine fly to left runner tagging not going anywhere and the ball finds its way to Bailey at home who decided his lip was a better idea then his glove to catch it and spent the remainder of the game on the bench with a lip that hat Botox job written all over it. Credit to the young man as he proceeded to be the bullpen catcher for the rest of the day.
We are still in the hunt for a finals spot so let’s give it our all over the next month and we just might surprise a few people
We took the long drive out to Gawler on Sunday to take on the Rangers. For the first time in awhile we batted first. Tommy h helping the Div 3 misfits out by dropping down lead off with a walk stole 2 bags and scored on Conors ground out. That was all we could muster and we took the field.
Gawler managed to get the run back in the first but it wound up not mattering as our bats would explode in the second. A base knock by Lenny returning for another game with us a walk to Alice and a pass ball allowed the weapon mister House to drive in 2. Tommy then driving him in with a triple. I wont go into the rest of the inning but lets just say everybody got on Lenny collected 2 hits in it and when it was over we had scored 6 putting the game out of reach.
There was not much more highlights for the game as we became distracted by the lead and made some errors both physical and mental.
Highlights though was Henry going 4 for 4, Tom coming down and taking it serious going 2 for 3 and Abroe as usual collecting 2 hits.
I thought Bailey played a solid game at third and thanks for Millhouse for catching and Lenny for braving the mound and closing out a 17 to 6 win. The run home is tough so lets tidy it up champs
We returned to the new year a week earlier than expected and we took the field a little light on - but with 9 able bodies (of sorts) ready to go.
Gamer Eldridge took the pill in his first start for about 2 months and he turned in a great outing for a guy that has been under an injury cloud for a long time again now. The home team bats got going early on, Mags with a 2 run double and would be driven in on a base hit to Sid Reynolds we finished the 1st with a 3-0 lead. Gamer kept the ET hitters largely at bay, albeit he gave up a few runs on a couple of nice hits to the visitors, the only guy out there with more experience than Kloeds proved tough to retire all day long.
With the ball being difficult to pick up in the high sky, we took full advantage of this and got some extra base hits to left and put up a 5 spot in the home half of the third. We played some pretty slick defence in the field, including almost turning a triple play. D Ziersch leading the way looking right at home in his first game away from the dish. The Sox outfielder’s took 2 above average catches to slow our run rate down, but we did swing the bat quite well all day long.
Gamer ended up going the distance, making life that little bit easier everyone else. Kloeds put a little exclamation point on the game with a 3 run johnson in what would become the final AB of the ball game.
This was a great win to start the run home, we really look forward to a few big games ahead of us in the coming weeks.
It was another sunny and blowy day at the home of the Tigers. With 2 last minute withdrawals the prospect of actually having all guys on deck for the first time this season was thwarted.
We turned 8 players into 9 with the help of some Div 5 comrades and took the park to try and get a better win than our previous battle @ Sturt earlier in the season.
Hayds took the pill and cruised through the 1st. The bottom of the first saw the home team come out blazing, putting up a 12 spot. Hayds McGearey with a loud homer to drive in 4 of his own in the first.
The 2nd was a similar story and brother Magoo did some damage with a 3 run Johnson of his own.
With the game in control we turned to Paddy Gluyas to make his season debut on the mound. With very little help from the field he got thru 2 innings, put had given up a few red runs.
In the end we probably got about 15 hits on the day, including a few homers, in a pretty good team performance with the sticks.
Our focus now turns to a couple of huge challenges ahead of us in the coming weeks.
With a bucket load of Christmas pudding and gallons of tasty Coopers products filling our now expanded waistlines, the Snakes Alives took on the undefeated Red Stockings of East Torrens in just our second appearance on the Main Diamond for the season.
Having been whipped like number 65 after a post-game Venga at the LOP by the same team just a couple of weeks before the break, we knew we had to be at our best to have any chance to pinch a win and remain in the race for a top-two finish.
Making things even more difficult for the Snakes was the fact that we would have to do it without tasty Vanilla Slice on the hill, the great man succumbing to an ankle injury incurred during the GBC All-Star baseball day when he tumbled over a carton of Great Northern precariously placed at leftfield.
Coach Beef Borrito flipped the pill to the gasoline piffer in Delicious Krajina and as umpire King Spy called “play ball”, King Gizzard and the Krizard-wizard immediately went to work bamboozling the ET lead-off with an array of 12mph “fast” balls, notching his first and only whiff for the day. In stepped Wu-Tang Dan placed at the hot corner for two excellent plays and we were out of the first with no baserunners to be seen.
Needing a quick start to keep the pressure on, the Mumbai Masher coaxed a walk. Fendog Millionaire followed with a single before NothingCanBeFinerThanHittingByKrajina knocked a single and in turn our first run for the year as the lushly bearded leadoff goose-stepped across the dish. With one out and loaded sacks, Oysters Senior went BAAAAANG smashing a double and giving the boys a 3-0 lead. Not to be outdone by his older and slightly shorter sibling, Oysters Junior fired one into right to make it 4-0 before the red hot Party Liaison lofted one over right after a Brewing Co. hit by pitch to make it 6-0 good guys. With two out, Fendog Millionaire singled again, giving the Tiges a 7-0 spot and invoking the ridiculous end-of-inning rule that once again almost bit us on the ample booty later in the game. Still, a brilliant first up after-the-break performance to get us on top in this one early.
The visitors, as expected, fought back quickly – a long Han Solo bomb making it 7-1 after just one pitch in the second! The Jina was having none of this, cleverly walking the next hitter to allow the Unstoppable Pecs Machine to turn a delicious double play on a line drive with the assistance of V-Dub Brewing Co. An extremely high pop-up to Beef Borrito that exited the earth’s atmosphere ended the inning as the score remained 7-1.
Those seven we scored early proved handy as we scored exactly no more runs for the next five innings, while the league-leaders fought back and chipped away as good sides do. After three it was 7-4 Tiges and the Moist Krajina had done his work, replaced by the Unstoppable Pecs Machine as we tried to get to the finish line with some sort of lead. A clean 4th was just what the doctor ordered, two strikeouts setting the tone to keep our noses in front.
Through six both teams traded donuts as the pitchers got on top, so we went to the last with a 7-4 lead. As usual, the baseball gods don’t seem to allow the coach an easy ride home, so the nail biting finale was once again in order. The Red Stockings started the inning with the leadoff reaching on error (the defensive replacement proving less than a coaching masterstroke – baseball gods again) before a single had 1st and 2nd with none out. Another single, 7-5 the score. Then, a surprise and perfectly executed bunt for a single made it 1st and 3rd, none out and a nervous coach. The baseball gods giveth and the baseball gods taketh away, so it was time for the aforementioned gods to give something back. A hard hit ground ball to Beef Borrito started a Borrito-Brewing Co-Moist Krajina double play as another run crossed to make it 7-6 with two out and a runner on second and the clean-up hitter on deck. As the Unstoppable Pecs Machine reached back and piffed it with all his might, the tin stick sent the pill to left-field, but it was not hit in the middle and looked to be dropping in for a single. Enter the lanky Tiges leftfielder who invoked the spirit of LL Cool J as he sprinted full bottle toward the falling pill singing ….
“Behind every playa is a true playette
Bounce you up, outta there, push eject
Taster's choice, have you nice and moist
Or play paper games or floss the Rolls Royce
Something like a phenomenon
Something like a phenomenon
Something like a phenomenon
Something like a phenomenon “
the Fenomenon himself then dived full stretch forward to snaffle the pill just millimetres above the deck and end this one with a very handy 7-6 final score.
On this occasion the coach could proudly invoke the primary school summary of best players, quoting “all played well”. And were now onto the other undefeated team, Sturty.
A week after scraping in against the top team in the league, the Snakes Alives had to front up against the new league leaders in Sturt at Pamela Anderson Fields.
With an ailing pitching staff Beef Borrito went straight to the top, securing the services of Port’s favourite umpire in Craig Aviator for the day while Custilla Slice returned under some duress, taking his place at the hot corner. Umpire Sir Justice Milhouse got this one underway. Craig Aviator negotiated an early walk, enlisting the help of The Unstoppable Pecs Machine, Moist Krajina and the aforementioned Borrito to get through the first unscathed. The Sturty starter cruised through the first to have things all tied up at 0-0 after one.
Two singles and a walk to the visitors had them threatening with loaded sacks and just one out in the second, but Craig Aviator dug deep to produce an out at the dish in industrial fashion before a ground out to V-Dub Brewing Co had us back in the dugout without conceding a run.
The score remained 0-0 with both starters assuming control in a tight-knit, crackerjack ding-dong affair. With two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the third, the Brewing co. banged a base knock to start something for the good guys. The Mumbai Masher followed suit to put the pressure on before a Fendog Millionaire sinking liner tempted the rightfielder in to attempt a speccy, but the ball scooted under the glove like a Jaffa down the aisle of the Glenelg Village Cinema in the 80’s during an Elvis double –feature to allow two runs on the board for the Tiges.
The Utah Saints didn’t take long to fight back, scoring a run and threatening again before Bendy Wendy the Man racked up back-to-back punchouts to kill the threat.
After five, and with a 2-1 lead, Craig Aviator handed piffing duties to The Unstoppable Pecs Machine after a brilliant effort on the hill. The visitors had first and second occupied in quick time as the The Jolly Jouster struggled to find his best stuff. Working hard to keep things in check, a hit pitched ball tied the scores but more importantly, The UPM gave it everything he had to guts out a whiff to the opposing number four hitter and keep the scores tied.
Bottom six saw the Snakes resume the lead with a monster p*ssbomb from The Jouster to make it 3-2 with an inning to play. I’m not sure why but these games never take it easy on the coach, but as always seems to be the case, the plucky Utah Saints tied it once again, a nice grab by the Goose-stepper required to keep the score at 3-3 with just the bottom of the last to come.
Up came Craig Aviator with the game on the line. He adjusted the aviators before unbuttoning the top of his shirt, revealing a massive gold medallion that glistened in the sun, making him look like a detective from a seventies cop show. Swinging strike. Another practice swing, another button undone. Swinging strike two. Just as the Saints starter looked to have his measure, The Aviator stepped away from the dish, adjusted his pants and popped yet another button before bizarrely belting out his favourite Iggy Azalea track… he sang…
“I'm so Handy
You already know
I'm gonna smash this..
From the GBC to Tokyo
I'm so Handy
Can't you taste this gold
Remember my name, 'bout to blow..”
…before stepping back in the box, awaiting the delivery and depositing the pill just over Jo Lerche’s deliciously formed scone for the game winning walk-off home run, 4-3 good guys.
A massive thanks to El Presidente for giving our ailing pitching staff a chop out, and of course for his late heroics. To the rest of my boys, great stuff, another win against a high quality opposition that keeps us in the mix to potentially steal a top two spot if we can maintain our recently gained momentum.
'Twas a warm to hot summer day, (a little too early for me) in the 12:30pm game slot, about mid thirty degrees C and a slight southerly breeze. We played Henley and Grange for the 2nd leg of our season matches at home (Anderson Ave, Glenelg North 5045) on diamond 2 on Saturday 9th Jan 2021.
Our first game of 2021 was pretty much like our previous match-up. In a game eerily similar to the first encounter, we scored runs in the first (6) an held on due to superior fielding and clutch/timely hitting.
We did however significantly bat better than our opponent this time with Tim Swansson and Emma Young both amongst the hits more than twice. Our resident long ball guys also provided some highlights with Leon Eldridge, Sam Dixon and Wayne Hughes collecting some extra base RBIs.
Our pitching and fielding both were satisfactory. And semi-cruised to a 14-2 victory after our strong start.
I was going to copy and paste the match report from the last time we played Woodville (or any other round for that matter) but couldn't find one similar enough to do it. Maybe next week?
It was Saturday 16th January, almost the slap bang middle of Summer, at the early time of 12:30pm. It was a cold day about 22 degrees (cold in summer) with a medium to strong south-westerly breeze blowing at the home of the Senators.
The Tigers scored 5 in the first inning and were up by a cool 10 after a few innings. There have been a couple of games where we have been outhit but have secured a win by good defence, this was not one of these sorts of contests.
Not saying that we did not field and pitch well, but as a team we had well over 10 hard hit balls to the opposition's one. Al Laukirbe, Wayne Hughes and Connor "Mercury" Major were the chief destroyers. David Jucha also batted well for "him". All pitchers did ok with the "Mercury" doing a swell job closing out the game.
Glenelg were up against Playford this week. Playford put a couple of runs on early before the Tigers ended the first up 7-2. The game was a lot more competitive than previous match-ups but the Tigers ended up eventual winners 16-7 keeping them top of the table on score difference.
Hitting was solid throuhout the game with multiple hits to Mezzini, Mundy (3) Fenwick and Luders (2). The game was our last for the season for our starting pitcher, Mitch who will leave a big hole on the mound. He did get the most out of his knees, stealing third during the game. All the best Mitch.
