Stage was set, beautiful day and packed house for ladies day. After watching two tight tussles in the Div 3 & 2 games, the boys were chaffing at the bit to get amongst the action.
Game started and remain a pitchers duel until the end. Their young gun & Jayden for us went head to head for 5 innings, with the Sox managing to get one across the plate to take an early 1-0 lead. We had our opportunities when out own young guns, Arch, Mouse & Darcy all singled, but we couldn't convert them.
With the innings running out, we arrive at the bottom 9th still 1-0 down, after Harro, Flynn & Daisy were all faultless out of the pen. With 2 out and a 2-2 count, Mason deposited a no doubter over the fence to tie the game up much to the delight of the now raucous ladies day crowd. Sensing something special the ladies rose to the feet and loudly cheered the boys on. Joe was next up and toughed out a ground ball up the middle to give us the go ahead runner on bases. Joe advanced to 2nd on a wild pitch and the tension continued to build, with veteran ERoss at the plate, his experienced shone through and he single in Joe to score a spectacular walk off win. Speaking ERoss after the game it was his first Division 1 walk off, in a 200+ game career.
After a tough season it was a great way to get a little bit of reward for the effort our boys have put in
Two pretty even matched teams going head to head in what was effectively a dead rubber for our lads. Similar to the ones the pitchers also seemed evenly matched, with Burnsy going OK for us without having his best stuff and their youngster going OK. The Sox crafted out a 7-2 lead in the top of the 4th and we looked in a bit of trouble. Bottom 4th a couple of errors and timely hits to Quals (double) Mason (triple) saw us put up a 4 spot to reduce the lead to 1.
Mason was super effective out of the pen held the Sox bats at bay and the score at 7.
Bottom 6th big man Harro steps up and deposits a long ball over the centrefield fence to tie the game up.
Neither team could score in the last and time ran out ending the game in a tie.
It was a perfect day for baseball as we played host to the upbeat Dodgers of Golden Grove. After the confirmation of finals rules was sorted at the plate meeting I flipped the ball to Stevens and the blue called play ball. The visitors came out swinging, with a few hits in the first they had the home team trailing 2-0. Our first offering was dealt with in the form of a 1-2-3 innings and the Dodgers bounced back into the dugout to test us out again. Stevo was up to the challenge and handed the away team a donut.
The bottom of the 2nd saw the home side edge in front with a lead-off single to Mags, a few QAB’s and some great hustle and heads up base running, we had grabbed the lead at 3-2. The bottom of the 3rd was a breakout dig which turned a close contest on its head. The home team plated 11 runs on the back of 6 hits and some more high quality at bats up and down the line-up – Zeddy with a 2 run double and Sadler’s 2 run single with the bases loaded were a couple of the bigger hits that innings, suddenly we had chased their starter and it was 14-3 after 3.
Stevens would go on to the throw the 4th and 5th and leave the game with a handy lead, before turning it over to Gamer to throw the 6th. The highlight of the OW’s day coming with a roped 2 RBI double in the home half of the 6th as we tacked on another 5 runs to get a buffer for the closer to work with. Kloeds came on to record the final 3 outs and we put the game to bed for a pretty tidy first round win.
We now look forward to another big challenge ahead of us next weekend, as we continue to try and put our best foot forward with each game.
Perfect weather greeted the Snakes Alives as we prepared to take on the Rams at Richard Dean Anderson Reserve. It was just a few weeks earlier when the Rammers got the better of us, so going into finals week one we knew we would have to be at our best to take this one out.
With coach Beef Borrito on the sidelines with a dodgy hammy, it was music to coaches ears to hear that The Fenomenon had passed his fitness test and would be able to take the field alongside the Mumbai Masher.
Pine Lime Slice took the pill and things did not go well for us early, the Rammers starting the game with three consecutive hits before Wu-Tang Dan gave us a much needed out. The Slice threw in a very nice whiff before a line drive was snaffled by V-dub Brewing Company to have us out of the inning trailing just 1-0. The visitors continued to pile on the pressure, scoring twice more to take a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the second.
A very handy wild throw put the Big Kraj on second to kick things off in the second, before a Nicey Slicey walk had the Snakes threatening. A sensational nine pitch at bat from the Brewing Co resulted in a safe hit to left, and the Tiges were on the board. Wu-Tang then went BANG for a crispy single to centre and after two the score was tied at 3-3.
Vanilla Slice put a donut on the board in the third and it was time to take the lead. Some quality at-bats by The Fenomenon, The Unstoppable Pecs Machine, Delicious Krajina and Appletini Slice himself saw the Fendog score on a wild pitch but we wasted the chance to put up a crooked number, 4-3 the score after three.
Another excellent inning from Strawberry Slice had the Tiges back at the bat, and when Steaky Breaky Tart led off with a walk, the table was set. Mister Freeze took a walk of his own before the Fenomenon delivered a solid single. The Krajinator took one on his arm and the score was 5-3. Another long at bat, this time from Ghost Faced Killah, saw the young fella reach via a walk, bringing home a 6th run and the pitcher headed to the newly upgraded showers. New arm, same result as Vdub Brewing Company took a bean ball on the arm to score a 7th,
With a 7-3 lead, HSR had some respite from colouring circles asSexy Slice handed the pill to the Jolly Jouster and the Tiges played this one out in style, further hits to Fendog Millionaire, Carter UPM, Vdub Brewing and Wu-Tang Dan rolling the score up while Custilla Slice took one off his scone to keep the line moving.
A 12-4 win was the final, a pretty good performance after a slow start getting the job done. Unlike the Wuhan province, there were some excellent at-bats taken by our boys in this one, with solid defense backing some smart piffing from the Slicey-Jouster combo.
And now there are four – and we come up against an excellent Sturt outfit that we have had two very tight battles with already this season - each team taking a “W”. Should be fun. Congrats to all of those GBC teams still playing in the big stuff, and best of luck this weekend!
In our annual foray into finals, the Glenelg division 6 team took on The Rams of Henley in a Saturday semi-final. 6th March, 2021, at Anderson Ave Glenelg North 5045. The breeze was a southerly (maybe south-westerly) about 9 knots, and the weather was a pleasant 23 degrees.
For the second week in a row the best thing about our game was the weather as Henley out hit, out run, and out baseballed the fancied Tigers.
It was a close game early with the home Tigers scoring early on a Wayne "DeChambeau" Hughes home run to left, a Leon "DJ" Eldridge RBI double to right centre and a Jason King RBI up the middle smash. Henley not to be outdone, got hits all over the park to break the game open and ride out 7 run winners.
Out better batters on the day were "DeChambeau", David Jucha and "DJ" who all got a couple of hits. Fielding wise Ben Dixon and Glen Pycock were easily our best, patrolling the infield with apparent ease.
Luckily for us we stay in the hunt and play again next week, in an away preliminary final.
What a great performance by Marty and the lads, the game was back and forth all day with both teams stealing the lead.
Mutz was the hero coming up with the walk off hit in the 7th.
Congratulations to these fellas who now advance to the Grand Final on Saturday week.
