Rob's Wrap Up - Round 19
Published Sat 02 Mar 2024
MAGPIES CLINCH FINALS BERTH
By Robert Laidlaw
PORT ADELAIDE MANAGED TO survive the scramble for the sixth and final position for the division one baseball finals, with a 2-0 victory over Gawler Rangers at Karbeethan Reserve.
There were nine teams left in the hunt for a top six berth entering Saturday’s final minor round, with the Magpies needing a win to starve off elimination, as Southern Districts beat West Torrens and would have leap-frogged Port.
As for the game against Gawler, the Magpies relied heavily on starting pitcher Tyson McKee, who was able to hold the Rangers’ batters in check, conceding just two hits for nine strikeouts in a nine-inning complete game performance.
It was tight early, as neither side managed a score through the first five frames. Then at the top of the sixth Port broke through, when Nick Vasic singled, went to second base on a wild pitch and scampered home on Ethan Murphy’s two-out single up the middle.
That 1-0 lead held up until the top of the ninth, when Jack Stead ‘put one over’ to double the advantage, for a 2-0 victory.
While McKee was superb for the Magpies, Gawler was also well served from the mound, with first Seb Heintze-Unger pitching five digs for three hits and two strikeouts, and Nicolas Antoine giving up five hits for two K2s over the final four frames.
The Magpies have a tough assignment in next week’s semi-finals, as it has a best-of-three series against minor premier Henley & Grange at West Lakes.
GLENELG HAD A CHANCE to earn a finals spot with a home double-header against Sturt but lost two close games that went down to the wire, 3-1 and 5-4.
In the first contest, the Saints scored single runs in the bottom of the first (Terrell Joyce sac fly), third (Jackson Brebner-Russ RBI single) and fourth (Jonas Garcia sac fly) innings.
The Tigers only score came at the top of the seventh and final inning, when Kai Reid smashed a home run.
Ky Hampton went the distance on the mound for the win, conceding six hits for four strikeouts from seven frames. Jayden Edridge took the loss, after giving up eight hits for three K2s in six digs.
The second contest saw Sturt go out to an early 4-0 lead before the Tigers clawed their way back into the game before failing by just one run.
All the early scoring was via the long ball, as Joyce smashed a two-run dinger at the top of the opening inning, with Dayton Mitchell hitting a solo shot in the third frame and Joyce putting his second ball over the fence at the top of the fifth, to make it 4-0.
Connor Hill breathed some life into the game with a solo home run for Glenelg in the bottom of the fifth.
At the top of the sixth, Mitch Lightbody had a RBI double to stake Sturt to a 5-1 lead, with the Tigers answering in the bottom of the frame, when Reid walked, Zane Judd hit a double and Dylan Bentley had a RBI groundout.
Then in the bottom of the seventh and final inning, Glenelg threatened, when, with two out, Elliott Ross walked and Tom Huttunen smashed a two-run home run to close the gap to a single run, but the momentum could not be built on.
Brebner-Russ pitched five innings for the win, conceding three hits for three strikeouts.
Sturt now has a home semi-final series against West Torrens at Mitcham next weekend.
WOODVILLE SECURED SECOND SPOT on the table with two shut-out victories over Kensington at Findon, winning 6-0 and 4-0.
AJ Verastegui was the star from the mound in game one, as he went the distance, allowing just two hits for 13 strikeouts in seven innings – he also had a solid day with the bat, collecting a pair of hits.
In the opening frame of the first contest, the Senators scored twice, after Cesar Perez and Drew Janssen collected hits, Mitch Fienemann was hit by a pitch, Troy Nicholson had a sac fly and Verastegui managed a RBI single.
Janssen had a RBI single in the second dig, then in the fourth, Perez had a RBI hit and Janssen hit a sac fly to make it 5-0. At the top of the seventh and final inning, Troy Nicholson smashed a home run to top the scoring.
In the second game Woodville scratched out the win, as it scored single runs in the first (Joe Chapman two-out RBI single), third (Troy Nicholson RBI fielder’s choice), fourth (Janssen RBI single) and sixth (on an error) frames.
Troy Nicholson earned the win from the mound, with two relief innings, as he conceded one hit for four strikeouts. Janssen started and went four frames, for one hit and six K2s.
Tyler Butterwick got both of the Cardinals hits in game one, while the Spratt brothers, Lachlan and Jordan accounted for Kensington’s two hits in the second contest.
The Senators host Adelaide next weekend in a best-of-three semi-final match-up at Findon.
ADELAIDE ENDED THE MINOR ROUND on a winning note with a 6-0 victory over East Torrens at Payneham.
For the first six innings it was a tight pitcher’s duel, as the Angels led 1-0 courtesy of a run at the top of the first frame, when Max Tracey reached on a wild throw, stole second base, went to third on Stefan Welch’s single and came home on Billy Damon’s fielder’s choice grounder.
But a four-run Adelaide rally at the top of the seventh blew the scoreline out, on two-run hits to Tracey and Ty Forney.
Welch had a sacrifice fly in the ninth to pad out the Angels 6-0 win.
Next weekend Adelaide travel to play a best-of-three semi-final series at Findon against Woodville.
WITH FINGERS CROSSED THAT Gawler Rangers would upset Port Adelaide and other results went its way, Southern Districts beat reigning premier West Torrens at Lockleys 8-4, in a last-ditch effort to make the top six – but failed.
The Hawks will rue having a draw with Gawler last Tuesday, because if it had won that game, it would have displaced the Magpies in the top six!
Still, beating the Eagles at Lockleys is a fine achievement, and demonstrated that South would have been a formidable team in the finals if it had made them.
A 0-0 ballgame was broken open at the top of the third frame, when the Hawks scored three runs, after Nick Hutchings singled, an error and Luke Hansen’s two-run dinger.
South then went 7-0 up in the fifth dig on the back of a four-run rally, with Nic Paparella’s huge three-run home run the highlight.
In the bottom of the fifth the Eagles fought back with a pair of runs, after Nico Vanderlinden’s double, Nick George’s walk, James McFarlane’s RBI single and Jasper Clark’s RBI fielder’s choice.
At the top of the eighth, Byron Turner had a sac fly to make it 8-2, with the Eagles scoring twice on Tyrone Hambly’s two-run dinger in the bottom of the ninth.
Hutchings pitched five innings for the win, conceding four hits for seven strikeouts.
West Torrens travel to Mitcham and take on Sturt in next weekend’s best-of-three semi-final match up.
HENLEY & GRANGE FINISHED THE minor round with another convincing win, beating Goodwood 12-0 at West Lakes.
The Indians were an outside chance of qualifying for the top six but even if they had upset the Rams and made it, they would have had to return next weekend to face Henley again!
Almost before the game had started on Saturday, the result was all but secured, on the back of the Rams’ nine-run opening inning.
Jack Partington singled, Landon Hernandez doubled, Wilson Lee was hit by a pitch, Liam Bull walked, Giovanni Garbella and Patrick Inglis hit singles – six batters and none out!
Then after the first out, Jay Couzner and Jet Clohessy picked walks, which set up two-run hits to Partington and Hernadez, to give Henley the dream start.
The Rams host Port Adelaie at West Lakes next weekend in a best-of-three semi-final.
WITH AN 11-0 WIN OVER Northern Districts at Illyarrie Reserve, Golden Grove Central Districts finished the season on a high.
There were three main statistics to come out of the game – John Inglis pitched six innings for three hits and 10 strikeouts for the win, Brandan Manzella batted 1000 with four hits and a walk, while Kynan Skein had three hits, including a home run and five RBIs.
The Dodgers scored three times in the first frame, after hits to Isaac Pearce, Manzella and Skein, and 2 walks.
Then in the second dig, consecutive hits to Manzella, Jake Shotton and Skein accounted for another pair of runs, and a 5-0 lead.
A Manzella triple and Skein’s two-run dinger in the fourth saw the lead out to 7-0, with the Reds finally managing a run at the top of the fifth, after hits to Zane Tomaszek and Collins Robinson, and an error.
But the Dodgers kept going, with two runs in the sixth (an error and Shotton’s RBI hit), and one each in the seventh (after a Nick Wallis double) and eighth (Skein’s fifth RBI of the game).
* * * * *
Division one baseball results:
Henley & Grange d Goodwood 12-0 (hits: H&G – Hernandez 3, Garbella 3, Partington 2, Inglis 2, Cuzner, Clohessy; Goodwood – Weber, Cooper. WP: L. Hernandez; LP: K. Takahashi).
Port Adelaide d Gawler Rangers 2-0 (hits: Port – F. McKee 2, Murphy 2, Vasic, Stead (hr), Trebilcock, Paech; Gawler – Worden, Crawford. WP: T. McKee; LP: N. Antoine).
Woodville d Kensington 6-0 (hits: Woodville – Moore 2, Perez 2, Janssen 2, T. Nicholson 2 (hr), Verastegui 2, Hayes; Kensington – T. Butterwick 2. WP: AJ Verastegui; LP: K. Butterwick).
Woodville d Kensington 4-0 (hits: Woodville – Perez 2, Janssen 2, J. Chapman 2, Bravo; Kensington – N. Platten 2, J. Spratt, L. Spratt. WP: T. Nicholson; LP: A. Hassani.
Sturt d Glenelg 3-1 (hits: Sturt – Knuckey 3, Altamura 2, Lightbody, Brebner-Russ, Farr; Glenelg – Mathews 2, Reid 2 (hr), Bentley, Steff. WP: K. Hampton; LP: J. Eldridge).
Sturt d Glenelg 5-4 (hits: Sturt – Joyce 2 (2 hr), Mitchell 2 (hr), Adkins 2, Lightbody, Farr, Garcia; Glenelg – Reid, Judd, Hill (hr), Steff, Huttunen (hr). WP: J. Brebner-Russ; LP: B. Kerns).
Southern Districts d West Torrens 8-4 (hits: South – Campbell 2, McLeod 2, Hansen 2 (hr), N. Paparella 2 (hr), Hattersley, Hutchings; WT – McFarlane 2, T. McGarry, Hambly (hr), Ni. Vanderlinden. WP: N. Hutchings; LP: J. Large).
Adelaide d East Torrens 6-0 (hits: Adelaide – Forney 2, Ganley 2, Tracey, Welch, Smith, Congdon, Pace; ET – Couzner 2, Probert, Lucas, Ashcroft, King, Riley. WP: N. Callaghan; LP: C. Ashcroft).
Golden Grove Central Districts d Northern Districts 11-1 (hits: GGCD – Manzella 4, Shotton 3, Skein 3 (hr), Pearce 2, Wallis 2, Walsh; North – Tomaszek 2, Robinson. WP: J. Inglis; LP: C. Robinson).
Premiership points: Henley & Grange 47, Woodville 39, Sturt 36, West Torrens 34, Adelaide 34, Port Adelaide 32, Southern Districts 31, Glenelg 29, Goodwood 29, East Torrens 19, Kensington 15, Gawler Rangers 11, GGCD 6, Northern Districts 2.
