Rob's Wrap Up - Round 1

RANGERS PUSH STURT

By Robert Laidlaw

PLAYING DIVISION ONE BASEBALL for the first time, Gawler Rangers pushed Sturt before going down 0-5 in an entertaining game at West Beach to open the new season.

Newly promoted, the Rangers had a nervous start before holding their own until late in the game, when the Saints pulled away.

With French national Nicolas Antoine on the mound for Gawler, and former Goodwood catcher Dylan Child – now the Rangers coach – behind the mask, the game was set up for a pitchers’ duel.

The only trouble was Sturt found a way to take advantage of those early nerves, when it scored twice in the first inning, after Mitch Lightbody bunted for a hit, stole second base and eventually scored on a wild pitch.

Jordan McArdle also singled and came home on Dakota Mitchell’s hit, but the rally was short-circuited when Gawler’s second baseman Harry Grambau took a diving catch and completed a double play at first.

While the Rangers struggled to get much started in the batting box, former Saint Aiden Prokopec doubled for Gawler in the second frame to collect the club’s first hit in division one.

Antoine found his comfort zone and kept Sturt from scoring any further runs through to the seventh inning, with the score remaining at 2-0.

A change of pitcher in the eighth saw the Saints threaten. Harrison Knuckey walked, Lightbody bunted, McArdle was intentionally put on base and Dayton Mitchell delivered, with a two-run double.

Then at the top of the ninth, Jonas Garcia singled and scored on Knuckey’s double to make it 5-0.

From the mound for Sturt, Josh Tindall was on fire, conceding three hits in eight innings for 10 strikeouts.

THE MATCH OF THE ROUND proved as exciting as promised, with Koki Yonezawa collecting a two-out RBI walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning, for Henley & Grange to beat West Torrens 4-3 at West Lakes.

With the scores locked at 3-3 going into the bottom of the ninth, the first two Rams were retired. Phil Acosta breathed some life into the game with a big double, and after Jack Partington walked, Yonezawa delivered.

The Eagles looked the goods early when they scored twice in the second frame, after Sam McGarry reached on an error, Jacob Scott singled and Jude Barker had a RBI hit, with the second run coming home on an error.

With Will Kortekaas in control from the mound, pitching a one-hitter over five innings for seven strikeouts, West Torrens was in control.

The lead went to 3-0 at the top of the sixth when Scott reached base on a fielder’s choice, stole second base and advanced on two wild pitches.

But a change came over the game in the bottom of the sixth after Kortekaas left.

Acosta walked, Partington doubled and Yonezawa walked to load the bases with none out. Wilson Lee was hit by a pitch to score Henley’s first run, then Liam Bull smashed a two-run double and the ballgame was tied at 3-3, which remained until the bottom of the ninth dig.

Wilson recorded the win in relief, throwing five innings for five hits and eight K2s in his first game as the Rams’ coach.

A LATE RUSH of runs helped Southern Districts overcome Adelaide at Christies Beach, for a 10-1 victory.

The Hawks scored single runs in the first two innings to go 2-0 up, on Nick Paparella’s sac fly and via Byron Turner, who doubled and came home in a double steal attempt.

Adelaide pulled one run back at the top of the third inning, after hits to Nick Callaghan, Henry Cann and Stefan Welch, where the Angels left the bases loaded.

That shaky 2-1 lead held up for South until the bottom of the seventh frame, where it scored four times to create a cushion.

Carey McLeod singled, Nick Paparella had a RBI double, Hattersley had a RBI hit, Ben Short doubled and Turner had a two-run two-bagger.

The game was put out of reach when the Hawks scored another four times in the eighth, after two walks, an error and hits to Jake Campbell, Hattersley, Short and Hobson.

Hattersley went five innings for the win, conceding four hits for two K2s, while reliever Michael Johnson threw four frames for one hit and one strikeout.

Turner had a dream start to the season with the bat, collecting four hits and a walk from five plate appearances.

IT TOOK 12 INNINGS but Golden Grove Central Districts managed to come away from Erindale with a victory, beating Kensington 8-6.

The game was tied 5-5 after seven frames, which remained the same up to the top of the 12th dig, which is where the Dodgers made their charge.

With two out and one runner on base, Brandon Manzella doubled in the go-ahead run. Then Jake Shotton was intentionally walked before Kynan Skein had a RBI hit for another run, and then a wild pitch scored a third tally for an 8-5 lead.

In the bottom of the 12th Austin Gallagher led off with a home run for the Cardinals but that was all Kensington could manage in reply.

It looked like a Cardinals win all the way after they scored four times in the opening inning, when Gallagher smashed a two-run dinger, Mike Bishop doubled, and Nick Platten and Tyler Butterwick had RBI hits.

The Dodgers fought back with a pair of runs at the top of the second frame on Isaac Pearce’s RBI single and an error.

Shotton made it a one-run game with his home run at the top of the third but Kensington replied in the bottom of the inning, when Gallagher scored on Butterwick’s groundout to make it 5-3.

It was a big day for the long ball, and the Dodgers again made it a one-run ballgame at the top of the fourth, on Nick Wallis’ dinger.

At the top of the seventh the game was tied up by Shotton’s RBI single, at 5-5, which held up until the 12th inning.

THERE WAS AN EXTRA INNINGS game at Mortlock Park, where Goodwood and Woodville settled for a 2-2 draw in 11 frames.

It was scoreless up to the bottom of the fourth, which is where the Indians managed a pair of runs.

Matt Hutchings doubled, Griffin Weber singled and Tom Fiebig walked to load the bases. Jack Bushell brought one run in with his grounder, with an error scoring another, for a 2-0 lead.

The Senators threatened at the top of the fifth, when Joel Chapman and AJ Verastegui hit, and Nathan Nicholson laid down a bunt, but only managed one run, on Greg Bravo’s RBI single.

The final run of the game came at the top of the sixth, when Callum Park singled, stole second base and, after two outs, came home on Mitch Fienemann’s single.

Verastegui started for the Senators and conceded three hits in six frames for eight strikeouts, while Goodwood starter Tom Fitzgerald went five innings for five hits and five K2s.

GLENELG CELEBRATED Jayden Eldridge’s 100th division one game with a 9-1 victory over Northern Districts at Ingle Farm.

Eldridge started on the mound and pitched four scoreless innings to set up the Tigers’ win, conceding two hits for five strikeouts.

For its part, Glenelg managed a pair of runs in the second frame, on Kai Reid’s two-run home run, and another two tallies in the fourth, on a pair of walks, Zane Judd’s hit and an error, for a 4-0 lead.

It soon became 5-0 in the fifth on Tom Huttunen’s RBI double, and then in the sixth dig the Tigers scored four times – on hits to Jaikob Mathews, Judd, Briley Knight, Dylan Bentley and Nick George – to go 9-0 up.

To the Reds’ credit they did not wave the white flag, as Zane Tomaszek stemmed the flow from the mound, pitching the final three innings for one hit and one K2. And in the eighth, Phil Whelan hit a dinger to put North on the scoreboard.

EAST TORRENS CAME FROM behind to beat Port Adelaide 9-6 at Payneham, with a five-run last at bat doing the damage.

Trailing 4-6 going into the bottom of the eighth the Redsox exploded for five runs, on hits to Charlie Ashcroft, Will Couzner, Dalton Probert (a two-run double), and Dylan Lester.

The Magpies had scored twice in the opening frame, after hits to Brodie Arriola, Jack Stead and Flynn McKee. East Torrens responded with a single run in the bottom of the first, on Carter Powell’s RBI groundout.

A sac fly from Arriola at the top of the fourth dig gave Port some breathing space, but the Redsox tied up the ballgame with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame, after hits to Couzner, Probert and Mark Stewart.

But Port managed to again edge ahead in the fifth with two runs, when Todd Trebilcock smashed a two-run double.

Powell had a RBI single in the seventh to close the gap but the Magpies replied with a run at the top of the eighth inning on Arriola’s RBI single, which set up East Torrens charge home in the bottom of the dig.

Reliever Zac Stroud collected the win, pitching four innings for four hits and four strikeouts.

* * * * *

Division one baseball results:

Southern Districts d Adelaide 10-1 (hits: South – Turner 4, Hattersley 2, Short 2, N. Rees 2, McLeod, Campbell, N. Paparella, Hobson; Adelaide – Cann, Damon, Welch, Smith, Callaghan. WP: B. Hattersley; LP: N. Callaghan).

Sturt d Gawler Rangers 5-0 (hits: Sturt – Knuckey, Lightbody, McArdle, Dak. Mitchell, Day. Mitchell, Altamura, Garcia; Gawler – Prokopec, Worden, Okeil, Child. WP: J. Tindall; LP: N. Antoine).

Glenelg d Northern Districts 9-1 (hits: Glenelg – Mathews 3, Reid 3 (hr), Judd 2, Knight, Bentley, George, Nankivell, Huttunen; North – Dzeigo, P. Whelan (hr), Tomaszek, Kondo. WP: S. Chamblee; LP: N. Kondo).

East Torrens d Port Adelaide 9-6 (hits: ET – Ashcroft 2, Couzner 2, Probert 2, Stewart, Lester, Powell, Sanderson; Port – M. Schrapel 3, Arriola 2, McKee 2, Trebilcock 2, Stead, Suchier, Paech. WP: Z. Stroud; LP: J. Stead).

Henley & Grange d West Torrens 4-3 (hits: H&G – Partington, Yonezawa, Lee, Bull, Acosta; WT – Ni. Vanderlinden 2, Scott 2, T. McGarry, S. McGarry, Clark, Barker. WP: W. Lee; LP: J. Scott).

Golden Grove Central Districts d Kensington 8-6 in 12 innings (hits: GGCD – Brandon Manzella 2, Jake Shotton 2 (hr), Nick Wallis 2 (hr), Isaac Pearce, Kynan Skein; Kensington – Gallagher 4 (2 hr), Bishop 2, N. Platten, Butterwick, J. Splatt, Mosel. WP: B. Cafety; LP: G. Mosel).

Woodville tied Goodwood 2-2 in 11 innings (hits: Goodwood – Cresswell, Hutchings, Weber, Fiebig, Heeps; Woodville – Fienemann 2, Joel Chapman 2, Moore, Park, Verastegui, N. Nicholson, Bravo).

Premiership points: Henley & Grange 2, Sturt 2, East Torrens 2, Southern Districts 2, GGCD 2, Glenelg 2, Woodville 1, Goodwood 1, West Torrens 0, Gawler Rangers 0, Adelaide 0, Port Adelaide 0, Kensington 0, Northern Districts 0.