Rob's Wrap Up - Round 10

BASEBALL (December 16, 2023)

HENLEY TRIUMPH IN ANOTHER CLOSE ONE

By Robert Laidlaw

ALTHOUGH SITTING TOP OF THE division one baseball table, Henley & Grange has been on the right end of many close games, including a 5-4, 10-inning triumph over Kensington at West Lakes on Saturday.

After scoring four runs in the first two frames, the Rams did not trouble the scoreboard again until the bottom of the 10th, when placed runner Patrick Inglis was advanced to third base on Jet Clohessy’s bunt and scored on Koki Yonezawa walk-off sacrifice fly.

In the first inning, Giovanni Garbella picked a two-out walk, advanced on Liam Bull’s hit and came home on Landon Hernandez hard-hit infield single.

Then in the bottom of the second, Clohessy, Phil Acosta and Jack Partington loaded the bases with singles, Garbella collected a RBI walk and Bull hit a two-run double, for a 4-0 Henley lead.

Austin Hassani came onto the mound in relief at this stage, and held the Rams scoreless through to the regulation ninth inning, pitching 6.1 digs for five hits and seven strikeouts.

And the Cardinals’ bats came alive in the middle frames. Josh Ledgard singled in the fifth, advanced on two wild pitches and came home on Austin Gallagher’s sac fly.

Then at the top of the sixth dig, Mike Bishop doubled, Tyler Butterwick had a RBI single and Jack Platten smashed a two-run dinger to tie up the ballgame.

But it was Henley that triumphed in extra innings, on Yonezawa’s sacrifice fly.

Rams’ starter Jordy Grose pitched five innings for three hits and nine strikeouts, while Landon Hernandez claimed the win, after conceding four hits for seven K2s in five frames.

THERE WAS ANOTHER NAIL-BITER at Payneham, where Southern Districts held on for a 4-3 victory over East Torrens.

Brett Hattersley walked and Ben Jones singled in the second inning, with both coming home on Carey McLeod’s hit, which staked the Hawks to a 2-0 lead.

The Redsox answered with a run in the bottom of the second. Mark Stewart singled, Jay Sanderson and Charlie Ashcroft walked, with Stewart crossing the plate as Henley turned over a double play.

South went 4-1 up at the top of the third, when Drew Davies walked and Hattersley put one over the fence.

Charlie Ashcroft then came onto the hill for East Torrens and shut the Hawks out the rest of the way, conceding five hits in 6.1 innings for five strikeouts.

In the bottom of the fourth the Redsox managed their second run, after Dylan Lester singled, went to second base on Stewart’s walk and scored on an error.

And in the sixth, hits by Lester, Stewart and Ashcroft saw the final run of the game come home.

Nick Hutchings started for South and went six frames, for five hits and three K2s to claim the win.

ANOTHER ONE RUN RESULT SAW Adelaide hold on for a 4-3 victory at Gawler against the Rangers.

Both teams scored a run in the opening frame, the Angels after two walks and Billy Damon’s RBI groundout, Gawler through Forrest Crawford, who singled, advanced to third base on a wild pitch and passed ball, and came home on Aiden Prokopec’s groundout.

Then at the top of the fifth Adelaide broke open the 1-1 scoreline with a pair of runs, on Stefan Welch’s two-run single, after hits to Brayden Edwards, Lachlan Pace, and a walk had loaded the bases.

A RBI double by Ty Forney at the top of the seventh added an insurance run, which the Angels would need.

At the bottom of the eighth frame, Crawford doubled with his fourth hit of the game, Boyd Worden laid down a safe bunt, Prokopec had a RBI single, and a wild pitch scored another run to have the Rangers one run down, with two on and one out.

Up stepped Gawler coach Dylan Child, who had a hungry look on his face, and he blasted a long ball to centrefield, which came close to being a home run, but Lachlan Pace held on to the catch, despite an outfield collision.

The Rangers went down in order in the bottom of the ninth, as Damon pitched Adelaide out of trouble to record the save.

Peter Nangle threw five innings for the win, conceding two hits for five strikeouts, while Nicholas Antoine took the loss, after giving up three hits for five K2s in six frames.

WOODVILLE WON BUT NORTHERN DISTRICTS can hold its head high after going down 9-5 in close encounter at Ingle Farm.

Drew Jannsen singled and came home on Wade Moore’s groundout in the first frame, then had a RBI hit in the second dig, to help the Senators to a 2-0 lead.

But the Reds shocked their more fancied opponent with a three-run rally at the bottom of the fourth to grab a 3-2 lead, after three walks and Tyson Lees’ two-run single.

It took a couple of innings for Woodville to respond, but at the top of the sixth it mounted a huge rally and scored six times, with hits to Daniel Chapman and Greg Bravo, Moore’s two-run home run, two walks and three errors.

An error gifted the Senators another run in the seventh, but North responded with a run in the bottom of the dig, after Naoya Kondo doubled and came home on Zane Tomaszek single.

The Reds scored the game’s final run in the bottom of the ninth, after Tom Fraser walked, Josh Whelan singled and an error.

PORT ADELAIDE RODE GOOD pitching to a 3-0 victory over the Tigers at Glenelg.

At the top of the third inning, Michael Schrapel walked, and Nick Vasic and Brodie Arriola had singles to load the bases. Flynn McKee had a sac fly and Sammy Steigert collected a RBI hit, as the Magpies went 2-0 up.

Then in the seventh frame, Vasic smashed a long home run – his fourth hit of the game.

Tyson McKee started for Port and threw 5.2 innings for two hits and eight strikeouts for the win, while in relief, Jesse Stemberger pitched 3.1 frames for no hits and four K2s.

For Glenelg, Jayden Eldridge started on the mound and lasted 6.2 innings, conceding nine hits for six strikeouts in a solid outing, while Kai Reid had both the Tigers’ hits, with two doubles.

ALTHOUGH NEVER HEADED, STURT had to fight all the way for a 7-5 win over Golden Grove Central Districts at Illyarrie Reserve.

At the top of the opening frame the Saints scored twice, on Terrell Joyce and Jackson Brebner-Russ RBI hits.

But the Dodgers had the answer in the bottom of the first, on Kynan Skein’s two-run single, for a 2-2 ballgame.

Hits by Joyce, Blake Farr, Zach Altamura and Jonas Garcia saw two more Sturt runs at the top of the third, while another run came home in the fourth on Joyce’s RBI single, for a 5-2 lead.

Brandon Manzella tripled in the fifth dig and came home on Tom Walsh’s sacrifice fly to pull one back for the Dodgers, but Sturt went further ahead with a pair of runs at the top of the sixth, with Farr’s RBI double the highlight.

Still, the home side would not surrender, and in the seventh scored a run after an error and in the ninth, Walsh had a RBI double, to always keep the visitors on their toes.

Age-less veteran Matt Williams started for the Saints and threw six innings for the win, conceding seven hits for eight strikeouts.

TWO BIG MID-GAME RALLIES paved the way for West Torrens’ 10-5 victory over Goodwood at Lockleys.

A 0-0 ballgame was broken open in the bottom of the third frame, after two walks and RBI hits to Mason Clavell, Jacob Scott and Nico Vanderlinden, for the Eagles to go 3-0 up.

Then an inning later West Torrens scored another five runs, after hits to Jasper Clark, Tom McGarry, Sam McGarry and Clavell.

The Indians finally got on the scoreboard at the top of the seventh with three runs, after hits to Koki Takahashi, Billy Sutton and Brodie Heeps. Sutton had a RBI triple in the eighth, to make it 8-4.

But in the bottom of the eighth, Nathan Vanderlinden smashed a two-run home run for the Eagles, with Goodwood only able to score once more in the ninth, on Matt Hutchings’ RBI single.

Will Kortekaas was superb from the mound for West Torrens, conceding four hits for six strikeouts and no runs in six innings, to claim the win.

* * * * *

Division one baseball results:

Henley & Grange d Kensington 5-4 in 10 innings (hits: H&G – Bull 3, Hernandez 3, Partington 2, Inglis, Clohessy; Kensington – J. Platten 2 (hr), L. Spratt, Ledgard, Maple, Bishop, Butterwick. WP: L. Hernandez; LP: R. Moore).

Southern Districts d East Torrens 4-3 (hits: South – N. Paparella 3, Hattersley 3 (hr), McLeod 2, Short, Campbell, Turner, Jones; ET – Lester 2, Stewart 2, Ashcroft. WP: N. Hutchings; LP: L. Barbary).

Woodville d Northern Districts 9-5 (hits: Woodville – Janssen 2, Moore 2 (hr), J. Chapman, D. Chapman, Bravo; North – Kondo 2, J. Whelan 2, Tomaszek 2, Fraser, Lees. WP: AJ Verastegui; LP: T. Marshall).

Port Adelaide d Glenelg 3-0 (hits: Port – Vasic 4 (hr), Arriola 2, F. McKee, Steigert, Stead, Murphy; Glenelg – Reid 2. WP: T. McKee; LP: J. Eldridge).

Sturt d GGCD 7-5 (hits: Sturt – Joyce 4, Farr 3, Brebner-Russ 2, Altamura 2, Lightbody, Garcia; GGCD – Manzella 2, Walsh 2, Skein 2, Shotton, Green, Wallis, Bastian. WP: M. Williams; LP: John Inglis).

West Torrens d Goodwood 10-5 (hits: WT – T. McGarry 3, Clark 2, S. McGarry 2, Clavell 2, Ni. Vanderlinden 2, Scott, Na. Vanderlinden (hr), Barker; Goodwood – Cresswell 2, Cooper 2, Hutchings 2, Sutton 2, Heeps, Cakebread, Takahashi. WP: W. Kortekaas; LP: T. Fitzgerald).

Adelaide d Gawler Rangers 4-3 (hits: Adelaide – Tracey, Forney, Welch, Edwards, Pace; Gawler – Crawford 4, Worden, Prokopec, Bawden. WP: P. Nangle; LP: N. Antoine).

Premiership points: Henley & Grange 19, Sturt 16, Woodville 14, Adelaide 12, Southern Districts 12, West Torrens 12, East Torrens 10, Port Adelaide 10, Goodwood 9, Glenelg 8, GGCD 4, Kensington 4, Gawler Rangers 2, Northern Districts 0.

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BASEBALL (December 19, 2023)

GREAT SCOTT, THE EAGLES HANG ON

By Robert Laidlaw

UNDER THREAT, WEST TORRENS made a late pitching change that saved the game, as the Eagles held on for a 6-5 division one baseball victory over Kensington at Erindale on Tuesday night.

Leading 6-2 going into the bottom of the sixth and final inning, West Torrens was looking home and hosed.

But the Cardinals made what was shaping as an irresistible rally for a famous come-from-behind victory.

Mike Bishop led off with a walk, Riley Moore singled and Nick Platten smashed a three-run home run, which whittled down the lead to a single run, with no Kensington batters out.

The fourth hitter of the inning, Tyler Butterwick walked, which forced a pitching change, with Jacob Scott coming onto the mound.

Scott promptly struck out the first hitter he faced, forced the next into a grounder back to himself, then struck out the third batter to retire the Cardinals and save the game for the visitors.

Earlier the Eagles scored a run in the first frame, on Mason Clavell’s RBI single and two in the third, after Jasper Clark had walked and Tom McGarry singled, with an error and wild pitch doing the damage.

Kensington scored single runs in the bottom of the third and fourth digs, on a Sean Maple RBI double and after hits to Riley Moore and Nick Platten, and a wild pitch.

Then the result seemed to be put to bed when back-to-back-to-back RBI doubles to Nate Vanderlinden, Tom McGarry and Clavell at the top of the fifth saw the lead balloon out to 6-2 for the Eagles, before Kensington’s late charge.

IT WAS TOP v BOTTOM but except for a slow start, Northern Districts took it up to the highly fancied Henley & Grange, before the Rams triumphed 7-0 at Ingle Farm.

Home runs from two of the first three batters of the game gave Henley the perfect start, as Jack Partington and Giovannis Garbella smashed balls over the centrefield fence. And before the Reds could recover, another three runs were added, to give the Rams a 5-0 first inning.

The next five innings were scoreless, as Zane Tomaszek came on to pitch for the Reds and threw 3.2 frames for two hits and six strikeouts to curb the effect of Henley’s big batters.

It took to the top of the seventh and final dig for the Rams to add on, with the final two runs, after a Wilson Lee double, two walks and an error.

Lee pitched 5.2 innings to claim the win, conceding two hits for 12 strikeouts in a solid outing.

EAST TORRENS SURVIVED A scare before triumphing 6-4 over Gawler Rangers at Payneham.

The early momentum was with the Redsox, when it scored twice in the bottom of the second inning, after Charlie Ashcroft singled, and Jay Sanderson hit a RBI double and scored on a wild throw.

But the Rangers fought back to hit the front with a pair of runs in the third frame (on Aiden Prokopec’s two-run single) and two in the fourth (on Brad Przibilla’s two-run hit) to lead 4-2.

After re-grouping, East Torrens answered with three runs in the bottom of the fourth, after RBI double to Sanderson, Troy Chandler and Carter Powell to go 5-4 up. Then scored an insurance run in the sixth, on Dalton Probert’s RBI single.

Dylan Lester pitched 4.2 innings for the win, conceding four hits for nine strikeouts.

WITH SAMUEL STEIGERT LEADING the way, Port Adelaide beat Golden Grove Central Districts 5-0 at Semaphore.

Steigert pitched the complete game, conceding five hits in seven innings with seven strikeouts, and also collected two hits.

The Magpies scored twice in the third frame, on Will Paech’s two-run single, and three times in the bottom of the sixth, after two walks, two hit batsmen and Steigert’s two-run hit.

Nathan Holt started for the Dodgers and threw five innings, for four hits and 10 strikeouts.

GLENELG LED TWICE BUT it was Adelaide that took home the chocolates, with a 4-3 victory at Plympton.

At the top of the third inning, RBI hits by Jaikob Mathews and Dylan Bentley saw the Tigers 2-0 ahead.

But Adelaide responded immediately with two runs in the bottom of the third, on Billy Damon’s two-run single.

Then at the top of the fifth frame, Mathews singled and eventually scored on Bentley’s sacrifice fly, to give Glenelg a 3-2 advantage.

The Angels did it again, as it responded in the bottom of the fifth, this time with a pair of runs to set up their win, after hits to Lachlan Pace, Max Tracey and Henry Cann.

Damon claimed the win after a complete game effort, conceding six hits for five strikeouts in seven innings. Beau Kerns took the loss, giving up seven hits for seven K2s in five frames.

SOUTHERN DISTRICTS PROVED too strong for Goodwood, with an 8-2 victory at Christies Beach.

Consecutive RBI doubles to Drew Davies, Nic Paparella and Brett Hattersley saw the Hawks lead 3-0 at the bottom of the third inning, then in the fourth, Jake Campbell hit a two-run dinger – 5-0 South.

The Indians made some noise at the top of the fifth frame, when Koki Takahashi hit a home run, Matt Hutchings walked and Josh Cakebread had a RBI hit up the middle, to draw within three runs, at 5-2.

But RBI hits to Paparella, Hattersley and Ben Jones in the bottom of the fifth dig made the game safe.

WOODVILLE WON A THRILELR 1-0 over Sturt at Mitcham, with Drew Janssen collecting 17 strikeouts from the mound for the Senators.

The only run of the game came at the top of the first inning, when Jansen singled to lead off, followed by Cesar Perez reaching on an error. Troy Nicholson then hit into a 6-4-3 double play, but heads up baserunning by Jansen saw him score from second.

It was lights out the rest of the way, as Janssen and Sturt hurler Josh Tindall dominated proceedings.

Janssen threw seven frames for two hits – the only Saints baserunners for the game – and struck out 17 of the 23 batters he faced. Tindall also went the distance, conceding four hits for five K2s in seven digs.

* * * * *

Division one baseball results:

East Torrens d Gawler Rangers 6-4 (hits: ET – Ashcroft 2, Sanderson 2, Chandler, Powell, Probert; Gawler – Crawford, Prokopec, Bawden, Przibilla. WP: D. Lester; LP: S. Heintze-Unger).

Port Adelaide d GGCD 5-0 (hits: Port – Steigert 2, Arriola, Paech, Murphy; GGCD – Green 2, Wallis, Caskey, Manzella. WP: S. Steigert; LP: N. Holt).

Henley & Grange d Northern Districts 7-0 (hits: H&G – Garbella 2 (hr), Partington (hr), Lee, Bull, Trevaskis; North – Fraser, Clifton. WP: W. Lee; LP: T. Fraser).

West Torrens d Kensington 6-5 (hits: WT – T. McGarry 2, Clavell 2, Na. Vanderlinden; Kensington – N. Platten 3 (hr), Moore 2, Gallagher, Maple, J. Spratt. WP: M. Sawada; LP: A. Tanner).

Adelaide d Glenelg 4-3 (hits: Adelaide – Tracey 2, Damon 2, Pace 2, Cann; Glenelg – Mathews 2, Knight 2, Judd, Bentley. WP: B. Damon; LP: B. Kerns).

Southern Districts d Goodwood 8-2 (hits: South – Campbell 2 (hr), N. Paparella 2, Hattersley 2, Jones 2, Davies, Hobson; Goodwood – Cooper 2, Hutchings, Cakebread, Fiebig, Takahashi (hr), Sutton. WP: B. Hattersley; LP: H. Cooper).

Woodville d Sturt 1-0 (hits: Woodville – Janssen, Verastegui, N. Nicholson, Bravo; Sturt – Lightbody, Macbeth. WP: D. Janssen; LP: J. Tindall).

Premiership points: Henley & Grange 21, Sturt 16, Woodville 16, Adelaide 14, Southern Districts 14, West Torrens 14, East Torrens 12, Port Adelaide 12, Goodwood 9, Glenelg 8, GGCD 4, Kensington 4, Gawler Rangers 2, Northern Districts 0.