Rob's Wrap Up - Round 18
Published Sun 25 Feb 2024
WITH THE TOP SIX TEAMS in division one baseball all playing sides out of finals considerations, it was a round of expected results, except Goodwood’s stunning 11-8 victory over West Torrens at Mortlock Park.
Early it looked like the Eagles were heading for an easy victory, as it scored five unearned runs in the second inning, after an error, and hits by Jacob Scott, Tyrone Hambly, James McFarlane, Jasper Clark and Tom McGarry.
But the Indians mounted a fightback in the bottom of the fourth with three runs, to cut the deficit to just two, at 5-3, after hits to Griff Weber, Josh Cakebread, Jeremy Cresswell and Tom Fiebig.
Then amazingly Goodwood hit the front with a four-run rally in the fifth, with big hits from Weber, Cresswell, Fiebig and Huntley Cooper.
And the Indians big bats continued to make an impression in the bottom of the sixth with another four runs, fuelled by Matt Hutchings’ double, a hit batsman, Cakebread’s RBI single and an error, for an 11-5 lead.
At the top of the seventh and final frame, West Torrens made a late charge, after McFarlane doubled, Tom McGarry hit a two-run, two-bagger and Mason Clavell had a RBI single, to close the final margin to just three runs.
WITH TERRELL JOYCE DOMINATING, Sturt had a 13-3 victory over Golden Grove Central Districts at Mitcham.
A six-run second inning set up the Saints’ victory, which saw three walks, singles to Zach Altamura, Jonas Garcia and Jack Dawson, and a two-run double from Joyce.
The Dodgers seemed to get back into the contest with three runs at the top of the fourth frame, after a pair of walks, an error, Noah Rodgers’ single and two successful double steal attempts.
But Sturt had the answer with three runs in the bottom of the fourth, with Mitch Lightbody hitting a solo home run and Joyce smashing a two-run dinger, to make it 9-3.
Another run in the fifth was followed by three runs in the sixth, after another Joyce two-run home run and doubles to Dayton Mitchell and Garcia.
Damon Arnold pitched the complete game for the win, conceding three hits for seven strikeouts in six innings.
WOODVILLE HAD AN EXPECTED 8-0 victory over Northern Districts at Findon, to hold onto second spot on the premiership ladder.
The Senators opened the scoring in the bottom of the second, after an error and Greg Bravo’s sacrifice fly.
Then in the third frame, consecutive hits to Mitch Fienemann, Troy Nicholson and Joel Chapman saw three runs cross the plate and the lead out to 4-0.
Joel Chapman had a RBI single in the fourth, while in the fifth dig, three walks, a hit batsman and Drew Janssen’s two-run double saw Woodville go 8-0 up, and hold the Reds out the rest of the way.
WITH GOOD PITCHING AND good hitting, Port Adelaide was too good for Glenelg at Semaphore, and came away with a 7-1 victory.
In the bottom of the first inning, Nick Vasic singled and Flynn McKee hit a two-run home run, with Ethan Murphy then collecting a RBI hit after Sammy Steigert’s double, for a 3-0 start.
Then in the second frame, hits to Wil Paech, Tommy Bird and Flynn McKee saw another two runs, while in the fifth, Murphy hit a two-run dinger, to make it 7-0.
Kai Rei hit a solo home run at the top of the seventh for the Tigers’ only run of the game.
Steigert was solid from the mound, conceding four hits for six strikeouts in seven innings.
ALTHOUGH MADE TO WORK HARD, Adelaide managed a 5-1 victory over Gawler Rangers at Plympton.
The Rangers scored a run at the top of the first inning, after Forest Crawford singled, stole second base and came home in a double steal attempt.
In the bottom of the opening frame, the Angels equalised, after a pair of walks and Billy Damon’s RBI single.
In the second dig, a pair of singles to Lachlan Pace and Max Tracey, combined with two errors, saw two runs and a 3-1 Adelaide lead.
Then in the bottom of the fifth, three walks and hits by Damon and Brady Smith capped the game’s scoring with another pair of runs, for a 5-1 victory.
Damon pitched six innings for the win, conceding five hits for five strikeouts.
SOUTHERN DISTRICTS KEPT PACE with the top six after a 13-3 victory over East Torrens at Christies Beach – with Brett Hattersley smashing two, three-run home runs.
The Redsox looked strong early when they scored twice at the top of the opening inning, after Carter Powell was hit by a pitch, Mark Stewart had a RBI double and an error.
But then the fireworks started, in the bottom of the first, when Carey McLeod hit a two-run dinger and Hattersley smashed a three-run fence-buster.
Jake Cambell then joined the list of ‘master-blasters’ with a two-run shot in the second frame, as the Hawks went 7-2 up.
While the Redsox pulled a run back at the top of the third after Dalton Probert’s double, South answered with two runs in the bottom of the third, then in the fourth dig took a stranglehold on the game with another three-run dinger from Hattersley.
Nick Hutchings went the distance from the mound for the win, conceding six hits for six strikeouts in five innings.
ANOTHER STRONG PERFORMANCE from ladder-leaders Henely & Grange saw the Rams beat Kensington 9-2 at Erindale.
At the top of the first inning, lead-off man Jack Partington walked, stole second base, went to third on a wild throw and came home on Wilson Lee’s ground-out – 1-0 Henley.
Then the floodgates opened in the second dig, as the Rams scored five times, after hits to Giovanni Garbella, Patrick Inglis, Jet Clohessy, Partington and Landon Hernandez.
In the fourth, singles from Jay Couzner and Clohessy, and sac flies to Partington and Hernandez, saw another pair of runs, and an 8-0 advantage.
The Cardinals managed to make some noise with the bat in the bottom of the fourth, scoring their first run on Jack Platten’s RBI double, then in the sixth, Austin Gallagher hit a two-bagger and scored on Jack Platten’s second double of the game.
Landon Hernandez smashed a solo home run at the top of the seventh to cap the scoring.
From the mound, Lee pitched six innings for five hits and eight strikeouts to claim the win.
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Division one baseball results:
Port Adelaide d Glenelg 7-1 (hits: Port – F. McKee 2 (hr), Steigert 2, Murphy 2 (hr), Bird 2, Vasic, T. McKee, Paech; Glenelg – Bentley, Reid (hr), Steff, Day. WP: S. Steigert; LP: B. Kerns).
Adelaide d Gawler Rangers 5-1 (hits: Adelaide – Damon 2, Tracey, Forney, Smith, Pace; Gawler – Prokopec 2, Worden, Crawford, Child, Ryan. WP: B. Damon; LP: N. Antoine).
Southern Districts d East Torrens 13-3 (hits: South – Hattersley 3 (2 hr), Campbell 2 (hr), McLeod 2 (hr), N. Paparella, Turner, Hutchings; ET – Stewart 2, L. Chandler 2, Powell, Probert. WP: N. Hutchings; LP: C. Yeatman).
Sturt d Golden Grove Central Districts 13-3 (hits: Sturt – Joyce 3 (2 hr), Mitchell 2, Altamura 2, Garcia 2, Lightbody (hr), Dawson; GGCD – Skein, Conry, Rodgers. WP: D. Arnold; LP: J. Hardman).
Henely & Grange d Kensington 9-2 (hits: H&G – Hernandez 2 (hr), Clohessy 2, Partington, Lee, Rowe, Garbella, Inglis, Couzner; Kensington – J. Platten 2, N. Platten, Gallagher, Hassani, Allen. WP: W. Lee; LP: A. Hassani).
Goodwood d West Torrens 11-8 (hits: Goodwood – Weber 3, Cresswell 3, Cakebread 2, Fiebig 2, Hutchings, Cooper, Heeps, Paech; WT – T. McGarry 2, Scott 2, McFarlane 2, Clark, Barker, Hambly, George. WP: J. Bushell; LP: B. Marsh).
Woodville d Northern Districts 8-0 (hits: Woodville – Moore 3, T. Nicholson 2, J. Chapman 2, Perez, Janssen, Fienemann, Kuhn; North – P. Whelan, Robinson, Hee. WP: T. Nicholson; LP: P. Whelan).
Premiership points: Henley & Grange 43, Woodville 33, Sturt 32, Adelaide 32, West Torrens 30, Port Adelaide 28, Southern Districts 28, Glenelg 25, Goodwood 25, East Torrens 19, Kensington 15, Gawler Rangers 8, GGCD 4, Northern Districts 2.
TIGERS BIG WIN
By Robert Laidlaw
GLENELG WON ITS FIFTH game from its past six contests after beating East Torrens 9-0 at Glenelg on Tuesday, to have a finals berth in its control.
If the Tigers can take both games of Saturday’s final minor round double header against Sturt at home, it will make the top six. Even if it wins just one of those games it will still be a chance of finishing in the top six.
Against the Redsox, Glenelg scored consistently, starting with a run in the opening inning, when Jaikob Mathews walked, Jacob Eldridge singled, and an error.
Then in the second frame, Connor Hill and Alex Steff hit doubles, and Tom Huttunen hit a sac fly for a pair of runs and a 3-0 lead.
In the fourth, Kai Reid singled, stole second base, went to third on a balk and came home on Rion Sato’s infield single – 4-0.
RBI hits by Dylan Bentey and Reid in the fifth dig made it 6-0, while in the sixth, Judd, Bentley and Reid had RBI singles for three runs and the 9-0 result.
Beau Kerns pitched six innings for the win, conceding three hits for seven strikeouts.
SOUTHERN DISTRICTS HAS LOST control of its finals chance after being held to a 5-5 draw by Gawler Rangers at West Beach.
The Hawks are one point behind sixth-placed Port Adelaide and face a game against reigning premier West Torrens at Lockleys on Saturday.
Even if South win against the Eagles, it will need Port to lose at Gawler to have any chance of qualifying for the top six.
The Rangers got the jump on South with a run in the first inning on Tuesday, after doubles to Forrest Crawford and Dylan Child.
Then in the bottom of the third, Aidan Prokopec doubled and eventually came home on Sam Bawden’s sac fly, for a 2-0 Gawler lead.
An error paved the way for the Hawks’ five-run rally at the top of the fourth dig. Nic Paparella doubled and stole third base. Brett Hattersley had a RBI grounder that was errored, then after a pair of walks the bases were loaded and Gawler made a pitching change.
Nick Hutchings was hit by a pitch that saw the tying run score, then Jake Campbell had a RBI single and Carey McLeod hit a two-run single for a 5-2 advantage.
But the Rangers have been a resilient team this season and fought back with three runs in the bottom of the fourth to make it 5-5.
Link Ryan and Josh Paton collected singles, with Seb Heintze-Unger’s RBI hit and Prokopec’s two-run double the highlights.
At the top of the fifth the Hawks loaded the bases with two out but could not break through.
The final two frames were scoreless, with Brett Hattersley giving up just one hit for five strikeouts in the final two innings for South.
ALTHOUGFH UNLIKELY, GOODWOOD IS still in the mix for a finals berth after an 8-1 victory over Kensington at Mortlock Park.
For the Indians to make the finals it will need to beat top team Henley & Grange at West Lakes on Saturday and rely on Port, South and Glenelg losing their games.
Against the Cardinals, Goodwood opened with three runs in the bottom of the first inning, after hits to Matt Hutchings, Jeremy Cresswell, Hunter Cooper, Brodie Heeps and Peter Paech.
Then in the second frame, a run came in on an error and Tom Fiebig had a RBI single to make it 5-0.
Hutchings doubled in the third dig and came home on Griff Weber’s hit, while in the fourth, Cresswell singled, Fiebig doubled, Cooper had a RBI infield hit and Heeps had a sac fly for another two runs and an 8-0 lead.
At the top of the sixth and final frame, Austin Gallagher smashed a solo home run to supply Kensington’s only score of the game.
Tyler Howarth pitched 5.2 innings for the win, conceding seven hits for nine strikeouts.
IT WASN’T CONVINCING BUT West Torrens has ensured a finals spot after beating bottom side Northern Districts 5-3 at Lockleys.
The Reds jumped to an early lead with a run at the top of the opening inning, after a pair of errors, with West Torrens wresting the lead with three runs in the bottom of the first, on Jacob Scott’s two-run double and Oscar Weber’s RBI single.
It looked like the Eagles by how much after they scored two more runs in the second dig to go 5-1 up, after a pair of walks, Mason Clavell’s RBI single and another run came home in a double steal attempt.
But North played the better baseball the rest of the way, starting with a run at the top of the third, after hits to Collins Robinson, Phil Whelan and Tom Fraser, then the final run of the game in the seventh dig, when Tyson Hee and Phil Whelan combined doubles.
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Division one baseball results:
Glenelg d East Torrens 9-0 (hits: Glenelg – Reid 3, Mathews, Jac. Eldridge, Judd, Bentley, Hill, Steff, Sato; ET – Probert, Stewart, Ashworth. WP: B. Kerns; LP: C. Yeatman).
Gawler Rangers tied Southern Districts 5-5 (hits: Gawler – Prokopec 2, Child 2, S. Heintze-Unger, Crawford, Bawden, Ryan, Paton; South – Campbell 2, McLeod, N. Paparella, Short, Turner).
West Torrens d Northern Districts 5-3 (hits: WT – Ni. Vanderlinden 3, T. McGarry, S. McGarry, Clavel, Scott, Weber, McFarlane; North – P. Whelan 3, Robinson 2, Fraser 2, J. Whelan, Dziego, Hee. WP: J. Snelgrove; LP: P. Whelan).
Goodwood d Kensington 8-1 (hits: Goodwood – Hutchings 3, Cooper 3, Cresswell 2, Fiebig 2, Weber, Heeps, Paech; Kensington – Gallagher 2 (hr), J. Platten, T. Butterwick, Hassani, J. Spratt, Filko. WP: T. Howarth; LP: A. Hassani).
Premiership points: Henley & Grange 45, Woodville 35, West Torrens 34, Sturt 32, Adelaide 32, Port Adelaide 30, Southern Districts 29, Glenelg 29, Goodwood 29, East Torrens 19, Kensington 15, Gawler Rangers 11, GGCD 4, Northern Districts 2.
