Rob's Wrap Up - Round 2

BASEBALL (October 21, 2023)

INDIANS SURGE TO VICTORY

By Robert Laidlaw

GOODWOOD ONLY SCORED in two innings but surged to a 7-3 victory over Golden Grove Central Districts at Illyarrie Reserve in Saturday’s division one baseball.

A four-run second frame set up the Indians’ win. Darren Fidge walked, Billy Sutton hit a double, Dylan Howarth had a RBI single and Jeremy Cresswell smashed a three-run triple.

The Dodgers started to come back into the game with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third – after hits to Nick Wallis, Isaac Pearce and Brandon Manzella – and another run in the fourth – set up by Kynan Skein’s double.

That 4-3 scoreline remained the same, until the top of the ninth, when Goodwood scored three times, on Brodie Heeps RBI single and Jack Bushell’s two-run double, to pad out the final score to 7-3.

HISTORY WAS MADE AT Ingle Farm, where Gawler Rangers beat Northern Districts 3-1 for a maiden division one victory.

The Rangers runs came in the third inning. Seb Heintze-Unger walked and stole second base, then scored on Zac Heintze-Unger’s RBI single, which was followed by Dylan Child’s two-run dinger – the first division one home run in club history.

With French national pitcher Nicolas Antoine in control from the mound, Gawler held that lead until the Reds broke through for a run in the bottom of the sixth, after hits to Cam Dzeigo (a double), Phil Whelan and Zane Tomaszek.

Antoine left the game after seven frames, conceding six hits and one walk for 10 strikeouts.

Relief pitcher Seb Heintze-Unger had a perfect eighth, striking the North side out, which left the Reds with just the bottom of the ninth to mount a challenge.

The lead off hitter for North in its final batting dig was Josh Whelan, who doubled. And after the first out on a pop up, Nooya Konda singled to have runners at the corners, which heightened the nervous tension.

But Heintze-Unger was up to the challenge and calmly struck out the final two hitters to preserve the historic first division one victory for Gawler.

There were fielding highlights from both teams. North’s centrefielder Tom Fraser took four catches, while Aiden Prokopec played third base like a veteran for Gawler, and took a sensational foul ball catch by the fence behind the Reds’ dugout.

THE COME-BACK KINGS are at it again, as Henley & Grange scored twice at the top of the ninth inning to beat Southern Districts 4-3 at Christies Beach.

Trailing 2-3 going into their final at bat, it was do or die for the Rams. Liam Bull singled, an advanced to second base on Patrick Inglis’ bunt.

Then after the second out, Jet Clohessy doubled in the equaliser. Phil Acosta put runners at the corners with a single, then Jack Partington batted in the go-ahead run with his hit up the middle – 4-3 Henley.

With Wilson Lee coming on to the mound for the Rams in the eighth frame, and striking out three batters while conceding a walk, he also did the job in the bottom of the ninth, with another three K2s, to preserve the victory.

The Hawks opened the scoring with a run at the bottom of the second dig, after Nick Paparella and Ben Short hit doubles.

At the top of the fourth Henley’s table-setters, Jack Partington (walk) and Koki Yonezawa (error) reached base and combined for a double steal for one run, which was followed by Bull’s RBI single, to put the Rams 2-1 up.

But South was up to the challenge and scored twice in the bottom of the fifth to regain the lead, 3-2.

Byron Turner was hit by a pitch, Nick Rees bunted, Tailem Hobson had an infield hit, Nick Hutchings hit a run-scoring grounder and Jake Campbell had a RBI single.

A tense three innings followed, with neither side scoring, which set up Henley’s ninth-inning heroics.

ON THE BACK OF A three-run fourth inning, West Torrens beat Woodville 3-2 at Findon.

With starting pitcher Will Kortekaas from the Eagles and Woodville’s AJ Verastegui (from the second inning) dictating terms, it looked like one of those games that would be decided late.

It was West Torrens that managed to break the deadlock at the top of the fourth frame. It featured hits by Sam McGarry (double), Jasper Clark and Jude Barker, as well two errors.

Kortekaas left the game after six strong innings, conceding four hits for seven strikeouts, which opened the door for the Senators, as they scored twice in the bottom of the eighth to close the gap.

It started with a single to Greg Bravo, with Drew Jansen being hit by a pitch, which set up Cesar Perez’s two-run hit up the middle.

With just one more chance to score in the bottom of the ninth, Woodville was not able to challenge and was retired in order.

Verastegui threw 5.1 innings for five hits and five strikeouts for the Senators in taking the loss.

SOLID PITCHING WAS AGAIN a feature of Sturt’s second consecutive victory, when it beat East Torrens 4-1 at Mitcham.

After pitching eight innings of shutout ball in round one for the Saints, Josh Tindall repeated the performance with seven further scoreless frames in round two, for four hits and four strikeouts.

Sturt scored three runs in the bottom of the second to set up its win, on three walks and hits from Jackson Brebner-Russ, Mathew MacBeth and Mitch Lightbody.

Then in the seventh dig, Jordan McArdle smashed a long home run to pad out the scoreline, to 4-0.

But the Redsox would not lay down and made a charge at the top of the ninth inning. Carter Powell singled, Jay Sanderson walked and Travis Underhill had a RBI hit, but a runner was lost at third base, followed by a double play, which ended the threat.

IN A GAME THAT featured brothers as opposing coaches, Adelaide, led by Chris Sims, beat David Sims’ Port Adelaide 7-5, at Semaphore.

The bottom of the third saw the Magpies make the early running with three tallies, on Brodie Arriola’s RBI single, Ethan Murphy’s double and Flynn McKee’s two-run hit.

With the first two hitters at the top of the fifth inning strikeout victims for the Angels, there didn’t seem too much brewing.

But after Chris Congdon was hit by a pitch, consecutive hits to Brody Smith (double), Dan Jones, Max Tracey, Ty Forney and Stef Welch saw five runs cross the plate for a 5-3 lead.

An error opened the door for Port in the bottom of the eighth, as Arriola singled, Ethan Murphy walked, Jack Stead had a RBI fielder’s choice and McKee hit a sacrifice fly, for two runs to tie up the ballgame at 5-5.

The top of the ninth saw Adelaide squeeze ahead with a pair of runs, after Billy Damon singled, Lachlan Pace bunted him to second base, and after Congdon walked, Brodie Chapman had a RBI hit, with an error gifting another run.

Although Will Paech singled and Nick Vasic walked with one out in the bottom of the ninth, the Magpies were retired without scoring, as Adelaide held on.

A HUGE SIX-RUN third inning laid the foundation for Glenelg’s 11-6 win over Kensington at Erindale, while Connor Hill had a big day with the bat for the Tigers, collecting three hits for two home runs and five RBIs.

Both teams scored single runs in the second frame, with Glenelg taking control of the game with its six-run rally at the top of the third – the ‘game-breaker’. Alex Steff and Hill hit two-run doubles.

The Cardinals made some noise in the bottom of the third, when, after two walks, Mike Bishop hit a two-run double.

But the Tigers pressed on with three tallies in the fourth, with Hill smashing a two-run dinger. Then at the top of the eighth, Hill hit a solo shot, as Glenelg went to an 11-3 advantage.

Kensington failed to score from the fourth to the seventh frame, against Tigers’ reliever Stephen Chamblee, who gave up two hits in four innings for six strikeouts.

When Chamblee left the game, the Cardinals were able to make a bit of a comeback, scoring twice in the eighth (on three errors) and the game’s final run in the ninth, after hits to Greg Mosel and Bishop.

* * * * *

Division one baseball results:

Sturt d East Torrens 4-1 (hits: Sturt – Lightbody 2, MacBeth 2, McArdle (hr), Day. Mitchell, Brebner-Russ; ET – Stewart, Lester, Powell, Sanderson, Underhill, Lucas. WP: J. Tindall; LP: D. Lester).

Gawler Rangers d Northern Districts 3-1 (hits: Gawler – Prokopec 3, Worden 3, Child 2 (hr), Z. Heintze-Unger, Grambau; North – Kondo 2, Fraser, Dzeigo, P. Whelan, Tomaszek, J. Whelan, M. Whelan. WP: N. Antoine; LP: N. Konda).

West Torrens d Woodville 3-2 (hits: WT – S. McGarry 2, Clark 2, Ni. Vanderlinden, Na. Vanderlinden, Barker; Woodville – Perez 2, Bravo 2, Fienemann, N. Nicholson. WP: W. Kortekaas; LP: AJ Verastegui).

Adelaide d Port Adelaide 7-5 (hits: Adelaide – Tracey, Forney, Welch, Damon, Smith, Jones, Chapman; Port – Arriola 2, Murphy 2, McKee 2, Vasic, Paech. WP: B. Damon; LP: J. Stemberger).

Goodwood d Golden Grove Central Districts 7-3 (hits: Goodwood – Heeps 3, Howarth 2, Cakebread, Cresswell, Bushell, Sutton; GGCD – Skein 2, Pearce, Manzella, Caskey, Wallis, Bastian. WP: M. Watkins; LP: J. Inglis).

Glenelg d Kensington 11-6 (hits: Glenelg – Hill 3 (2 hr), Reid 3, Bentley 2, Knight, Judd, Steff, Sato; Kensington – Gallagher 2, Bishop 2, N. Platten 2, L. Spratt 2, Moore, Mosel, Allen. WP: S. Chamblee; LP: A. Tanner).

Henley & Grange d Southern Districts 4-3 (hits: Henley – Clohessy 3, Bull 2, Partington, Yonezawa, Arnold, Acosta; South – McLeod, Campbell, N. Paparella, Short, Rees, Hobson. WP: W. Lee; LP: N. Hutchings).

Premiership points: Glenelg 4, Henley & Grange 4, Sturt 4, Goodwood 3, Adelaide 2, East Torrens 2, Gawler Rangers 2, GGCD 2, Southern Districts 2, West Torrens 2, Woodville 1, Port Adelaide 0, Kensington 0, Northern Districts 0.