Rob's Wrap Up - Round 8

DODGERS HOLD ON AT GAWLER

By Robert Laidlaw

IT WAS GAWLER RANGERS big day, but Golden Grove Central Districts took home the chocolates in division one baseball at Karbeethan Reserve on Saturday, with a 5-3 victory.

The day was the official opening of the newly developed Karbeethan Reserve, in preparation for the Rangers’ entry into division one, but the Dodgers proved too good.

It was scoreless through the first three frames, as Gawler’s Nicolas Antoine and the Dodgers’ Nathan Holt were dictating terms from the mound.

Then at the top of the fourth dig, the Dodgers made a breakthrough, when Josh Conry doubled and came home on a groundout.

A big four-run sixth inning set the Dodgers’ victory up. Branden Manzella walked, Tom Walsh singled, Conry was hit by a pitch, Jake Shotton had a sac fly, a passed ball scored a run, Kynan Skein had a RBI hit and an error saw the score blow out to 5-0.

The bottom of the eighth saw the Rangers finally mount a challenge, when Harry Grambau walked, Jake Rodda singled, Zac Heintze-Unger walked, Aiden Prokopec had a two-run single and Dylan Child hit, with a wild pitch scoring a third run.

Those three runs closed the gap but neither side could score in the final inning.

Holt pitched 7.1 frames for the win, conceding four hits for seven strikeouts, while reliever John Inglis gave up two hits for three K2s in 1.1 innings.

For Gawler, Antoine threw six digs for four hits and two strikeouts. Takahiro Homma (two innings for two K2s) and Seb Heintze-Unger (one frame for one K2), were able to keep the Dodgers from scoring late.

A LATE RALLY SAW Goodwood come from the clouds to beat Sturt 7-6 at Mortlock Park, with four ninth inning runs giving the Indians the victory.

Trailing 3-6 going into the bottom of the ninth, Goodwood didn’t look much of a chance against the undefeated Saints.

But an error and Tyler Howarth infield single set up Josh Cakebread’s three-run bomb, which tied the scores – and with none out!

Jeremy Cresswell was then hit by a pitch, and after the first out, Griff Weber ran out an infield single. A second out was followed by Matt Hutchings intentional walk, to load the bases, but then an error ended the game.

Sturt made all the early running, scoring three runs in the fourth inning to break open a scoreless tussle, after hits to Jackson Brebner-Russ, Zac Altamura, Jonas Garcia and Jack Dawson.

Then at the top of the fifth dig, Matthew Macbeth had a RBI single, before Goodwood scored twice in the bottom of the fifth, on Jeremy Cresswell’s double.

It seemed the Saints were cruising to the win when they scored twice in the sixth frame, after RBI hits to Mitch Lightbody and Blake Farr, with Cresswell collecting another RBI from a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the seventh, to see Sturt’s lead cut to 3-6, before the Indians comeback in the bottom of the final inning.

Goodwood reliever Hunter Cooper collected the win after pitching three scoreless frames, for one hit and one strikeout, to keep the Indians in the game.

AFTER NINE INNINGS Henley & Grange were locked in a 5-5 battle with Adelaide at Plympton, with the Rams four-run rally in the 10th paving the way for a 9-6 victory.

At the top of the 10th, Jet Clohessy was placed at second base, with Koki Yonezawa bunting him to third. And after two free passes, Jack Partington smashed a three-run double, and then scored on wild pitch, to make it 9-5.

In response the Angels could only muster one run, after Billy Damon walked and Brady Smith had a RBI single with none out, but that was it.

Adelaide scored three times in the bottom of the opening frame, after Stefan Welch had a RBI double and Damon hit a two-run single.

The Rams levelled the contest at the top of the second frame, with Wilson Lee’s two-run double the highlight.

As the game progressed it was Henley that started to gain the ascendency, with single runs in the fifth and sixth digs, on RBI hits by Lee and Partington.

But the Rams were their own worse enemy in the bottom of the seventh, after making a pair of errors, which combined with Ty Forney’s sac fly saw the ballgame tied up at 5-5, which wasn’t broken until extra innings.

Lee claimed the win after 3.1 innings in relief from the mound, conceding just one hit for four strikeouts.

PORT ADELAIDE HAS CLIMBED into finals contention with a 5-1 victory over reigning premier West Torrens at Lockleys.

Most of the Magpies’ scoring was done early, as it led 4-0 after three innings. Flynn McKee had a RBI single in the first frame, Tommy Bird and Sammy Steigert had run-scoring hits in the second, while in the third, Nick Vasic had a RBI double.

The Eagles then brought Masakiyo Sawada onto the mound and he proved successful as a ‘stopper’, conceding one hit for eighth strikeouts in five innings.

Tyrone Hambly accounted for West Torrens only run of the game with a RBI single in the bottom of the fourth, while another change of pitchers by the Eagles opened the door for another Port run.

Vasic led off the top of the ninth with a walk, followed by infield hits to Steigert and Flynn McKee to load the bases, with none out. Jack Stead was then hit by a pitch to bring in one run but the Maggies could not add further to the scoreline.

Sammy Steigert pitched seven innings for the win, giving up six hits for six strikeouts, while reliever Tyson McKee gave up two hits for four K2s in two frames.

IT WAS A WELL-PITCHED game at Erindale, where Kensington beat Northern Districts 2-0.

Riley Moore collected the win for the Cardinals, as he threw five innings for five hits and four strikeouts, while reliever Greg Mosel conceded one hit for six K2s over the game’s final four frames.

The Reds also had a pair of solid pitchers. Starter Todd Marshall gave up two hits in five digs, while Naoya Kondo conceded two hits for eight strikeouts in three frames.

Kensington scored its first run in the fourth inning, when Austin Gallagher deposited the ball over the fence, while in the sixth, Lachlan Spratt singled and eventually came home on an error.

WOODVILLE CONVERTED THREE big rallies into a 10-0 victory over East Torrens at Findon.

In the third frame, Greg Bravo singled, Drew Janssen doubled and Cesar Perez smashed a two-run dinger, to make it 3-0.

Then in the sixth, the Senators had another three-run rally, when Janssen cleared the bases with his hit, after Armando Ramerez singled and two walks.

Hits to Daniel Chapman, Joel Chapman, Ramerez and Janssen in the bottom of the eighth saw four runs cross the plate, and end the game on the mercy rule.

AJ Verastegui pitched seven innings for the victory, conceding six hits for four strikeouts.

CONSISTENT BATTING PAVED THE way for Southern Districts 11-1 win over Glenelg at Glenelg.

After being held scoreless in the first frame, the Hawks managed at least one run in every inning for the rest of the game.

Byron Turner hit a two-run home run in the second dig, Nick Hutchings and Nic Paparella had big doubles in the third, Carey McLeod hit a two-run, two-bagger in the fourth, while in the sixth, consecutive hits to Ben Short, Drew Davies, Paparella and Jake Campbell saw another pair of runs.

The Tigers solitary score came in the bottom of the fourth (when South was leading 6-0) on Elliott Ross’ double after two walks.

Hutchings pitched 5.2 innings for three hits and seven strikeouts to claim the win.

* * * * *

Division one baseball results:

Golden Grove Central Districts d Gawler Rangers 5-3 (hits: GGCD – Manzella, Walsh, Conry, Skein; Gawler – Child 2, Rodda 2, Prokopec, Przibilla. WP: N. Holt; LP: N. Antoine).

Woodville d East Torrens 10-0 (hits: Woodville – Janssen 3, A. Ramirez 3, T. Nicholson 2, Perez (hr), Liu, D. Chapman, J. Chapman, Bravo; ET – Powell 2, Ashcroft, Probert, Lucas, Chandler. WP: AJ Verastegui; LP: C. Ashcroft).

Southern Districts d Glenelg 11-1 (hits: South – N. Paparella 3, Turner 3 (hr), Hattersley 2, McLeod, Short, Davies, Campbell, Hutchings; Glenelg – Reid, Judd, Bentley, Ross, Sato. WP: N. Hutchings; LP: J. Eldridge).

Goodwood d Sturt 7-6 (hits: Goodwood – Cakebread 3 (hr), Howarth 2, Weber 2, Fiebig 2, Cresswell, Takahashi; Sturt – Farr 3, Dawson 2, Lightbody, Joyce, Brebner-Russ, Macbeth, Altamura, Garcia. WP: H. Cooper; LP: T. Joyce).

Henley & Grange d Adelaide 9-6 in 10 innings (hits: H&G – Partington 3, Lee 3, Couzner 2, Yonezawa; Adelaide – Tracey 2, Forney, Welch, Damon, Smith, Congdon. WP: W. Lee; LP: N. Callaghan).

Kensington d Northern Districts 2-0 (hits: Kensington – L. Spratt, Gallagher (hr), N. Platten, Butterwick; North – P. Whelan 2, Fraser, J. Whelan, Kondo, Tomaszek. WP: R. Moore; LP: T. Marshall).

Port Adelaide d West Torrens 5-1 (hits: Port – Steigert 2, F. McKee 2, Vasic, Paech, Bird; WT – Clavell 3, Scott, S. McGarry, Hambly, Clark, McFarlane. WP: S. Steigert; LP: J. Large).

Premiership points: Henley & Grange 15, Sturt 14, East Torrens 10, Southern Districts 10, West Torrens 10, Woodville 10, Goodwood 9, Adelaide 8, Glenelg 8, Port Adelaide 8, GGCD 4, Kensington 4, Gawler Rangers 2, Northern Districts 0.