Match Reports
Seniors Round 7
18 November 2007
FIRSTS 1 lost to Sandringham 3
If you arrived at the park and the baseball prophets offered you the scenario of the opposition scoring 3 runs on 7 hits you would take it everyday of the week.
If the same prophets also told you that your side would counter those 7 hits with 10 of your own then you would be tempted to have some sort of wager on yourself.
Why then when exactly the above actually occurred did we come away empty handed?
Put fairly simply Sandy managed to get 3 of those hits from successive batters in what was really their only scoring opportunity when we had more opportunities but couldn’t string any sort of rally together.
Andrew Jones was quite outstanding for us in his first, of what will be many, starts for us this season. Pitching 7 and 2/3rds innings before he ran out of pitches for just 3 runs on 6 hits, and his usual couple of self help outs picked off at 1st, this was a performance that on any other week would have seen a W against his name.
Unfortunately though Sandy’s Matthew Holmes did a job on our hitters and kept us to just the one scored in the 3rd on a lead off walk by Cheesie who moved to 2nd with a healthy dose of luck and then was bunted over by Nick Unland. Hoppies one out fly ball to right field was good enough to score Brendan courtesy of good aggressive running.
We had our chances on a number of occasions but just couldn’t manage to string 3 or 4 hits together to break the game open.
Nick Unland with 3 from 3 as well as his sacrifice led our hitting with Pete Schroeders picking up 2.
With other results our win column sees us just one game out of the four BUT given we have played extra games our loss column actually has us equal bottom.
We need to keep believing in our ability as players – it is better than our win loss ratio, and keep working hard and above all play loose.
IT WILL TURN AROUND!
Tigers 001 000 000 10 hits 1 error
Sandy 003 000 00X 7 hits
Hits : Unland N 3; Schroeders 2; Hopcraft, Oxworth, Kimberley, Ayres, Rice L 1 each
RBI’s : Hopcraft
Pitching :
Jones 72/3 IP 6 hits 4 K’s 3 BB 3 Eruns
Simmons 1/3 IP 1 hit 1 K
SECONDS 5 def Sandringham 0
Travelling to grounds beyond Tiger land for a second week in a row obviously did not diminish the hunger our reserves had as they proved on the Sunday against Sandringham with a 5-0 win!
Solid performances from Justin Swanton and Sean Meldrum at middle infield and Adrian Rice on the mound gave us a defence that shutdown Sandringham from the very start. Our own batting could have been stronger with only 6 hits for the day but we managed to capitalise on every hit and stayed in control of the game and put pressure on Sandringham who fumbled when it mattered most to them.
Next week we are away again at Bonbeach and I am sure that the drive to win will continue and hopefully it may rub off onto the down but not out Firsts! Go Tigers!
THIRDS 28 def Sandringham 2
On Sunday we played Sandringham at home and we had a pleasant surprise in our line up by having Anthony Bons join his brother in law Scott Ramsey in the thirds. Bonsa had just got off a plane after a few weeks overseas but not much of a sun tan for the young lad. Hmm??. Perhaps he has been too busy partying and did not see much daylight. But back to the game and we got off to a flyer.
Top 1 and Scott is pitching to Sean, who is back behind the mask after a lengthy recovery from the corky he got against Bonbeach. Pete Williams at first, Jordy at second, Wozza at third, Chris Grey at short stop and Ben Lewis, Bonsa and Yuley in the outfield. Lee Bertrand is waiting to get into the game on the bench. 3 up, 3 down for Sandy and 2 strike outs for Scott as we go up to bat. Our batting dig proved to be a long one with a mixture of hits, base on balls, and hitched pitched balls. We did have a couple of star performers that got the small but enthusiastic crowd cheering. Ben cleared the bases with a triple base hit that got him 3 RBI’s and his mum was up cheering That’s my boy!!. Not to be outdone Scott, with his second at bat for the dig also cleared the bases with a triple and 3 RBI’s as well. So it was Laraine’s turn to get up and cheer that’s my boy!! Aren’t mums wonderful. With most of the team batting twice we collected 12 runs.
Scott picked up another 2 strike outs in each of the second and third digs. No runs for us in the second but the third saw us score another heap of runs although all were unearned. We should have been 3 up 3 down but ended up scoring 11 runs as again most of the team batted twice. Ben picked up a single and a double base hit to go with his first dig triple so he was looking to get the complete set.
Top 4 and Bonsa and Scott do a brother in law swap and Bonsa comes to the mound. First batter first strike out but then Sandy get into the triple base hit scenario. Bonsa then gets a couple of more runners on first base perhaps he is looking for the lefty pick off at first option. Sandy do however score a couple before we get to take the bats out again. Bottom 4 and this time we almost bat through the whole line up, sorry Pete, before Umpire Dalzotto calls time in game. We have scored another 5 runs to end the game as 28 to 2 winners with congratulations to Sandy for battling the game out to the very end.
Everyone, except Jordy who picked up 4 walks, got at least 1 hit. Ben got 3 and 2 hits to Bonsa, Scott, Chris, Wozza and Yuley. Defensively, a no hitter for Scott’s 3 digs was a great start and only 1 item of red while fielding.
Except for the washout against Mulgrave we have now played all the other teams. We are second on the ladder behind Mulgrave and in front of Fitzroy and then Bonbeach. Next week we start again and play the second half of the fixture. We host Bonbeach at home and the competition will be a lot stronger so bring your best game along. Sean watch out for any big blokes at first. All the best from the scribe.
FOURTHS 18 def Sandringham 4
This was a game the 4's really needed to win to get our 2nd win in a row and stay in touch. A pre-game "conference" seems to have worked as the boys came to play.
We needed to reduce our error rate in the field and this we did with only one error recorded and in all fairness that was a bad-hopper to short. The guys stayed tight throughout the game and gave great support to Chad Webster on the mound. And what a day Chad had. He showed great control in his total of 79 pitches giving up only 4 walks and 3 hits resulting in 4 runs (none of them earned ) to Sandy.
Our hitting was what really made the day and after a slow start (no runs in the first) we exploded with a 13-run second innings. Nine of those runs were scored with two outs! We then followed that up with five in the third. Overall every player got at least one hit with 3 to Daniel Black. Every player scored at least one run. Geoff Williams brought his batting averages up with two three-baggers and both he and Tristan Mealey drove in three RBI's.
We still need to work a little on our base running but overall a great result.
Final Score: UFTG 18 def Sandringham 4
May the Fourths be with you.
FIFTHS 13 lost to Doncaster A 18
After last weeks game we travelled over to GMBC for the for the late game against Doncaster A hoping that the change of venue and time would offer up a difference result but unfortunately it was not the case.
We opened up or first innings with putting six runs across the plate. This was due to a couple of walks, the odd fielding error from the opposition and outfield hits to Rob Jones, Steve Thompson and Beau Jenkins.
We were able to restrict our opposition in there first innings to only two runs. The outs where made by a ground ball back to Tim Annett on the hill, an outfield fly ball to Brian Gagle (“Goose”) at centre and routine ground out to your truly at third.
In our second inning we scored one run due to a hit and stolen base and being pushed around by the hitters. Unfortunately we did not keep the momentum going with a couple of strike outs and a ground out that was stiff not to sneak past the infielder for the third out.
Then the innings we all wished never happened. Our opponents scored a total fifteen runs in what we an eternity to be in the field on a hot day. The blow out was due to several errors in the outfield and some bad throwing. Add this to a couple of hits and you have a very long innings. Tim Annett got the first out with a strike out and pitched well considering the field did not back up his efforts on the hill. Gotchy at short caught an infield fly. The third out was an outfield fly that was a cross between play of the day and tryouts for the Italian national soccer team. The ball was hit in the alley with Goose and Rob Jones in hot pursuit. As the fielders crossed over, they made contact and then both fell to the ground. After a very long delay “Goose” held up his glove with the ball in it.
In our third innings we put on six runs with a combination of walks and some nice outfield shots by Gotchy, Steve Thompson and Goose.
And that was all she wrote.
Hitting: Steve Thompson 3 (1db) with singles to Gotchy, Scott Legge, Rob Jones, Beau Jenkins and Goose .
Thanks to Narelle Quinn for stepping in at short notice to be our ninth player
Cheers. The forty year old fat rookie
PS Still missing in action 1 Rawlings fielder’s mitt, tan colour, well used, separated for owner at Thursday training a couple of weeks ago.