QUICK SCORE SUMMARY - CLAXTON SHIELD 2005

5

SA TAKES 3RD PLACE WITH 2-1 WIN OVER RAMS!

We also tipped South Australia to be the team most likely to challenge New South Wales for the title and this is still a possibility as the playoffs will start afresh tomorrow. Once again it was SA's pitching quality and experience that carried them through in a low scoring final preliminary game against Queensland in the make-up for their postponed clash on Day 2. Simon Galpin was bit fortunate to dance around six hits in his 3.2 innings but, most importantly he left the diamond with his team still holding onto a 2-1 lead... one that they were never to relinquish.

But, while Victoria got a nine innings complete game from Adam Bonaddio earlier today on the eve of the semi-finals, SA were forced to bring some of their heavy artillery out of the bullpen to make sure of the victory this afternoon. As they have been throughout this tournament Mildren, Challinor and Becker have been a very, very tough gang of pitchers to handle and the Queensland Rams could not a mount a rally against them. When Paul Mildren replaced starter Simon Galpin in the fourth, he had to make sure that a runner did not score from third base and this was the be the last Queenslander to get anywhere near scoring position. Earlier in the day they saw two singles to start the second frame expunged by a rare TRIPLE-PLAY... how many of these have been recorded in Claxton Shield history... not many we bet!

SA opened the game with the impression that they were going to put up all kinds of offensive numbers after a leadoff single was immediately scored by a Leigh Chynoweth triple... then Chynoweth himself was later scored on a fielder's choice. With SA threatening to add more to their first innings total, an innings-ending double-play came to their rescue. However, there was to be no more scoring for the 'Croweaters' in this game and, as it turned out, they didn't need any more!

Much credit must go to Rams hurlers John Veitch, Brett Baker and Matt Gahan who kept their team in the hunt for a victory right to the final out of the game. Only in the fifth did SA threaten to add to their score when Baker relieved Veitch and he quickly snuffed out the threat with no damage done. Matt Gahan was particularly impressive as the closer today.

Only Marc Tainty and Lachlan Burrows had two hit games for the South Australians who were out-hit 10-7 by the Rams in this final preliminary game. Although Queensland will be sad to bow out of the tournament earlier than usual for them, they can be reasonably content that they have developed some more young talent for the future. Young professional David Sutherland continues to go from strength to strength with another three-hit game today, while new faces Scott Browning (3-4) and David Bylett (2-4) did not go unnoticed from Blacktown in 2005.

ACES HOLD TOO MANY CARDS FOR PROVINCIALS!

Captain's Log: 28 January 2003 - during the first Claxton Shield tournament at Blacktown, the Australian Provincial team celebrated their first ever Claxton Shield victory when eventual finalists Victoria became their first ever victim 3-2.

Captain's Log: 22 January 2004 - back at Blacktown again for Claxton Shield 2004 and the Australian Provincials completed a miserable tournament for the Victorians when they produced a seven-run second inning to eclipse the Aces 9-4 for their second ever victory and to consign the Aces to their first (as far as we can establish) ever last placed finish!

So, this was the disturbing backdrop for the Victoria Aces today trailing, almost unbelievably, 2-1 in their head-to-head battles with the Australian Provincial team and no doubt still smarting from their dungeon placement at Claxton 2004. The Aces needed to win to set up their position in the semi-finals but, perhaps more importantly, to restore much of the pride that the Provincial team had stripped from baseball's most successful State!

The man for the job today was 21yo rookie Adam Bonaddio who may not have the experienced background of Wayne Ough, John Challinor or team mate Greg Wiltshire, but today he joined them as another of those starting pitchers to etch their name in Claxton Shield history with a quite OUTSTANDING start. Adam out-did Queensland rookie Riki Paewai who also produced a terrific debut start for the Rams against the Patriots this year. After a highly decorated juinor career Adam Bonbaddio took a year off from baseball as a teenaged senior to "sun and surf" and this may have temporarily kept in the baseball background in Melbourne, but the popular and versatile 'Bonnas' is a talented player with a big future.

A fresh faced, "bag of bones" Bonaddio looks anything but the silent assassin he is when pitching, but inside him is the heart of a competitor and a steely determination. Bonaddio was not a natural junior pitcher and he plays much of his club baseball as a consistent hitting outfielder with great defensive skills, but somewhere along the line he started to pitch spot appearances and now he has the temperament of a pitcher... he doesn't like to be hit or beaten! In any case, on this day at Blacktown, he had way too much in his right arm for the ever plucky Aussie Provincial team. Not only did Adam Bonaddio secure an important win in his pitching debut for Victoria, but he filled an important "gap" today in the postponed game to eat all nine innings for his manager with a gutsy complete game... what a monster performance for his team!

In fact, it was only in the fifth innings that Bonaddio faced the slightest trouble when three singles produced AP's solo run for the game but Bonaddio was able to 'bear down" and leave Provincial runners stranded on second and third to ensure that they did not take the lead in the game. Victoria had opened the scoring in the first frame when a Rutgers double was followed by a Hodges sacrfice bunt and a RBI single from Harman. It was all that the Aces could muster for six innings from the pitching of a very familiar Victorian hurler Daryn Cassidy who knew his opposing hitters very well indeed and he produced his second excellent start for the Provincials in this tournament.

Cassidy had just allowed the Victorians to snatch a 2-1 lead in the game when a Booth double and a RBI single from Ben Utting chased him from the mound after 6.2 very valuable innings... Daryn Cassidy would not have looked out of place in  the navy blue Victorian uniform at Claxton 2005 and this is still very much on his horizon for a return to the Aces squad. However, with the shackles of Cassidy released it was time for the Victorians to let out some of the frustrations inflicted by the Provincials over the past couple of years.

With rookie Logan Tudor starting the eighth Paul Rutgers, who is catching fire at this tournament, pounced with a double followed by a single from Jarrod Hodges who always seems to thrive on the big occasion pressure. After getting an out Tudor's day was done when he hit Peter Moylan with a pitch to load the bags. Another Victorian followed him to the mound for the Provincials in the shape of left-hander Paul Weichard who secured an out at home plate on a fielder's choice.

Next up to bat was Victoria's lefty DH Hayden Dingle and manager David White chose to avoid the lefty-lefty matchup by inserting his Blackburn team mate David Tierney to pinch-hit. The Provincials responded by taking out lefty Weichard and sending Provincials stalwart Cam Hardy to the mound. The Tierney brothers have been on the fringes of Victorian selection for several years but always, it seemed, unfortunate not to make the final squad. We wonder if David Tierney had this in his mind when he erased years of disappointment with a GRAND SLAM HOME RUN to put the game well and truly on ice! It was a moment that he will remember for the rest of his playing days... and beyond! Former professional John Allender got the last out for the Provincial team, but all of the necessary damage in the game had been done.

Rookie Ryan Booth continues to impress in his Claxton debut with a 3-3 effort today, while Rutgers and Utting each batted 2-4 as they gain valuable momentum coming into the playoffs. For the Australian Provincials, Michael Collins will finish his fine tournament with 8-18 after batting 2-3 again today.

After languishing at the bottom of the table at the end of Claxton 2004, the Victorian Aces can be reasonably satisfied to have restored a decent chunk of the lost pride with a second placed finish after the preliminary rounds this time around. If they can go a step or two further, as manager David White will be expecting, it will be a truly remarkable performance with so many new faces to AMLB in his squad... but he will expect nothing less!

As we like to say every year, the Provincials have proven themselves worthy competition at this level once again and if they achieve nothing else from the Claxton Shield, this is quite enough. Very well done again Provincial Australia!

PROVINCIALS PIPPED BY PATRIOTS!

Doing his level best to add his name to the list of starting pitcher heroics at this carnival was young New South Welshman Luke Acret who supplied a tremendous quality start for the Provincials to put the Patriots selectors on notice that he may be deserving of a blue shirt next year. 21yo Acret departed after seven innings of five-hit baseball, allowing only one run and he was in line for the victory as AP clung to a slender 2-1 lead... it proved, agonisingly, not quite enough! Provincials' stalwart Jim Ramshaw just couldn't find the poise or the poison to put the game away as we will mention later.

On the NSW side, Matt Bennett was again pretty good but he had allowed both the Provincial runs by the time he was replaced after issuing a leadoff walk in the sixth dig. Bennett was replaced by the increasingly impressive Ryan Rowland-Smith who seemed a "pitcher in a hurry" today! 'RRS' was simply pouring in the strikes and seeing if the Provincial hitters could handle the ferocity of his missiles... two of them could, but FIVE whiffed to die in the attempt! In one of the hottest performances seen on a Claxton Shield mound for many moons Rowland-Smith struckout five in just 2.2 innings to keep the game close for the Patriots, even though the first batter he faced, Josh Davies, smacked him for a RBI triple! Ryan was ably replaced by the highly experienced Craig Anderson who scooped up another career win with his competent closure.

NSW did not have anybody delivering more than one hit today, while Trent Oeltjen's homer was by far their biggest blow. For the Provincials, young Victorian professional Josh Davies reminded Aces' selectors that he may have been unfortunate to miss selection this season with two hits, including a triple, while his professional team mate Tom Vincent also hit twice.

After four uneventful and scoreless innings it was 'AP' who were first on the board when three singles and a fielder's choice pushed one run across the plate. The Patriots responded immediately to tie the game on a Trent Oetjen 'dinger' to right field. The Provincials reclaimed their one run lead in the sixth frame when a leadoff walk was cashed in by the Davies triple. This was the way the game remained poised with the Aussie Provincials just three outs away from a marvellous 2-1 triumph! But then baseball fans, we all know how hard it can be to get those final three outs at times.

So it was to prove for stalwart Jim Ramshaw and the Australian Provincials, although the manner of their eventual defeat will no doubt leave a pretty nasty taste in the mouths of the players and coaching staff for a fair while to come. The Provincials quickly secured the first out and were just about to claim the second when an error by the short stop allowed Craig Lewis to get aboard... GROAN! When Rod Van Buizen and pinch-hitter Anthony Krajancic followed with singles the warning sirens were starting to blare in the Provincial dugout. A wild pitch was not what the doctor ordered next as the tying run was scored and the Provincials were then forced to issue an intentional free pass to restore the "force all round". Then, with Ramshaw pitching carefully to home run bomber Oeltjen, the game winning run was walked home... OUCH!

You see, there was this massive big blue Patriot fish we'd been battling for more than a couple of hours at Blacktown and we had it just about to be gaffed and pulled on board the boat when, darn it, it broke the fishing line and swam away free!

OK, back to baseball reality... the game probably didn't mean a lot apart from the obvious pride that comes with every serious sporting contest. There is no big surprise in the fact that New South Wales will advance into the semi-finals and no great shock in the fact that the Provincials may be returned to their familiar bottom rung. It would be accurate to say that the Patriots have been far from intimidating during the preliminary rounds of this tournament, but other teams will not rest easy in the knowledge that the playoffs are a completely new ballgame and that the Patriots have the players to step up!

VICTORIA SHUTS OUT RAMS FOR BIG WIN!

With Wayne Ough and John Challinor putting their names in the AMLB spotlight for the first really big time in their careers with tremendous starts for their teams, today was the time for 25yo Independent League professional Greg Wiltshire to do the same. Not unlike the aforementioned pair, Wiltshire seemed poised to post a magnificent complete game shutout when manager David White chose to let young lefty star Donavon Hendricks to get the final two outs. 

Wiltshire did a near perfect job for the occasion, pitching within his limitations and letting his defence do their job behind him. Only in one innings, the second, did Queensland give any trouble with a double and single saw players left stranded on bases by an inning ending double-play. It was to be the first of SIX highly skilled double-plays superbly executed by the Victorian infield, with "Rolls Royce" short stop Ben Utting back near his inspired best with the glove! Donnie Hendricks didn't need to do much when the sixth of the double-plays got him the final two outs in very short order. 

So, with near perfect pitching and defence taking care of the Queensland batting with a timely combined five-hit shutout, all that was left to make the most of the opportunity was for the Aces offence to work as a unit and to make the most of any opportunities earned... once again, Victorian fans could not ask for any more than the performance supplied by their talented offence on this day. No less than seven of Victoria's hitters go amongst the action today with Moylan, Rutgers, Harman and Kimberley each providing two knocks. Biggest by far of those was the 2RBI home run by catcher Matthew Kent who must be seeing the baseball like a watermelon with his second round-tripper on successive days. 

Sorry to concentrate on the Victorians on this occasion, but in all honesty there is little of interest to say about the Rams performance today. None of their pitchers Fairbrother, Battaglene, Tristan Loetsch or Paradise were really impressive nor did any look really likely to close down the Aces firepower for very long... it's not they were particularly bad, it just that they were each "unspectacular" and they didn't produce anything to keep the journalists busy.

After a quiet opening game, Rams leadoff guy Michael Simpson has really found his feet, hitting 6-10 since and proving himself capable of a long career at this level. Simpson was the only Queensland player to have two hits out of their total of five allowed by the very stingy pitching of today's hero Greg Wiltshire.

A study of the table at this stage would suggest that, barring a woeful performance against the Provincials tomorrow, the Aces should have the runs on the board to secure a semi-final berth. And, if Victorian fans are expecting me to remind them once more about their record against 'AP' in the past couple of tournaments... I just wouldn't dare tempt fate! The Queensland Rams, as we tipped, now look out of the running for a semi-final this season.

WA SNATCHES WIN FROM UNDER SA's NOSE!

To be fair to the South Aussies though, even considering their two hits for the game, they could rightly claim that WA starter Brad Thomas had led a bit of charmed life when he managed to escape a based loaded situation unscathed in the second frame, then he paid a modest price in the third innings after starting the frame with a leadoff walk, followed by an error and a hit batter. Then again, sometimes when pitchers seem to lead a charmed life it is because the opposition has failed to capitalise on a situation or because the pitcher has been able to "bear down" to clean up the mess?

South Australia, for their part, carried over some of the "ugly stuff" from their game against the Provincials yesterday when they allowed the Heelers to get on the board with a walk, baulk, hit batter... and another hit batter. With the number of batters who have been hit by a pitched ball over the last few days, the medical room at Blacktown will have been tested to the limits! From the time SA posted their three-spot in the third inning, WA should be given credit for clamping down with their pitching and chipping away with the bats, even though their defence coughed up four errors in the game.

A leadoff home run from veteran Gavin Edmondson in the fourth and a Luke Hughes RBI triple following a walk in the fifth put the game back on level terms. However, if the Heelers had thought that normality had been restored in the contest they were to be stunned onto the back foot once again when reliever Matthew Brendan took the mound in the sixth and he proceeded to literally gift SA the lead in the game with a trio of walks... yep, you simply can't defend against those!!! 

It could not honestly be said that Jay Ziersch had done an impressive job as starter for SA, but he was more than ably relieved by Darren Fidge and John Challinor who had both started earlier in the carnival. We knew that Fidge would be back after his brief outing on opening day and he enjoyed the opportunity to "sharpen up" with a couple of outs today. Challinor, who is coming off a magnificent start against NSW, was quite AWESOME again today, striking out SIX in three breezy innings of relief... he must wish that he could bottle his current form at Blacktown!

The Heelers, as mentioned, got a "variable start" from Thomas before Matt Brendan produced his walkathon. It was time to put an end to the nonsense when big Shane Tonkin was summoned to counter the brilliance of SA's Challinor... quite frankly he would have been one of only a few capable of achieving the feat at present. Tonkin made sure that SA would not add to their two hits for the game when he pitched at just the right time to collect the win before handing over the ball another previous starter Michael Hodge to keep a lid securely on the ninth inning. With pitchers like Fidge and Hodge making brief relief appearances, we can only assume that the teams have had their rotations thrown out of whack by the rain postponements and that these guys needed a throw between starts?

All that was left in this game was for the experienced Tom Becker to preserve the 4-3 lead for SA and an almost certain semi-final berth was in their clutches... baseball is not always so predictable! Horror of horrors, another leadoff walk to Brett Walters was to start the ball ominously rolling for WA in the bottom of the ninth... playing to level the game, there was no surprise when a sacrifice bunt was next to move him over into scoring position. Then, with two out, it was time for some of that "timely hitting" that we have mentioned so often. Brandon Dale was inserted from the bench to immediately deliver a game-tying RBI double. 

WA manager Kevin Hooker was already looking like a genius with his successful pinch hitter decision, so he decided to keep the wheels spinning by replacing Dale with the quicker legs of usual pitcher Clayton Fredericks as a pinch runner on second base... just like clockwork, Fredericks was able to set sail for the winning run when he crossed home plate on a Dean White RBI single. It's a simple game when everything turns out the way you planned isn't it Kevin!

Today baseball maintained its reputation for being maybe the most unpredictable sport... in fact, forget the maybe! SA will not need reminding how quickly their tournament changed from the comfort of a sure semi-final spot to what will now be a scrap over the last couple of games... all in the space of a few agonising minutes. WA, it seems, are feeling quite comfortable sitting on top of the Claxton Shield table and they are in no mood to let anyone else take it from them! 

NSW HANGS ON TO BEAT PLUCKY VICS!

However, on a more "imaginative" note, there were yet undiscovered tribes lurking in the rain forests of the Amazon that knew that the NSW Patriots could not possibly lose three in a row with their star-studded lineup... ESPECIALLY when they have the genetically inherited challenge of beating those "Mexicans" from down south in Victoria... it is a fixture where, for both teams, coaches don't need to find any extra reasons to motivate the players.

While everyone knows that only the end result in the runs column counts, the Victorian Aces will feel positively ill that they have out-hit their opponents for the second straight game while ending up on the skinny end of the result. But for one innings of mayhem when starter Russell Spear may have tired and lost his control, the Aces can rightly claim to have been the more threatening team. The writing, however, may have been on the wall again for the Aces in the fourth inning when they failed to score after stationing runners at second and third base with NONE out. It was the same lack of timely situational hitting that saw WA get on top in their previous encounter.

For the big occasion NSW called upon the services of 25yo AMLB rookie Ben Williams as their starter and, although he had his moments of doubt, he can sleep easy tonight that he kept a clean sheet, aided by the fact that he struck out five in his six innings of work on debut. If the Victorians thought that they might get some respite in the fourth game of the carnival for the Patriots... forget it!... next on the menu was Olympic hero Chris Oxspring who once again showcased his pure quality with a rock-solid two innings in a cliff-hanging 0-0 game at the time.

The respite finally came for the Vics when Oxspring was relieved in the ninth by young 'A' ball professionals James Darby and Richard Thompson. Darby had a nightmare outing tonight when he opened the ninth inning with a relatively comfortable 5-0 lead under his belt, but he let things go almost "pear shaped" by hitting the leadoff batter, then producing two wild pitches and a walk... OUCH! Without further ado 2004 Olympian Thompson was inserted to stop the bleeding yet he quickly sprung a gusher when Aces catcher Matthew Kent launched a three-run "jack" over right field. The only good thing this would do for Thompson was to empty the bases and he managed to keep them that way!

A couple of inning earlier, in the seventh, Victorian starter Russell Spear suffered a similar nightmare experience when he may have tired quickly, walking a couple of batters and being the victim of a critical throwing error. Spear has always been an enigma in AMLB with a very modest 8-9, 7.38ERA record... yet, those in the know have known the capabilities that saw him signed as a youngster and survive a few decent seasons of professional baseball at San Diego and Detroit. The now 27yo had been used mainly as a late reliever by the ABL Melbourne Monarchs, but he had perhaps his finest day in AMLB as a starter for Victoria today.

Similar to James Darby for the Patriots, Anaheim Angels' rookie leaguer Brendan Wilson was given little time to settle by the New South Welshmen when he promptly allowed a couple of RBI singles that added three runs worth of insurance to the 2-0 advantage they held at that moment... how critical this was to prove when Victoria rallied for three in the ninth! Youngster Dean Barker would have been thankful for the faith shown in him after a nervous debut in the opening game of Claxton 2005 and he rewarded this faith with a very neat closure this evening.

Athens Olympian Gavin Fingleson continues to rack up the hits in AMLB as the only plural-hitter for the Patriots tonight, while veteran 'Flintoff & Dunn' Hall-of-Famer Brendan Kingman had the biggest hit with his two-RBI game clincher.

A couple of young professionals were the multi-hit men for Victoria today with Minnesota Twins prospect Paul Rutgers having a real "hot hand" with 4-4 and Philadelphia Phillies rookie Brad Harman recording a very useful 2-5. It is good news for Victoria to see Rutgers back on track at the Claxton Shield. He struggled badly in 2004 following his standout .351 carnival as an AMLB rookie in 2003.

Not that there was any serious damage inflicted to the "unsinkable" New South Wales after successive shock losses, but they will still be glad that they dodged a third bullet tonight and that they have their semi-final ship back solidly afloat. The Victorians will be feeling pretty deflated after two disappointing defeats but when the dust settles they can console themselves with the most important fact that their fate remains squarely in their own hands!

SA REFUSES TO BE PROVINCIALS VICTIM!

Reminiscent of an Under 12yo game from our bygone years... remember those days?... this was a game where base runners were rife and there was a constant carousel of players advancing from station to station by a vast variety of means. The only difference from the junior games we remember is that this game was not predominated by walks as there was only a hardly unreasonable five of those. What we did have in ample abundance though were 23 hits, two wild pitches, seven (yes SEVEN) hit batters and one baulk thrown in for good measure... help us out!!

SA though, to their credit, made sure that they did not allow lightning to strike twice in terms of Provincial upsets when they jumped out on top early and, although 'AP' produced their trademark "scare" with a gap-closing rally, they were never headed in the contest and they ran out comfortable looking 8-4 victors. The South Australian campaign at Claxton Shield 2005 is, as we previewed, well and truly back on the rails.

It was not a landmark day for pitchers although for SA, after former Provincial beanpole Dushan Ruzic struggled, winning pitcher Adrian Burnside was very good, reliever Leigh Norman not bad either and Tom Becker untroubled with his ninth innings closure. The highly regarded Burnside, who pitched most of 2004 in 'AAA' with the Detroit Tigers was the vital cog in the wheel when he came into the game in the fourth inning when the Provincials threatened to break the game open and, although he immediately allowed a couple of unearned runs on a Josh Davies single, he presided over a period in the game when SA clearly resumed control.

For the Provincials non-rostered Matt Williams had a very tough initiation into the Australia's baseball 'big league' as a replacement (we suspect) for Riki Paewai who starred for Queensland earlier in the carnival. Leigh Tudor took over for an adventurous inning and a bit then handed over to hard-throwing Victorian Glen Richards. Richards, an Atlanta Braves rookie league pitcher and rated a fine prospect by many, is one of MANY THOUSANDS who would love to see the Claxton Shield played somewhere else other than Blacktown... even if only for a bloody change! Richards showed a glimpse of his "stuff'' with three strikeouts but he found the mound at Blacktown an uncomfortable place once again! Only former Arizona Diamondbacks rookie league pro John Allender really looked the part with the ball for the Provincials today. 

Non-rostered Ben Brusnahan is helping the South Australians to forget the unfortunate absence of star slugger Tom Brice with another terrific 3-5 (2RBI) batting performance today, while the stalwart Tainty brothers had two hits each and so did the increasingly reliable Dan Wilson.

Emerging Anaheim Angels professional Nick Kimpton continues to forge himself a reputation in AMLB as maybe the flagship player of the Provincials cause with 3-4, while previously unknown Mark Saunderson is batting a very worthwhile 6-10 so far in his debut tournament.

After their heady victory against Queensland yesterday, we could be cheeky enough to say that "normal transmission has been resumed" for the Australian Provincials today... but this would be grossly unfair, so we won't! South Australia have taken the most valuable win from the game and they would be quick to point out that they don't mind "winning ugly"!

QUEENSLAND BOUNCES BACK TO BEAT WA!

With three wins securely tucked away the WA Heelers were under no pressure to win today, while the Queensland Rams were desperate for a victory after successive losses, including their most recent defeat at the hands of the unfancied Australian Provincials. Anything less than a 'W' for the Rams would mean almost certain elimination from Claxton Shield 2005 without reaching the semi-final stage. We are not suggesting for one moment that the proud WA Heelers would "tank" such a contest... no way!... but, according to our correspondent, the WA team gave the appearance that they were not playing with quite the same "conviction" as they have in the tournament to date... it may be just an impression?

In any case, there could be no doubting the conviction of the Queensland contingent when they decided to unleash 2004 Olympic Games Silver Medallist and New York Mets 'AA' professional Wayne Ough. It was a strategy that certainly worked in the most emphatic way because Ough did not need any help from the Rams' bullpen to nail down a most impressive victory for himself and, more importantly, for his team. Ough has only pitched sparingly in AMLB to date and his ugly 11-plus ERA is by no means indicative of his abilities. Today was the day that he set the record straight on Aussie soil with a magnificent display of pitching excellence... the complete game shutout, albeit seven innings, will do a fair bit to lower that career ERA!

Ough had control over everything today, changing speeds and picking his spots with meticulous accuracy to literally overmatch the young WA hitters with NINE, innings depleting strikeouts. Aside from the second inning when he had to work his way out of a bases loaded jam, Ough was barely troubled as he breezed through the game like a hot knife through butter! It is a pity for the Claxton Shield and AMLB record books that the seven innings game was in vogue because if ever there was a complete game shutout beckoning, it was for 'Wizard Wayne' Ough today. Nice job!

With a quite different agenda, WA took the opportunity of a "no pressure" game to give 20yo AMLB rookie Mark Kelly a taste of the Australian 'big league'. Kelly, who would have appreciated the opportunity, made a pretty good fist of it for two innings before allowing his highly decorated veteran team mate Simon Eissens to stack yet another three scoreless innings onto his massive stockpile of AMLB career achievements... is there no end to the effectiveness of this guy!?

Unfortunately for the Heelers, once 37yo Eissens had done his quota, they had to turn the ball over the vastly less credentialed Clayton Fredericks. 28yo Fredericks had done OK in his brief debut appearance at Blacktown last year, but he was to find the going tough today. In fact, had he not been able to nail a very handy pickoff after Michael Simpson had singled to leadoff the sixth inning, Queensland might have piled on a much bigger number of runs. As it was, he could be thankful for only two runs crossing home plate after he had allowed a single, single, walk, double and single to start the innings. It was pretty ugly stuff before a double-play ball enabled him a Houdini-like escape under the circumstances.

Only young Queensland professional David Sutherland had more than one hit in a very quiet offensive game as he continues to build upon the huge .381 AMLB average he owned before competing at Blacktown this year!

As it was such a quiet offensive day, this gives me an opportunity to pay tribute to a guy who should be regarded much more highly in Australian sport TRENT DURRINGTON. Apart from recently established relief pitcher Grant Balfour, and a couple of guys derailed by injury, Trent Durrington has stood almost alone as Australia's most "permanent" major league baseball player over the last few seasons. The underrated utility fielder, handy pinch-hitter and speedy pinch-runner seems to have found himself a stable home warming the bench for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Trouble is that Trent, after the grind of playing almost every day in the major leagues, has struggled to find a hot streak on the Australian scene and his modest performances on home soil do not do him justice. But, herein lies BY FAR the most important point as we see it in the fact that Trent Durrington has always given up his off season break to make a contribution to Australia's 'big league'... he is giving something back to the game in the country that gave him the opportunity and this should be recognised! Trent, perhaps unlike some others, although it is difficult to be critical of those who NEED a break, seems to realise how much it means to the sport in Australia for the "big names" to compete! You have our sincere appreciation Trent... you can bet that we have not overlooked your contributions to AMLB!

The loss today was no big deal for the WA Heelers who remain clear atop the table, while for Queensland their quest for a third successive Grand Final appearance has a pulse once again after its "near death experience" yesterday!