QUICK SCORE SUMMARY - CLAXTON SHIELD 2007

5

NSW SWAMPS QLD 9-3 TO REMAIN UNBEATEN

For Queensland the loss was by no means insignificant as it cost them the double-chance that comes as a reward for finishing in one of the top two table positions. They are now consigned to the perilous pathway that requires three successive wins in the finals without the luxury of a single slip-up and the associated fact that will have no room to be cautious about exhausting their bullpen... each game for finalists Queensland and South Australia is an elimination game!

Although it was probably the potent NSW offence that grabbed for them the ascendency once again in this game it was also a very good opportunity for pitchers Andrew Cooke and Aidan Francis to enjoy some low-pressure exposure to Australian baseball's big league. Cooke was very good on this occasion, striking out four at the rate of one per inning while allowing only one run. Then, with a big lead already established in the game, there was no need to squeeze any more pitches out of Cooke and Francis was summoned to relieve him after just four frames. Francis allowed six hits and a couple of walks during his long stint of five innings at the end of the game, but he somehow managed to limit the damage to only two runs while Queensland never really threatened to get back into the game. 

In a performance that somewhat typifies why NSW have remained virtually unchallenged in this tournament so far, no less than NINE different players chimed in with safe hits for the Patriots... it is that kind of balanced offence which can make teams very hard to beat ion this type of competition where it is dangerous to rely on a couple of big guns that don't always fire. One of the genuine "big guns" who has gathered and ominous momentum of his own at Claxton 2007 is former major league infielder Glenn Williams who added another three hits to his collection today. The only other player with a multi-hit game was the omni-present Gavin Fingleson who remains one of the most reliable and prolific hitters in the country. 

After his decent showing against Victoria earlier in this carnival the sky caved in for rookie Matthew Bates in this game when he couldn't get to the end of the third inning before getting the hook with eight (OUCH!) earned runs against his name... six hits and five walks from 2.2 innings is not the sort of performance that he will want to remember. Mark Kearney was a lot better, allowing the same number of hits over 6.1 innings with only one free pass... Kearney was pretty good in a game that had long since ceased to be a real contest.

Future Philly pro Alan Sheonberger announced himself to the AMLB headlines with a terrific 2-3 effort for his team, while Josh Roberts was the only other player with two hits in a game where the Rams failed to make maximum effect out of a quite reasonable nine hits for the game.

Undefeated NSW deserve top billing for the upcoming finals and they will certainly be the team to beat for the title. Queensland are far from out of the event, but they have made their road to retaining their title much more perilous!

VICTORIA ACES SA 10-4 TO STAY IN THE HUNT!

On the evidence of Ben Wigmore's MONSTER 500ft blast over left field, the South Australians were not holding too much back... and when would any self respecting 'Croweater' EVER cut a Victorian a break?... not in this lifetime or in any other! On the other hand, the South Australian pitching was "modest" and some of their fielding, especially in the outfield, was not of the highest standard either. I'll let you be the judge if the word "tanking" might be an undertone to this game??

Leaving aside the attitude of the opposition for a moment, it must be said that the Victorian Aces had clearly responded to the embarrassment of their loss to 'AP' with a very obvious focussed performance from the first pitch of the game. In total contrast to the shambles we had witnessed from their offence yesterday, this Victorian team put on a master class for team hitting, moving runners, stealing bases and driving in the runners who were in scoring position. Baseball, as hard as it can be when you are struggling, can look incredibly simple when it is executed properly. The Victorians certainly did this when it mattered today. Thankfully they had not drunk whatever that concoction was that turned Dr. Jeckyl into Mr. Hyde and Victorian fans will be hoping never to see another of those Mr. Hyde type performances again during this carnival. 

Doing the vitally important job on the mound for the Aces was recent Atlanta Braves pro Donnie Hendricks who was quite brilliant during almost all of his seven innings apart from a few moments in the third innings when SA pounced for four runs, including that rocket-launched three-run bomb that 'Bashing Ben' Wigmore sent into the stratosphere! That aside, Hendricks still did an outstanding job for the team to soak up the innings before the finals in quite impressive style. Dean Barker was a little better today than yesterday but a couple of walks hurt him before Matthew Blackmore was required to tidy up a bases loaded jam for him in the eighth. The fact that he achieved this with a terrific strike out, then added two more K's in the ninth to close the game, was an effort that could scarcely have been more impressive. Blackmore has emerged as a new trump card in the Aces pack this year!

Re-invented outfielder Paul Weichard continues to be Victoria's most consistent player with 2-4 and a RBI today, while Brad Harman may be running into form with his 2-5 and two RBI effort that included a solo home run. The other man worthy of a big mention is Andrew Russell who hit the ball with more authority than his 1-5 might suggest but, more importantly, he did what he seems to do every week in club baseball when he broke the game open with his timely three RBI double!

I won't embarrass SA starter Daniel Redden any further by commenting on his pitching numbers tonight, you can read the sorry tale of the statistics yourself below... it would be much more positive to say that Lachlan Eldridge fared a bit better when he came on in relief. Did I mention Ben Wigmore's home run?... he hammered THREE in the corresponding game against the Aces last year, but none of those was nearly as long as this ball. One of the friendly volunteer staff (Kevin House... father of future Toronto pro Chris House) was thinking of trying to retrieve the ball but he realised that he wasn't carrying the bus fare to locate it in the adjoining suburb!! Only reliable Marc Tainty boasted two hits for SA in this game. 

The Victorian Aces made darn sure that they avoided the aforementioned embarrassment of elimination while South Australia won't take too much time to forget this game and to turn their attentions to the finals.

RAMS APPLY LAST RITES FOR DISMAL WA 6-0!

On this occasion it would much quicker and simpler to get the West Australian side of the game out of the way so that those fine people here who have been so hospitable can get back to their normal lives without the torment of a VERY disappointing week of baseball torture. It wasn't until replacement third baseman Allan de San Miguel led off the eighth inning with a single that WA recorded its one and only hit for the game... end of story... not much more to say is there? 

I had the pleasure of meeting WA's young rookie starting pitcher Liam Baron and his family... it would hard to find a nicer or more unassuming lad and he is obviously a product of very fine parents. Liam had the joy of facing one batter in his debut relief outing this week with the superb result of two outs via an inning ending double-play. Unfortunately, he was never likely to maintain that type of start to his career at this level and it was not entirely his fault that his statistics were brought back to earth tonight. Baron was very tidy in the strike zone but he would not have appreciated being met with seven hits from the talented Rams batters. It was a lot to expect from the young fellow with zero run support and some sloppy defence giving him no help at all. Thankfully for him only three of the runs he allowed were earned. 

Brendan Thomas was fairly good again in stemming the Rams offensive flow, as was Brendan Wise who seemed a lot more assured on the mound this time with very little pressure left in the game or the tournament for WA. Rookie Chris Goadby faced the minimum three batters and he would have gained a degree of confidence from his last opportunity at Claxton Shield 2007. Goadby is one of several fresh WA youngsters who will be better for the torrid experience here.

By contrast, Queensland had a very easy night at the office with quality hurlers Drew Naylor, Chris Mowday, James Albury and Tristan Crawford combining for a magnificent one-hit shutout, with only Albury allowing the no-hitter to be snapped in the eighth. Naylor's only blemish was three walks from four innings, Mowday's one walk from three innings, Albury's the solitary hit and Crawford was near perfect with the minimum three batters faced in the final frame... over and out for the West Australians.

The Queensland Rams have breezed through most of this tournament with a variety of hitters doing the job on different occasions. Today it was the turn of dangerous former Victorian Andy Utting to groove his swing with a damaging 3-4 and two RBI's, followed by Jacob Rookie and Brad Dutton who each contributed two hits in this lop-sided affair.

So long to the WA team who will be dedicated to re-grouping for next year, while Queensland continues to roll on as the defending Champions who just might be able to retain their title?

PROVINCIALS PUNISH TALL POPPY VICS 9-4!

After one shocker and a couple of very good games, the Victorians revealed their "Jeckyl and Hyde" personality with a VERY lack lustre display against a hungry and determined Australian Provincial opponent. There wasn't a lot to like about the Aces efforts in this game, but at the same time I need to be careful not to take too much away from the Provincial 'YAPS' (Young Aussie Professionals) who outplayed their more illustrious opponents in every possible way. 

While the Victorian management could not be drawn to confirm or deny after the game, I will suggest that the Aces fell for the trap of a little arrogance and a lack of respect for their young opponents. One can only assume that the unusual re-jig of the lineup was done to give some players playing time in a game that they felt they should win with a degree of comfort. Of course it could all be explained under the umbrella of "player management" but, if there was any arrogance involved, then the Aces paid a very high price in quite embarrassing circumstances... it was NOT GOOD!

Young Victorian and LA Angels starter Brendan Wilson grasped the opportunity to put on his best display at this level with 5.0 innings of four-hit baseball. Wilson looked destined for another shaky performance after giving up two runs in what could have been an even more damaging first inning, but after the Provincials grabbed the lead in the top half of the second, he seemed to grow in strength and confidence while pitching with a lead. AP's young relievers Shaun Tabrett, Matthew Timms and Gavin Dloughy each were effective enough to keep the Victorians trailing in their wake, even though Timms was nailed for a couple of runs late in the game. Tabrett was probably the most impressive of the trio.

While many would have expected the Provincial youngsters to lack the offensive venom of the established state players, this has not been in evidence during this Claxton Shield where they have at least matched most of what has been thrown at them. Some of Victoria's pitching in this game was "ordinary" but it should not detract from a strong batting display by Aussie Provincials. Mighty Michael Collins set the tone with his menacing 3-5 that produced a home run and three RBI's. He was joined by the eye-catching Mitch Denning who also nailed a 3-5 game, while Tom Vincent went 2-5. Then there is the sweet timing of powerhouse catcher Patrick Maat who whacked his THIRD 'dinger' of the tournament for three RBI's.

Victorian starter Cameron Forbes may have had Pat Maat struck out on a check-swing that would have seen him escape the second frame but, after he homered on the next pitch, things rolled steadily downhill for the seasoned right-hander. It remains a mystery to Victorian baseball supporters why Forbes, who is rated very highly, often struggles to produce his best at the AMLB level... he does not exude confidence. Side-arm lefty Dean Barker has not found enough variety so far in this Claxton Shield and he is paying an expensive price for finding the fat part of the plate too often. What a shame that the lethal Lee Hogan was called to action too late to save the Victorian cause... Hogan made his third masterful appearance in Perth and he showed his younger bullpen team mates exactly how it supposed to be done at Australia's highest level. 

Only Paul Weichard managed more than one hit in a dismal offensive performance by the Vics in an important game. Aside from the assertive pitching of Lee Hogan, the Victorian Aces were outgunned in pitching, hitting and defence by this upstart Australian Provincial team and, if this DREADFUL loss is to cripple their chances, they will have nobody else to blame!

PATRIOTS ROLL ON WITH 4-2 WIN v SOUTH!

It appeared an evenly matched contest and a study of the final statistics confirms this. The NSW Patriots managed to break a 2-2 deadlock in the seventh inning to win with single runs in the seventh and eighth and they also shaded SA with eight hits versus seven for the game. NSW committed the only three errors recorded for the game, so how did NSW gain the upper hand you might well ask? It's not that difficult folks when you consider that the Patriots milked nine walks from the generous SA pitchers, while they issued only two free passes themselves... it's called winning baseball.

20yo Todd Grattan can be well satisfied with his debut outing in the famous Claxton Shield after producing a quality start of 6.1 innings and he can consider himself a trifle unfortunate to be deprived of the win in a no-decision for him. Snatching the win in the next inning is former Aussie Provincials' infielder Adam Blight who seems to have successfully re-invented himself as a pitcher. Established star lefty Craig Anderson put the candle on the cake for NSW with a very tidy save.

Trent Oeltjen and Mark Holland continue to enjoy productive tournaments with 2-4 games each, while the quality bats of Fingleson, Williams and Auty delivered the all important RBI's for New South Wales.

Having already collected a win when pitching in relief against the Provincials earlier in the carnival, Chris Lawson returned to start this game for SA when it appeared that they were using the "committee approach" to pitching in this game with relatively short stints by Lawson, then Fiebig, then Fidge, then Langman. On this day none of quartet were especially dominant, or particularly bad, but reliable warhorse Darren Fidge would be disappointed to take the loss.

Only the ever-present veteran Marc Tainty had more than one hit for South Australia in this game while Cresswell and Williams were the RBI men. No mention of 'Bashing Ben' Wigmore in this report?... well, the NSW pitchers managed to keep Ben's bat quiet by "plonking him" twice with hit by pitched balls... that's one way to do it I suppose!?

VICTORIA PREVENTS WA BREAKING THE ICE 3-1!!

It was great to see a player given the opportunity to put things right and, in this case, young Kelly was tough enough to cast aside some horrible memories of a double-digit ERA from Claxton 2006 to show his true value on home soil this time around. Kelly was called in as a replacement for 17yo Liam Hendricks in the WA squad and he let nobody down with his five strong innings tonight... only four walks were a few too many if you want to be critical... we don't. I'm not going to check when was the last time that "grandpa" Simon Eissens threw three innings at this level, but it would be typical of this big-hearted WA warrior if he requested the chance to carry his team mates to a morale boosting win. The fact that it didn't work out that way and that Simon was saddled with a tough-luck loss was not indicative of his sterling performance.

It usually has something to do with the effectiveness of the opponents pitching, but WA fans would find it hard to get excited about another low-hit affair in which Daniel Floyd's terrific 2-3 in the clutch was half of the team's total of four hits. As many of us have discussed at length during this carnival, you can only imagine what the WA team could have been like with ONE more power hitter like Tony Adamson, Clayton Byrne or Scott Metcalf from bygone glory days of WA baseball.

After some duty with Victoria and the Australian Provincials as a youngster at recent Claxton Shields it was just the right time for emerging Boston Red Sox pro Adam Blackley to step into the breach as a key member of the Aces starting rotation. We can only guess that he was slated to make this start against the host team in what loomed as an important nightcap game and, although WA were winless, this would not have made the task any more comfortable. Adam certainly did announce his arrival as a big time player on the AMLB scene with a polished 5.1 innings that allowed only two hits and one run, while striking out four.

Lee Hogan, as we would expect, made sure that the scores didn't move by polishing off the last two outs of the sixth inning before handing over to seasoned rookie Matthew Blackmore who could hardly have been asked to do more in an excellent debut. Blackmore earned his win with two near perfect innings in the context of a tense tied ballgame... TOP JOB! It would be a gross understatement to state that major leaguer 'Big Pete' Moylan was a bit tough to hit in the last inning when he preserved the victory with a save of scintillating proportions... Moylan typified that phrase "LIGHTS OUT" with two blinding strikeouts that effectively snuffed out any lingering hopes of a home team revival at the death.

After flirting with life as a pro pitcher Paul Weichard has slipped very nicely back into his more natural role as a quality outfielder and hitter at Claxton 2007 and he must be delighted to have re-established his AMLB career at this carnival. Weichard batted a mighty 2-2 with two walks in this game to slightly overshadow his World Baseball Classic team mate Mat Kent who hammered 2-4 with a vital RBI. We will credit the WA pitching for the fact that Victoria compiled only seven hits for the game.

The Victorian Aces will be mildly pleased to have taken their record to 2-1 after their opening game defeat while, once again, we really do feel a bit sorry for the snake-bitten WA who stand with a hardly-indicative 0-4 record.

PATRIOTS HOLD OFF NO-QUIT PROVINCIALS 9-6!

Maybe the 9-6 win for the Patriots will look fairly "routine" in isolation, but when you consider that the Provincials kept plugging away with eight hits versus seven, that they scored four runs in the final two innings and that they had the winning run come to the plate twice in the final frame it puts a slightly different light on the contest... and, in complete contrast to the earlier game today, this was a most enjoyable contest that ebbed and flowed right down to the wire.

After pitching exclusively in relief last year, Vaughan Harris returned to the starting role for the second time since his debut start in 2005. On this occasion the 25yo was better prepared for the heat of the Claxton Shield kitchen and he produced a workmanlike performance that was worthy of the win. Matt Bennett continues to build upon what is steadily growing into a terrific AMLB resume with a typically "no fuss" middle-relief job that yielded only one hit from his 2.2 innings... make no mistake Bennett is a very important key to the NSW bullpen strength. Rookie teenager Aidan Francis found the step up to Claxton Shield standard pretty tough on debut, but he can only benefit from the exposure at this level.

On the offensive side, it was tremendous news for Australian baseball to see that recent major league star Glenn Williams could be ready for another tilt at the big league after his outstanding 3-4 performance, while the emerging Florida Marlins' professional catcher Trent D'Antonio did his bit for the ballclub with 2-5. Once again the Patriots got some balanced offence with five different players contributing to their RBI ledger.

Former pro Queenslander Riki Paewai did not suffer much by comparison with NSW starter Harris with a near identical five hits from 5.1 innings, but unfortunately for him the Patriots offence was able to convert their chances into runs better than the Provincials and Paewai was a trifle unfortunate to cop the loss. Fresh from the 'AAA' Championships in Geelong, NSW Country star Tim Atherton could be excused for showing a few nerves on debut with three walks taking a bit of gloss from an otherwise decent effort for a Claxton Shield "baby". Boston Red Sox signee Michael Lennox is entitled to be very excited with his superb debut on the biggest Australian baseball stage, allowing only one hit from 2.2 clutch innings.

Another signed 'Bosox' pro of the future Mitchell Denning is really making a mark for himself at this tournament with another 2-4 today, while established Los Angeles Angels pro Michael Collins cannot sneak up on anyone in AMLB as a proven performer who also added another two-hit game to his glowing stats table today. 

Yes, I agree, it is dull to repeat that the Provincials had nothing to be ashamed of again today after another very worthy effort... dull but TRUE! On the other hand the NSW Patriots have very nicely eased themselves into top billing at Claxton Shield 2007 to cast aside any misguided perception that they would not enjoy life away from the familiarity of Blacktown Olympic Park... as if that was ever seriously suggested... you only need to assess the quality of their players. At the end of this event the pathway to the Championship could well be blocked by these Patriots who will take some beating.

BOUNCE BACK RAMS STONE THE 'CROWS' !

20yo Tristan Loetsch was considered somewhat of a "late bloomer" when he was signed out of the blue by the Kansas City Royals last year in a rare example to other aspiring Aussies that your hopes of a professional baseball career may not be over if you miss out during your teenage years! Tristan certainly pitched the way we would expect from a maturing pitcher with a solid enough start to get the Rams firmly on the path to victory. 

However, Queensland were in no mood to do the South Aussies any favours after losing the previous day when they chose to protect their already bulging 9-1 lead with the highly credentialed duo of Wayne Ough and P.J Bevis. Former New York Mets 'AA' pitcher Ough required only eleven pitches to put away his requisite one inning before handing over to former 'AAA' pro Bevis who also made short work of the last inning of the contest... maybe "contest" is too strong a word?

We have enjoyed some great pitching duels at Thornlie so far, but this was more of a batting "slugfest"... the trouble for SA was that it was their Queensland opponents who were doing all of the effective slugging! Quality hitters Jay Nilsson 3-3, Brett Roneberg 3-4 and Brad Dutton each enjoyed dining out on three hit feasts, while the also dangerous Andrew Utting and David Sutherland belted two each for good measure. No less than six players contributed RBI's to the Rams score, with Brendan Kleidon cashing in three from his timely bases-clearing double. 

I wouldn't be doing our SA friends any favours by spending a lot of time detailing the scene that saw their team pulverised 16 hits to four and with a 13-1 scoreline... Queensland needing to bat only six innings to invoke the "mercy rule". Phrases like "blow out" and "lop sided" do not quite do justice to this game... it was a disappointing "no contest" from the outset.

It would be an understatement to say that SA hurlers Ziersch and Langman have had better days after Ziersch served up ten hits in three innings and Eldridge kept the room service coming with five hits from two innings. Todd Langman showed some admirable determination in the last inning when he did his job quite effectively. Unfortunately the horses had already bolted in a stampede over the previous six frames.

Only Tom Brice had two hits for South Australia as a half of his team's total strike power on this day. If this all sounds fairly miserable for SA and very good for Queensland then you have been supplied with an accurate picture. But, even in the aftermath of such a demoralising game the cold reality of the situation is that both teams are now pretty well placed with 2-1 records that should see them both in the hunt at the end of the week.

NSW WINS 10-INN HEARTBREAKER 1-0 v WA!