QUICK SCORE SUMMARY - CLAXTON SHIELD 2008

NSW BOOKS CLAXTON FINAL WITH 2-1 WIN v QLD!
NSW 2-1 QLD;  1-2,  5-3,  1-0

There would not be much reason for the Queenslanders to change a winning squad from their corresponding 2-1 home victory over the New South Welshmen. Perhaps unfortunately for them, there would be no further action from former major league reliever Phil Stockman, nor a visitation from that "legend of legends" David Nilsson... we can only be left wondering whether the very variable thought patterns of 'Big Dave' ever really intended to play and/or whether he will persist with "keeping the dream alive" for his participation at the Beijing Olympic Games... I wouldn't count on it!

New South Wales were able to "tweak" their roster with the very obvious inclusion of 'AAA' Twin Trent Oeltjen who will certainly help them considerably both offensively and defensively. We are not self-indulgent enough to even consider that our "tongue in cheek" crack at David Rosser may have brought about his omission from this series, while the familiar names of Vaughan Harris, Andrew Cooke and newcomer Jarrad Eacott would be inactive in this series. To possibly more than balance this, the Patriots would enjoy the inclusions of professionals Shane Benson, Brad Tippett and Gavin Dlouhy. 

Our most loyal Subscribers would be well aware that 'Flintoff & Dunn' have rarely lacked the courage to make bold predictions but, honestly, this one is FAR too hard to call. Those same loyal subscribers would also be well aware that, at moments like this, we almost always revert to selecting the home team... not to disappoint anyone, NSW by a whisker!

If you love baseball, like we do, then you've got to love this game... how could you ask for anything more from the opening game of a series that would decide the Eastern Division Champions? A series contested between two quality teams who will never give an inch to their traditional rivals.

Patriots' ace starter Matt Bennett went out-for-out with Rams' star Chris Mowday through five scoreless innings of superb big game pitching, even though Queensland threatened more than their hosts with two leadoff doubles left stranded and another runner in scoring position in the fifth. Meanwhile, a caught stealing and a pickoff helped Chris Mowday to make sure that no NSW batter reached second base... it was another sterling effort by the former minor league journeyman. 

The decisive moment in the game arrived in the top of the sixth inning when consistent Queensland stars Brad Dutton and Brett Roneberg strung together leadoff hits, enabling Dave Sutherland to break the scoring ice with a RBI single and Matt Studeman to follow-up with a most valuable sacrifice fly RBI. Bennett finished the inning, but when he started the seventh with a walk, it was time for him to hand over to Brad Tippett for an auspicious AMLB debut. 

Keen Australian baseball followers would already know what an outstanding young pitching prospect that Brad Tippett is as an emerging professional with the Minnesota Twins and he was a joint winner of 'Flintoff & Dunn's Rookie League Player of the Year' for the 2007 season. Left with a base runner to contend with in the seventh, Tippett was greeted by a sac bunt and he also walked Brad Dutton in the same inning. But, this brilliant youngster responded by striking out five and inducing three ground outs to keep Queensland's scoreboard stagnant after that... I think we've just seen another rising star!!

While Tippett kept his team very much in the game, the much more seasoned John Veitch and P.J Bevis did a similar job for the maroon team by making sure that Chris Mowday's excellent start wasn't wasted. Only a Pat Maat leadoff double and a later fielder's choice scored a run for the "Cockroaches" in the eighth inning to spoil a faultless day for John Veitch, while former Championship MVP and 'AAA' pro P.J Bevis sealed Queensland's win with three ground outs in the ninth.

To emphasise the magnificence of the pitching by BOTH teams in this game, not one batter managed more than one safe hit in this game, while only those all too familiar names of Brad Dutton and Jay Nilsson found themselves on base more than once when they each mixed a hit with a walk. For NSW, former Provincial Shannon Pender was probably their main man on offence with his single plus a run batted in via a fielder's choice. 

Two runs versus one... five hits versus six...one walk versus three... one error each... I tell you what folks, baseball games don't get much tighter than this and it was a really great opener to a series that means one hell of a lot to both mighty teams. Once again, the pitching of BOTH teams lived up to the lofty billing of this series right from the start. Mowday was probably MVP, with Bennett not too far behind... the experienced Veitch and Bevis lived up to their reputations... but boy, we have been waiting for a while for Brad Tippett show us what he has got in AMLB and nobody was to be disappointed! 

Queensland now needs just one win from their two remaining games but, as the Victorian Aces found in Perth last weekend, that one most vital win can be hard to come by on foreign soil. We'll be just dying to find out how it all unfolds...

Oh boy, 'Flintoff & Dunn' just love the fact that baseball, more than other games, seems to find a way to keep the nerves jangling and the outcome of series alive right down to the excruciatingly delicious outcome is resolved. And, just to make this even better along the way, it also tends to produce some of the most memorable and thrilling games. Our NSW correspondent was, once again, effusing about how exciting this game was and, while we make allowances for the fact that he usually enjoys a Patriots victory more than most, we have other reports that confirm his exhilaration.

Quite clearly the NSW Patriots were playing for keeps as we would expect, given their non-existent margin for error, by starting with one of the genuine stars of Claxton Shield 2008 Timothy Cox. The Boston Red Sox farm hand already owns a splendid 3-0, 0.69ERA from his three relief appearances this summer and the New South Wales management obviously weren't going to tempt fate by holding him back in relief this time. Cox appeared a little more human while starting this high-pressure game with a leadoff triple and a quick run on the scoreboard threatening to sink his brilliant sailing ship!

However, young Cox confirmed his mettle once again by neutralising another Roneberg single in the first with an inning ending double-play. After that, he settled well to allow only two more hits and a couple of walks, while leaving his team in good order, 2-1 ahead after five innings and he had every right to expect his fourth straight win. His reliable reliever Matt Williams might have conspired to snatch the victory from his glove, but I doubt that he would have enjoyed coughing up the lead so quickly via another Roneberg RBI and an Andy Utting sacrifice fly in the top half of the sixth inning... QLD 3 NSW 2. 

Much like Cox, who settled well after a shaky start, Matthew Williams probably earned his possession of the 'W' when he rolled through the last three innings quite superbly with only a couple of walks separating his last ten outs of the game. In the end, it would be the proficiency of the New South Wales pitchers, who limited the mighty Queensland offence to only seven hits, that would give their team a vital edge with their twelve hits that ultimately secured them the HUGE victory. 

Queensland could not be faulted for entrusting the ball to starter Drew Naylor who has already been very good for the Rams, as well as for the Philadelphia Phillies as an emerging rookie league professional. Young Naylor should be commended for challenging the prodigious NSW batting lineup, and for living in the strike zone, but it also came at the slightly too high cost of seven hits from four innings. Drew allowed only one run before handing over to Chris Lamb who might be excused for being overawed by the importance of the situation. Lamb didn't manage to secure an out while hitting Oeltjen with a pitch, delivering a nervous wild pitch, then walking Tim Auty... they were intimidating guys to pitch to Chris! 

The solid Simon Morriss was asked to mop us the mess and he looked capable of being a hero with a pair of fly ball outs before hitting prodigy Mitch Dening lashed him for a lead-taking RBI single in the fifth inning. Morriss battled on as well as he possibly could before the Patriots flexed their considerable muscle in the seventh to turn the game permanently in their favour. A leadoff walk (don't they always hurt!) to Tim Auty, followed by a sac-bunt and a Brendan Kingman RBI double restored parity on the scoreboard, but the momentum was continued for the hosts via a Dening (yes again!) single.

By the time that experienced star John Veitch took over the mound the snowball was already rolling downhill and gathering speed. A couple of hits cashed in a couple of runs that were not slated against his statistics, but they were certainly added to the home half of the scoreboard in a decisive three-run seventh inning for the home-standing light blues. John pitched a scoreless eighth, but there would be no miracle comebacks for the Rams against the tough pitching in this game. 

Minnesota twins 'AAA' star Trent Oeltjen demonstrated his class with 2-4 that included a double, plus a hit by pitched ball, while "grand master" Brendan Kingman also drove in two RBI's via a double and an unselfish ground ball out, plus another walk... while not quite as hyperactive, 'Slugga' Kingman has the endurance of the "energizer bunny" and he just never seems to stop hitting a baseball... we really admire our No.1 "Evergreen" and 'Flintoff & Dunn HALL-OF-FAMER'. Young tyros Trent D'Antonio and Mitch Dening each delivered two hits and a run batted in, while 'Terrible Tim' Auty was terrific again with a hit and two free passes. 'Pummelling Pat' Maat knocked in the other vital run for the Patriots.

We're not too sure exactly how much superstar Brett Roneberg has been affected by a "tweaked" ankle from his last series, but it didn't prevent him from topping the Queensland offence with his 2-3 plus a 'steak' before he was replaced by a pinch-runner in the sixth... one thing we noted was the obvious fact that Roneberg still turned up to play when some others might have decided otherwise. Check our previous comments about him, we think our point has been emphasised! David Sutherland also batted 2-4 as a consistent contributor for the Rams, while Dutton and Utting also drove in runs.

We move on to the deciding game later today and, let's face it, it would have been a horrible anti-climax if the Eastern Division title had already been decided... the "baseball gods" were not about to let this happen! We just can't wait!!

Well, as former American-born Aussie pro wrestling commentator Jack Little would often effuse... "HOW ABOUT THAT?!" 

The last game we reported was that near farcical 32-hit walkathon in Game Two of Victoria's meaningless home series against South Australia. What a delightful contrast this HUGE game would provide with a superb 1-0, pitching dominated, contest of the highest quality. According to our Sydney based correspondent, this really was a marvellous advertisement for the quality of Australian baseball. I have to tell you that 'Flintoff & Dunn' absolutely love this type of baseball game. I'm assured that the defence of both teams was, not only errorless, but often of supreme quality. 

He may not win the 2008 Golden Arm Award, now that his team has missed the Grand Final series, but Queensland's 'AA' Twin Tristan Crawford should have been near the forefront of the voting, especially after his one-man eight inning start in this most important of preliminary games. Crawford pitched a quite OUTSTANDING game for the Rams and only in one of those innings did he allow more than one base runner. Unfortunately his memorable day would be somewhat spoiled when he had to deal with the toughest part of the NSW lineup in the fourth inning.

With one strike out already tucked away, those most prolific of AMLB hitters, also 'Flintoff & Dunn HALL-OF-FAMERS', Gavin Fingleson and Brendan Kingman managed to punch singles into right field. Next up was young prodigy Mitch Dening who executed what was asked by grounding out (read hitting) to the right side in order to advance the runners. It may have been decisive when 'The Mailman' Pat Maat whacked the game winning RBI into left field. That one run would be enough! 

The New South Welshmen would throw a committee of pitchers up against Tristan Crawford in this game but, it has to said, their sterling combined efforts would ultimately prove one run better in that vital run column in this game. Leading the way for the Patriots at the start was Toronto Blue Jays' 'A' leaguer Shane Benson who has now made one of the most effective AMLB debuts one could imagine. Only a Brad Dutton single in the first inning would blemish a "perfect" three innings to get this pressure-packed game underway in fine style for New South Wales... need we say more!

19yo Gavin Dlouhy was next to take the ball for the light blues after cutting his teeth with the Australian Provincials at Claxton Shield 2007 and then in his rookie professional season with the New York Mets. Young Gavin allowed leadoff hits in both the fourth and fifth innings but, most importantly, he made sure that the "goose eggs" kept adding to the away half of the scoreboard. The fourth inning was the only time that Queensland got a runner to third base after he delivered a wild pitch, but he responded in terrific fashion to have the dangerous Andrew Utting struck out "whiffing"!

Enter, centre stage, 21yo Todd Grattan for the moment of his baseball life! Ahem, how do you explain this folks? What about if we just emphasise the pure statistical fact that Todd faced the minimum of eleven batters, after Dlouhy got one out in the sixth, to close the game with two strike outs, a fly ball out and EIGHT precision ground ball outs? Yes, that's right, Todd Grattan did not allow one single batter to reach base while delivering 1-2-3 ground outs in the seventh and ninth innings. He may do plenty more in Australian 'big league' baseball, but he will do well to top this magic moment. 

Just to repeat it one more time, not just for effect, but also because they deserve it... SHANE BENSON, GAVIN DLOUHY and TODD GRATTAN combined for a terrific three-hit SHUTOUT in a game of tremendous importance. Did I happen to mention that this fabulous trio did not issue as much as one solitary walk in this game?... NONE!!! Caps off to you fellas!

No need to spend too much time on the offence in this game but let's just take a moment to consider the impact of NSW evergreen hitting machine 'Slugga' Kingman who rose to the MASSIVE occasion as he most often does to show all of the aspiring young stars how to get the job done. In such a non-offensive day, his 2-2 with a walk was, in context, not unlike his 1998 ABL MVP season when he batted a CRAZY .487... you've gotta love this guy!! Credit also to young Patrick Maat whose team leading 11th RBI came at the most vital of times. Well performed Shannon Pender and Gavin Fingleson were the other safe hitters, while we don't overlook Mitch Dening's master class on hitting when it counted most in this game. 

In this case we are not going to even attempt to deride Queensland's dearth of safe hits, with only the very well-performed names of Sutherland, Dutton and Linger troubling the statisticians. 

This is one of those games where, really, neither team truly deserved to lose and, while the Queenslanders cannot be popping the champagne corks tonight, they must not be too hard on themselves. On the other hand, the NSW boys do deserve their opportunity to celebrate a tense and exciting series win. So, the New South Wales Patriots have now earned the right to take on the West Australians (or the Perth Heat as they prefer) for the National Championship. 

TRISTAN CRAWFORD, SHANE BENSON, GAVIN DLOUHY and TODD GRATTAN... you've made this a memorable game!

I don't think that this is cause enough to take anything away from the New South Wales Patriots who could only deal with the opponents that confronted them, and they did this in most impressive style.

To start with the Queensland team, who have finished their campaign, it does need to be said that these guys did "inflate" some of their statistics during that blowout series against the flagging Australian Provincials. However, this does not change the fact that the stars will usually shine brightest. David Sutherland may have led the way with his mighty .442 batting average and we take nothing at all away from him, but Brett Roneberg's .406 average with team highs .719 for slugging and .500 for on base percentage place him at the top of our list. We can only wonder what might have been for him in the end if he had not started this series with an ankle strain that might have prevented some from participating... not, we hasten to add, Brett Roneberg who always gives everything he can for Australian baseball.

Little known (to us?) James Linger put his name up in fluorescent lights with his .393 from a few less at bats, while emerging Philadelphia Phillies' pro Joel Naughton underlined his long-held potential with a .316 average to sneak ahead of former Helms Award winner Brad Dutton who clearly knows how to hit a baseball. I don't want to over-emphasise Keiran Bradford's 2-3 as an AMLB rookie, but he did do it... while we take more notice of Daniel Lamb-Hunt's promising 4-10. 

Pitching wise, Queensland have had several sterling contributors with regular starters Chris Mowday (2-0, 1.17ERA), Tristan Crawford (2-1, 1.96ERA) and Drew Naylor (1-0, 3.60ERA) all doing terrific jobs for the Rams. Experienced P.J Bevis led the way for their relievers, while Simon Morriss and John Veitch both pitched several more innings than him.

We will say a lot more about the NSW lads once their Claxton Shield 2008 has concluded but, what does already strike 'Flintoff & Dunn' is the fact that they have produced such tremendous young talent to be dominated by Mitch Dening who really knows how to handle a bat with his brilliant .409 batting average. However, he might have to share top billing with young Mets' catching prospect Pat Maat who batted a great .361 plus his MONSTER eleven RBI's. Former "unlucky pro" Tim Auty has been no less than brilliant with .360 from a team-high 50 at bats, while Tim Atherton is their only other hitter to stand above the .300 plateau with an excellent .357 from fewer at bats. We will not say too much about former Minnesota pro Michael Lysaught here, but we haven't overlooked his .408 on base percentage, or his five stolen bases. 

In our view, Tim Cox will probably contest the Golden Arm Award with a couple of West Aussies during the upcoming Grand Final Series. His 3-0, 1.00ERA record is nothing short of MAGNIFICENT, while his quality bullpen mate Matthew Bennett has not been close to "chopped liver" with his 2-1, 2.82ERA as a regular starting pitcher. Where New South Wales may claim an advantage over most is the incredible depth of their bullpen that currently includes Benson, Tippett, Dlouhy, Grattan, Williams and Harris as their major star performers.

Our now standard tribute to umpires Paul HYAM, Bob CRAWFORD, Trent THOMAS and Matt PEARSON. 

QUEENSLAND SWEEPS ACT SERIES 3-0 v AP
QLD 3-0 AP;  11-1,  12-1,  16-5

We wouldn't hold out too much hope for the Provincials in this set with their diminished pitching depth most unlikely to tame the offensive strength of the Queenslanders... it could get ugly?

Queensland's Tristan Crawford may be on the verge of cracking the major leagues when he returns to the USA after reaching 'AAA' with the Minnesota Twins during 2007. He will certainly carry a significant confidence boost from his outstanding performances in Claxton Shield 2008 so far. Off the back of his brilliant win against NSW last weekend, Tristan didn't really give the Provincials much of a look-in... yes, even though they had tied the game 1-0 after four innings. In fact, after allowing his only run in the fourth, Crawford induced a double-play to end the inning and he then went on to dispose of the next nine outs in succession. It would be reasonable to suggest that he overmatched the hitters today and the seven inning "mercy rule" victory enabled him to go the distance with relative ease.  

Young Atlanta Braves rookie pro Steve Kent once again distinguished himself as he did his best to match it toe-to-toe with Crawford. Only a Brett Roneberg RBI double punished him on the scoreboard in the first inning until he visibly tired in the fifth inning to allow four of his game total of six hits. Once again Kent struck out more than one per inning and he shapes as a genuine star when his body is fully mature... keep an eye on this bloke!

Queensland's future Boston Red Sox professional Justin Erasmus was asked to stem the flow after his home state had already added four runs with one out in the fifth and he did this in the best possible style with a ground ball double-play. Justin then nailed the first two outs to start the sixth, but this was as good as it was to get for him when four hits and a walk followed to cost him three runs in the sixth. He then struck out the first batter in the seventh before two hits and a walk chased him from the mound to leave the bases loaded for Victorian debutant Cable Hogben. Hogben allowed just one hit while securing the final two outs for his team, but Steven Greer's double cashed in all three of Erasmus' base runners. 

Previously unknown Greer capped a fine personal game that yielded 2-3 with a walk and those three game-ending RBI's. Regular stars Brad Dutton hammered three hits and Brett Roneberg two, while each supplied two runs batted in. Surprise packet James Linger equalled the output of his two illustrious team mates with four-RBI's from his very useful 2-5.

Such was the dominance of Tristan Crawford that he allowed only five safe hits for the game and he spread them among five different Provincial players. Only Sam Brown managed to put a run on the home half of the scoreboard with his 1-2. 

Some would take it on first impression as just another predictable win for the Queensland team against a relatively undermanned Australian Provincial team. However, this would over-simplify a game where the 'YAPS' once again battled manfully until they ran out of pitching experience at the end. Steve Kent went as deep as he could at this stage of his development, but it was a heap to ask of rookies Erasmus and Hogben to shackle the rampant Rams after that.

Unfortunately, our Sydney based correspondent seems to be getting close to the mark when he suggested that this series "could get ugly". From our distance, it does look very much like those traditionally gallant Australian Provincials have finally started to unravel under the pressure of trying to battle with dwindling resources against vastly superior opposition. You would have to suggest that their necessity to play four-plus games over three days had taken more toll on them than their talent-deep opponents from Australia's magnificent north-east. 

It is an unusual fact that Australian cricket has struggled to find a top class all-rounder for many years, yet Australian baseball seems to find occasional gems who can both pitch and hit, even though this is not considered a valuable thing as players reach higher levels and they are encouraged to specialise in one or the other. One really good example of this is young NSW prodigy Michael Lennox who is so talented at both disciplines that we were told he signed professionally with the Boston Red Sox as a pitcher, but we now learn that he is projected as an everyday 'Bosox' player?

On the evidence of this 2008 Claxton Shield, Lennox would appear to be headed for a terrific career as a hitter, but we also think that the kid can pitch. Sure, he would have liked to have limited his six hits and three walks from four innings pitched as AP's starter today, but how many pitchers have struggled after seeing his team mates boot FOUR errors over his first three innings? The fact of this matter is that Lennox had to endure throwing many more pitches and facing many more batters than he should have had his team's defence done the job that is expected at this level of baseball. It is hard enough to pitch to a star-studded lineup like the Rams without gifting them extra opportunities... enough said about this!

I'm not going to add any salt to the wounds of barely 18yo Luke Wilkins, whose statistics tell a sad enough tale from this game, but he might take some solace from the fact that he ran into a high quality opposition who have had LOADS of batting practice recently. In this same perspective, Victorian teenager Cable Hogben can feel pretty darn good about his late-inning outing today following his equally effective debut yesterday. 

Rising Philadelphia Phillies professional Drew Naylor didn't pass up the opportunity to strut his stuff again on the biggest Australian stage and he further enhanced his glowing reputation with another polished display. Not unlike his opposing starter today, Michael Lennox, Naylor had to work around two first inning errors in what was a fairly shaky start. But, in a very positive sign for an aspiring pitcher, Naylor got stronger as the game progressed and he really looked the goods!

By the time that Drew Naylor had pitched the stuffing out of the poor young Provincials, it wasn't too difficult for his established team mate John Veitch to add another brilliant short chapter to his AMLB scrapbook. In one of the more dominant displays of relief pitching, 'JV' mowed down the last six Provincial batters in sweet succession with just six pitches in the sixth inning and only a handful more in the seventh before the white flag was waved by the punch-drunk "green guys". As we have noted before, the seven-inning "mercy rule" was invented for games like this... thank goodness!!

David Sutherland and Joel Naughton were the chief benefactors among the Queensland batters with a trifecta of hits in this game, while Andrew Utting and the increasingly noticeable Matt Studeman each gathered two knocks. In the best interests of space and time, I'm going to rattle off the Rams' RBI's in the same way that they report the goals in AFL football; Baker 2, Bylett 2, Dutton 2, Naughton 1, Studeman 1, Utting 1, Nilsson 1... that's all folks!

Former San Diego Padres pro hitter Tom Vincent was almost on the verge of becoming a "forgotten man" of AMLB, even though he has been a really outstanding performer up until his 2007 campaign with the Provincials but, consider this, he is still batting a career .313 for 'AP' even after slumping to an uncharacteristic .167 last year... get the picture? In our view it was good to see Tom back in business with his 2-3 in this game, while Day, Yates and Brooks were the only other Aussie Provincials to put the ball in play against the might of the Queensland pitching in this game.

Well, um... it would seem from this distance, and via our increasingly disinterested correspondent from Sydney, that the white flag has been waved in this series, even though the admirable spirit of the Australian Provincials coaching staff will not allow the proverbial towel to be thrown into the ring. At the time of writing we already know the result of the last game but, even if we hadn't, we would still be betting pretty heavily on a Queensland blowout!

From memory, Cinderella had a couple of ugly sisters and I just can't help but feeling that we have sighted them over the past couple of days in this series... what was close to embarrassing yesterday almost turned into a baseball circus today! I can almost hear my good mate and former Melbourne Bushrangers (remember them?) manager Dan McConnon breaking out with that all too familiar "carousel music" that he uses to describe a baseball farce!! 

Anyway, for the purpose of trying to produce a decent game report, 'Flintoff & Dunn' will try to overlook the situation and to concentrate on the player performances that comprised this game that I will stop short of calling a contest. And, sorry subscribers, please don't try to sell us the idea that the Provincials may have been a realistic chance of winning having led 3-1 after the first inning, the Queensland Rams were doing only what they literally HAD to do to win!

What was beneficial for the Queensland team was the fact that some of their lesser named pitchers gained some more most valuable experiencee at this level. Matt Timms should have really enjoyed this opportunity to pitch in a lower-pressure environment and he certainly didn't pass on the exposure with by far his best performance in AMLB so far. In fact, the future Atlanta Braves' pitcher should have gained a fair bit from his brilliant three inning start that allowed only three hits against his five strike outs. Business is definitely looking UP for Matt Timms! 

Timms would be entitled to complain that the win in this game was virtually handed to Simon Morriss, who has already impressed us during Claxton Shield 2008. According to our "spy" Morriss pitched a bit like a man in a hurry after he realised that his team was in no danger of losing and his four innings of middle-relief were pretty good, even if he did pinch the WIN from team mate Matt Timms... does anyone else care about this?... we guess not!!

Mopping up the complete lack of forehead perspiration for the Rams bullpen would be David Holland who didn't make much fuss, as he would have preferred... but heh!, why add insult to injury by replacing Holland with former Claxton Shield Championship MVP and professional 'AAA' star P.J Bevis for the ninth inning? Unless 'PJ' felt some need to improve his stats, or the Queensland management weren't too confident about their 11-run lead, we just can't work out why Holland couldn't have completed the job? Look, we don't know the "ins and outs" so it may be unfair to criticise.

Shifting quickly to the Provincials' pitching, we know absolutely nothing about their starter A. Home who found himself thrust into a cauldron of activity in his Claxton Shield debut. Home could not claim any genuine heroics in this game, but then not everything that happened was his fault. He was haunted by a couple of errors, but we have had no reports about whether the glut of stolen bases were his problem or due to defensive issues? In any case, Home walked too many and former Montreal Expos pro Aaron Thorne wasn't quite up to the hard task of stopping the bleeding today. 

Young Ryan Griffin hasn't had too much fun at this level so far, but we want to leave him with a positive outlook on AMLB by concentrating on the positives of his efforts today. Eight hits from four and one-third innings doesn't sound too good, does it?... but when you walk none and allow only two runs to a runaway team, with three strike outs, it does give an indication of a pitcher who might yet have more to offer at this level... OK, call us softies if you like?! Former LA Angels professional Josh Davies might feel a bit the same, and we don't want to discourage a good kid, but we reckon he might still be a better left-side infielder than he is a pitcher... but, we are by no means experts!

Obviously 'Flintoff & Dunn" will have to research more about James Linger who, rather tragically, failed to hit in one of his six at bats for a disappointing 5-6 plus a RBI... are you kidding me? Former Helms Award winner Brad Dutton keeps on padding his terrific stats with another 3-5 with two RBI's, while former Dodgers' pro David Sutherland dined out once again in Australia's big league with his "ordinary" 2-4 that registered only FIVE RBI's... phew, hard work Dave! Another fresh face for 'Flintoff & Dunn' is Daniel Lamb-Hunt who provided a nice 2-5 with three 'ribbies' in this game and, while we are not generally in love with "hyphens", we will keep a watchful eye on him. It's no longer huge news that Andy Utting, a former Melbourne Reds and Baltimore Orioles youngster, batted 2-4. 

What did capture our attention, in a game of little consequence, was that the most famous name in Australian baseball NILSSON, Jay in this case, somehow found himself behind the dish, trying to emulate his most famous uncle Dave with his 1-2 and two-RBI's. The Nilsson family have very little to prove when it comes to Australian baseball, but we wonder if young Jay might yet complete the picture by pitching like his illustrious Hall-Of-Fame father Bob? Don't bet against it! 

Another guy we know very little about is Provincials' eye-catching outfielder David Kandilas who refused to go quietly for the "green machine" today with his self-explanatory 3-4 and two RBI's that indicates the probability that he is not out of depth in Australian baseball's deepest of oceans. It may not have counted for a lot, apart from to his nearest and dearest, but the well-performed Sam Brown added the 'YAPS' only other run batted in.

The famous Claxton Shield has always provided the very toughest of opposition for every team in every game, but we can't avoid our overriding belief that things got a little easier for both NSW and Queensland this year. Be that as it may, you can't take anything away from Queensland for playing ruthlessly, especially given the fact that New South Wales won one more game against the Provincials than Queensland did. The very fact that this is unimportant is good news for the upcoming showdown for the Eastern Division Championship!

Anyway, the upshot of this was a Provincial team that really found the going tough trying to battle such superior opposition over twelve games... any element of surprise they may have enjoyed previously was very much watered down and the powerful New South Wales and Queensland teams really dined out on their lack of quality pitching depth.

We'll start with a summary of the Provincials because they have now finished their commitments for 2008. That multi-talented lad Michael Lennox topped the pops for Provincial batters with more than 20 at bats via his excellent .333 average, especially considering that he was also asked to dilute his focus with some starting pitching assignments. 'AP' rookies Sam Brown (.308), Ben Day (.286) and Josh Parker (.268) were next on the list, just to verify the validity of providing an opportunity for new players to compete at this level. Angus Roeger (.417), David Kandilas (.385) and James Yates (.313) also showed plenty of promise from more limited plate appearances. One of their few "veterans" Michael Collins would not be too excited about his .270 average, but his .400 slugging percentage was pretty good again. 

Apart from their outstanding starter Steve Kent with his 0-2, 3.50ERA, there really wasn't much to say about the Provincials' pitching who obviously found the power-laden hitters of the Rams and Patriots hard to tame. Best of the rest from their bullpen would be Ryan Griffin who seemed to be getting better as the competition progressed.

For the Rams, David Sutherland (.469) and Brett Roneberg (.435) are setting a blistering pace out on top of the averages, followed by Joel Naughton (.393), Andrew Utting (.333) and Brad Dutton (.313). James Linger could hardly hope to maintain his gaudy .563 from 16 at bats, while youngster Daniel Lamb-Hunt has batted .444 from nine at bats. Brett Roneberg has once again embellished his batting average with a mighty .870 slugging percentage.

Chris Mowday with 1-0, 1.59ERA and Tristan Crawford with 2-0, 2.40ERA are setting an extremely high standard among all Claxton Shield starting pitchers, while Drew Naylor (1-0, 4.09ERA) appears to be gathering momentum lately. Little known Simon Morriss is easily leading a richly talented Queensland relief corps with his 2-0, 1.12ERA from eight innings.

Our now standard tribute to umpires Trent THOMAS, Paul HYHAM, Matt PEARSON and Greg KENT.

RAMS PREVAIL 2-1 AFTER SERIES RESUMPTION!
QLD 2-1 AP;  9-4,  6-14,  7-3

We can't offer anything significant in terms of team news, but we fully expect the Australian Provincials to break their "duck" with only three more innings to defend their carry-over 7-0 lead in Game Two. However, It might not be enough for them to take the series.

Come on fellas, get fair dinkum… unless the catcher had to call for a snorkel, the pitcher needed an umbrella and there was lightning crackling along the cyclone wire fence, surely you wouldn’t call this game quits in the fifth inning? If I were an Australian Provincial player or manager trying to make the most of my seven run lead, they would have to carry me kicking and screaming from the diamond! Seriously, what a crying shame that Queensland’s horrendous storms did not clear sufficiently to allow this series to progress normally. The schedule had already been delayed a by a couple of days, but their attempt to play catch-up has now also been thwarted by another downpour.

What makes this particularly disappointing for the Australian Provincial team is that they seemed well on their way to their first victory for Claxton 2008 and the timing could hardly have been more frustrating for them. We are assuming here that the established rule will apply whereby five completed innings are required to classify it as “a game”?

If not, the Provincials will have unfortunately “wasted” another outstanding start from their 18yo Atlanta Braves professional Steve Kent who had sailed through four innings and he looked capable of going deep into the game, if required. Kent had struck out five during his impressive outing and the efficiency of his pitching was in stark contrast to a nightmare performance from the Queensland throwers on this day.

Young Atlanta Braves' signing Matt Timms was thrown to the wolves for his first AMLB start after pitching a couple of games in relief for the Provincials at Claxton 2007 in Perth. After a promising first inning, things just fell apart for Timms and the Rams in a horror second inning when seven green shirts crossed the home plate to score. Timms allowed two hits, two walks and hit batter to set the ball rolling out of control, but his own additional error made things worse.

By the time he was relieved by San Diego Padres rookie league pro Clint Naylor he had just walked the second and third runs across the plate. Naylor quickly joined the charity fund by walking across another, before allowing three more runs, even though two of those scored on ground out plays. Three hits, four walks and a hit batter combined to enable the Aussie Provincials to post a rare seven-spot for them. Naylor managed to pitch a scoreless third inning before handing over to 22yo lefty David Holland who walked the tightrope without allowing a run in the fourth or fifth, so far!

Unheralded Sam Brown plundered 3-3 with a RBI in this game, while seasoned Victorians Tristan McDonald and Andrew McKenzie both contributed two knocks and a RBI each, as did the impressive converted Victorian softballer James Brooks. In fact, seven different ‘AP’ hitters contributed RBI’s, but some of those were via bases loaded walks.

Former LA Dodgers pro David Sutherland simply continues to build upon his excellent Claxton Shield record with two of the Rams total of three hits in this shortened contest. It now remains to be seen whether the result of this game, or the player’s statistics, are to become part of Claxton Shield history, or simply ignored as if the game never happened? 

GAME CONTINUATION... with two out and two runners on in the top of the fifth inning:

It would be a pretty tough gig for both teams to pick up the threads of a game that was postponed from 6 January and transported from Brisbane's Redlands to Narrabundah in the ACT after yet more rain halted this game with the Aussie Provincials holding a 7-0 lead with two out in the top of the fifth inning. If there are to be any future Claxton Shields after 2008, then the ruling committee has created an interesting precedent here by starting the game from its point of interruption, instead of the more traditional decision to replay the game in its entirety... even though that would seem to be very harsh on the Provincials under these circumstances. Are we allowed to wonder whether the same decision may have been made if it was Queensland leading the Provincials by seven runs?... let's not go there!

Clearly finding the conditions toughest were the re-starting pitchers for both teams. Ever reliable and usually effective Cameron Hardy finished the game for 'AP' and, knowing what a team guy he is, he won't be too frustrated by the fact that his personal statistics suffered while enjoying a team victory. Former San Diego Padres' professional Riki Paewai would not have enjoyed the experience of allowing two hits and three walks while securing only one out... OUCH! On a far more positive note, Paewai's exit enabled unknown Ram, Aaron Luchterhand, to make a quite impressive AMLB pitching debut. Young Aaron induced a couple of neat ground ball double-plays to work around a couple of errors in a mature effort. 

Of those already mentioned before the postponement, Queensland's David Sutherland added a couple more hits in a wrecking-ball performance of 4-4 with two-RBI's, while Andy Utting added a hit and a walk. Four new names, including a couple of "hyphens", were among the offensive stars after the resumption. For the Provincials Ben Day impressed again with another hit and a walk, while James Stanton-Cooke produced two RBI's via a bases-loaded walk and a sac-fly. Previously unknown James Linger took his chance to get a walk and a hit, while Daniel Lamb-Hunt was the stand out with two crunching doubles, including a RBI, from his two at bats... that's a 2.000 slugging percentage folks! 

Almost forgotten in the context of the postponed game was that this result has levelled this series and, depending upon future results in the Eastern Division, it might yet have some influence on the wash-up of the division, but we doubt it! 

This will sound like the proverbial "broken record" to Australian Provincial supporters, but there can be no avoiding the self-evident fact that the 'YAPS' (Young Aussie Professionals) led this deciding game in the series 1-0 after four innings of the shortened seven inning contest. Anyone who has experienced these seven inning (or two hour) baseball games will attest how quickly the result can be decided... and, it's a very good thing to play these games from IN FRONT!

Yet, full credit to the pure offensive force of the Rams who didn't need to panic because they had the self-belief to pile on seven runs in the fifth and the sixth innings to put this game out of sight. Queensland starter Chris Mowday had his second straight terrific start, except that this time he collected a well deserved win with a seven inning "complete game" that yielded only two earned runs... he may well contend for the Golden Arm Award if he can continue in this vein. 

For the Provincials, it must be said that veteran "knuckler" Phil Brassington has done his best to emulate Boston Red Sox favourite Tim Wakefield, but his performances have not really come close to matching the effectiveness of the 'Bosox' longest serving current player. We are not going to knock 'Brasso' for this, but the undoubted killer for all knuckleballers is the ability to throw strikes in conditions that don't always suit the fluttering baseball, or impress the umpire. I haven't heard any suggestion that the "plate guys" have been harsh on Phil Brassington, but we can't help wondering how many of his type they have seen... and whether they can adjust to calling pitches that might literally "drop" into the strike zone?

Anyway, on the pure face of the statistics, Brassington has not commanded the strike zone with the knuckleball anywhere near often enough and, after walking far too many, he inevitably finds that he has no option but to spot a few strikes and these are usually "cannon fodder" for hitters at this level... Phil Brassington will not need 'Flintoff & Dunn' to explain this! Little known Ryan Griffin did an excellent job to put the lid on a horrible fifth inning for the Provincials while dealing with two errors from his defence. Former Minnesota Twins' pitcher Nathan Crawford wasn't overly effective on this occasion against the much bigger guns from his home state of Queensland.

It becomes almost redundant to mention that Brett Roneberg was at the forefront of the offence for his team... much like SA's Ben Wigmore of more recent times, Roneberg has been dominating our headlines for so long that we might forget how relatively young he still is! Oh well, it was just another 2-3 with two-RBI day for this near 29yo bloke. I might take this opportunity to pay a special tribute to Roneberg, who may have already reached the major leagues if not for untimely injuries, but this is not what we like most about him. What 'Flintoff & Dunn' admire so much about Brett is that, much like team mate Trent Durrington, he very rarely fails to support Australian national teams and, especially, our biggest national competition that is currently the Claxton Shield. How can you possibly quantify just how much this might mean to our young and aspiring baseballers of the future?... in any case, Brett Roneberg has been a credit to himself throughout his career!

Joel Naughton was not too far behind today with his 2-3 plus a RBI, while the very familiar names of Andrew Utting (2RBI's) and David Sutherland were the other run producers, plus effective newcomer Matt Studeman with a 'ribbie'.

We will find out the Christian name of J.Yates who connected for 2-4 with a debut "steak", along with the equally little-known David Kandalis who batted 1-3 with a RBI. The no-longer unknown Victorian James Brooks also supplied a run.

It all mattered little in the end as the vastly superior Queensland outfit ran away into the distance to make sure that there was no series upset. The 2-1 series victory for the Rams would not have much more consequence for them other than to ensure reasonable parity with New South Wales in the race for the Eastern Division title. The Australian Provincial team might be entitled to celebrate their first, and only, win in Claxton '08... they may have expected more, but it's not too bad!

QUEENSLAND RECOVERS FOR 2-1 EDGE v NSW!
QLD 2-1 NSW;  4-5,  4-3,  5-4

Thankfully the saturated south of Queensland has finally enjoyed JUST enough respite from the torrential rains to allow this series to get underway at Redlands. We can hardly wait to see what might unfold here.

For the Patriots, who have double-swept the Provincials already, they will have to go into battle without very significant non-travellers Trent Oeltjen and Brad Thomas. Minnesota Twins' impressive rookie league player Jarrad Eacott enjoyed a fine debut pro season in 2007 and he will do his best to cover the loss of former major leaguer Thomas. It is far too much to ask AMLB rookie Rowan Standish to replace possible future major leaguer Trent Oeltjen.

The Rams should be bolstered by recent major league pitcher Phil Stockman and former 'AAA' pitcher P.J Bevis, while we don't know anything much about Simon Morriss. Trent Baker and Danny Dunsdon are new names for 'Flintoff & Dunn'. 

One thing we do subscribe to is that, when contests of this type are just too hard to call, we will have to give the marginal edge to the home team. Chances are that the team that executes better will prevail... you don't say!!

The opening game of the blockbuster clash between Queensland and the visiting New South Welshman virtually lived up to its billing as a tough, counter-punching contest full of tension and fluctuating fortunes. Both starting pitchers, Matt Bennett for New South, and Chris Mowday for the hosts, were terrific apart from one inning where they both did well to limit the damage to two runs. The final twist in the game was when Patriots' designated hitter Trent D'Antonio capitalised on a pair of leadoff walks in the eighth by silencing the home fans with a three run "bomb" to right field... say AMEN!

To start with the ultimate winners, Matthew Bennett was very good for NSW, apart from the fourth inning when he was somehow able to contain the Rams to just two runs after four successive singles found him with one run scored and NONE out in what might have been a much worse situation for his team. Boston Red Sox professional Tim Cox has been as close to "lights out" as anyone in Claxton 2008 so far, but he was a little closer to human in this game. Tim did strike out another four from the same number of innings, but he also allowed a run on a wild pitch in the seventh for his team to trail in the game 4-2. D'Antonio's three-run homer wrested the win for Cox and for his New South Wales team. 

For Queensland former Toronto, Oakland and Chicago Cubs 'A' league pitcher Chris Mowday was quite brilliant. Only an error in the second, a single in the fourth and a walk in the fifth separated his last EIGHTEEN OUTS from the end of the second to the conclusion of his seven inning start. Unfortunately, two errors conspired with three singles for two runs in the second stanza, only one of which was slated against him. Mowday would have been a worthy winner!

Future Atlanta Brave Matt Timms would not like us to dwell too long on the dual walks he issued to lead off the eighth in relief of Chris Mowday. Timms was understandably lifted for Mark Holland who was on the verge of becoming a hero after securing the next two outs, but disaster was only a blink away when Trent D'Antonio blasted his game-winning homer. Experienced John Veitch nailed down the ninth with a double-play, but the Patriots' horse had well and truly bolted!

Don't look past the big game-winning three-RBI homer by Trent D'Antonio as the HUGE hero for New South Wales in this game, while the Queensland faithful will probably see him as a "pirate"! Young tyro Pat Maat scored the other RBI for NSW in this game to punctuate his 1-3 that included a walk. The greenest of evergreens Brendan Kingman walked twice!

Two of the future (and present) stars of Queensland baseball David Sutherland and Jay Nilsson were the only two-hitters for the 'Banana Benders' in this game. Previously unknown Matt Studeman was the leading run producer for the Rams with two RBI's, one from a solo home run over left field in the second and another from an unselfish ground out RBI. One of our newest Hall-Of-Famers, Brett Roneberg, just cleared his pipes with 1-3 and a walk. 

Our correspondent, who is an unashamed New South Welshman, was bubbling about D'Antonio's dramatic homer that snatched this game... and we can't blame him! What was more evident to us as an overview of this game was that it must have been an enthralling game in the best traditions of these great rivals. Chris Mowday can consider himself pretty unfortunate that his bullpen could not nail down a meritorious victory for him on this occasion.

The Queensland Rams were obviously in no mood to "muck around" in the second game of this series after NSW snatched the opener from their grasp. Just to make sure that they did no favours to 'those Cockroaches' from the south, they rolled out the heaviest of their heavy artillery in this game. 

Recent 'AAA' pitcher Tristan Crawford got the ball rolling for them defensively with perhaps the finest start of his career on Australian soil including seven strike outs and only one earned run from his high-quality seven innings start. Crawford can take a bow as our MVP from this game. Then, even though the strong NSW offence battled hard to get back into the game late, the Rams kept sending the hand grenades in the form of seasoned John Veitch, who struggled. However, Veitch was followed by former 'AAA' guy P.J Bevis and recent major leaguer Phil Stockman who allowed a run, but collected a save. 

Queensland's heavy artillery was not limited to pitching as a couple of AROOS team mates also did the scoring damage for them in this game. Former Helms Award winner Brett Roneberg lifted another gear with his game opening two-RBI home run over the centrefield fence and another RBI double in the sixth inning... what a consistent star this guy is! Fellow Melbourne born Queenslander, Andrew Utting, supplied the other run via his 1-3 and a walk. Another former Helms Award winner Brad Dutton walked no less than three times and he also enjoyed crossing the plate twice for the Rams. 

It might irritate the New South Wales team to realise that they actually out-hit Queensland by the wide margin of 10-3 in this game, but eight walks issued compared with two would start to explain their predicament. Young Minnesota Twins' rookie Jarrad Eacott was pretty good for three innings by allowing only one run, but he needed six big strikeouts to almost cancel out his too many six free passes! Vaughan Harris continues to build upon his underrated career after pitching the last five innings of the game and he would have been a hero for the Patriots if they had snatched the victory. 

Newcomer Rowan Standish matched the ever-present Tim Auty with 2-4 and a 'ribbie' each for the Pats, while steadily improving former pro Michael Lysaught also batted 2-4 in this game. Marvellous veteran Gavin Fingleson drove in the other run for NSW, while one of his very few senior citizens 'Slugga' Kingman batted 1-3 plus a stroll down the first base line. Young star Mitch Dening may have cooled down a fraction in this series, but his stature was confirmed when Queensland called upon P.J Bevis just to get his out in the knife-edged eighth inning as the only batter he faced!

The levelled 1-1 series sets up a delicious decider in the vital third rubber later today and, given the tightest of one run results in each game so far, everything is primed for a typical grandstand finish to this series. The outcome might well go some way to deciding who will represent the Eastern Division in the Claxton Shield final.

Queensland's Drew Naylor has been a pitcher on the rise, both in AMLB and in the US professional leagues with the Philadelphia Phillies where his amazingly good strike out versus walk ratio had everyone taking notice during 2007. His performance in this vital Claxton Shield game for the Rams may have been another highlight, had it not been for one factor... young NSW powerhouse slugger Patrick Maat who took him deep for two home runs, costing him all four of the runs he allowed.

New York Mets' rookie league catcher Maat had already given us more than a gentle hint of his raw power with a 2007 Claxton Shield leading three long balls for the Australian Provincials and he has been a very good run producer this year for the New South Wales team. Maat was not about to let his professional catching comrade Trent D'Antinio grab all the headlines when he matched his Game One three run homer with one of his own in the second inning of this game, then he added another one for good measure in the fourth inning today. Of course neither was nearly as dramatic as D'Antonio's big game breaker on opening night, but you can only take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves.

To get the NSW offence quickly out of the way, it was really a Pat Maat show with his three run bomb over left field in the second, his solo shot to right field in the fourth and his leadoff single in the seventh that accounted for three of the Patriots paltry five hits in a game that was largely dominated by the pitching of the maroons. Only two of the genuine batting stars for New South, grand-master Brendan Kingman and rising star Mitch Dening, were able to put the ball in play today. 

New face Simon Morriss not only collected the win in this game, but he really captured the attention of those at the game with a commanding display of effective ground-ball dominated pitching. Morriss allowed only one hit and one walk, while facing just one more than the minimum number of batters over his tremendous four innings of long-middle relief. He is a guy that we will be hoping to see plenty more of now that he has broken his AMLB ice. Seasoned closer P.J Bevis delivered the last rights to the New South Wales team who could not find  a way to bridge Queensland's one run lead that they only secured in the eighth after battling a tied 4-4 ballgame from the fourth inning onward.

The Rams simply refused to lie down after Pat Maat had dug them a three-run hole with his first home run in the top of the second. New South Wales may have played a new ace with Maat, but the Rams had a few trumps of their own to counter with when it came their turn to bat. The pure quality of AROOS star Brett Roneberg shone through again with his 2-3 and a walk, that included a home run to centrefield in the third inning and a vital igniting single that enabled him to score the winning run in the eighth... it never surprises when the cream rises to the top!

Former LA Dodgers' pro David Sutherland usually seems to bring his best hitting to the Claxton Shield and he wasn't far behind Roneberg today with his 2-3 that included a single, a "big fly" over right field in the fourth and an intentional base on balls in the eighth. Surprise packet Matt Studeman also imposed himself again at this level with his 2-4 that comprised two separate RBI singles, one in the second inning, and then the BIG game winner in the eighth... keep an eye on him!

One time Melbourne Reds' favourite Andy Utting also batted 2-4 in this game, while Danny Dunsdon delivered one of those all-important Queensland RBI's via a sacrifice fly in the second inning. 

I won't disappoint our temporarily absent Hall-Of-Famer Simon Eissens who insisted that we turn our focus away from his "longevity" (read age!) this year, by finding someone new to pick on. Well Simon, how about NSW 2007 Rookie of the Year David Rosser who will turn 40yo (late) next year... few players have thrown more baseballs than Rosser before making his Australian big league debut. 'Grandpappy' Rosser has been an excellent starter for NSW up to this point, but he didn't last too long in this game after allowing three runs over three innings while throwing from his walking-frame... happy now Simon?... we'll be waiting for you if/when you reappear next season mate!

Matthew Williams was typically excellent for the Patriots, working through 4.1 innings of long-middle relief with his fuss kept to a minimum by virtue of five nasty strike outs. We can only assume that Williams was bereft of fuel when he was asked to hand the ball to Andrew Cook with the game locked at 4-4 and two outs to nail down in the eighth. Unfortunately, Cook was to be the victim of a Rams' uprising from the heart of their batting order when hits to Roneberg and Utting were compounded by a passed ball that dictated an intentional walk to Sutherland. It is history now that Cook was saddled with another soul-shattering loss on a Matt Studeman RBI. 

It completed a VERY valuable comeback for Queensland, not only in this game, but also in the series after losing on opening night. They have recovered to enjoy the 2-1 series victory that they would have expected at home.

With their washout of games so far, the Queensland team have now enjoyed their first full series hit-out and it hasn't taken long for the cream of their batting to rise to the top. As he so often does when the stakes are highest, Brett Roneberg saved some of his best for the Patriots to raise his average to .417 with a gaudy 1.000 slugging percentage and a .563 on base percentage. The Rams other consistent 'big boppas' David Sutherland (.357) and Andrew Utting (.333) are also shining through, while Joel Naughton (.364) is just ahead of them even though he missed on game in this series. Chris Mowday stands like a colossus with his 0.90ERA from two starts, even though he is yet to nail down a win, while little known (to us?) Simon Morriss is unblemished after his 4.0 innings outing in Game 3 of this series. Tristan Crawford has also been pretty good so far and he shapes to be a major factor for the Rams as the importance of games increases. 

Terrific young tyros Mitch Dening (.441) and Tim Auty (.400) cooled down just a wee bit in this series against the tougher pitching, but they still did enough to show what outstanding young batters they are, as did Tim Atherton whose average is still a healthy .357. The big "mover" in this series was Patrick Maat who lifted his average to a lofty .385, while his two home runs in Game 3 jumped him to the top of the NSW sluggers with .769. Michael Lysaught kept roughly the same level of consistency in this series to drop only .005 points to .313, while he also has seven walks and four stolen bases. Matthew Bennett has been easily the best of the NSW starters with his 2-0, 2.76ERA, while relievers Tim Cox (0.69ERA), Vaughan Harris (2.70ERA) and Matt Williams (1.23ERA) continue to star for the Patriots.

Our now standard tribute to umpires Mal MACKAY, Paul LATTA and Mark BRAMWELL.

PATRIOTS SWEEP PROVINCIALS AGAIN!
NSW 3-0 AP;  9-7,  9-3,  5-3

The Patriots would welcome the inclusion of three very big guns for this home series in the form of professional stars Brad Thomas along with the Trents... Oeltjen and D'Antonio. Former major league pitcher Brad Thomas will add a wealth of quality and experience in whatever role he is used, while Minnesota Twins 'AAA' outfielder Trent Oeltjen may be Australia's next major league player. Florida Marlins catcher Trent D'Antonio is also a young star on the rise after a terrific season with their Advanced-A team during 2007.

For the 'YAPS' (Young Aussie Professionals) Michael Lennox will be asked to play primarily as a pitcher in this series after batting superbly in the opening series of Claxton 2008. He was originally signed as a pitcher by the Boston Red Sox and we will look forward to seeing him pitch again here after his strong two innings cameo at Claxton 2007. Philadelphia Phillies signing Angus Roeger will be sorely missed after batting a tremendous .417 against the Patriots in Series One. Former Montreal Expos professional David Thorne should add to the Provincials pitching depth.

We always expect to see the Provincials give plenty of cheek but, sorry fellas, we just can't see past another New South Wales sweep in their first home series for Claxton 2008.

It would not take long for New South Wales fans to shift uncomfortably in their seats while witnessing their first home game of Claxton Shield 2008. Their veteran starter David Rosser has enjoyed a fine time in Claxton Shield competition so far, but he finally ran into some hot hitting in this series opener. He started shakily with a hit batter and two singles but, after securing two outs, he would be rocked to the foundations by a Michael Collins GRAND SLAM HOME RUN to left field. 

Rosser seemed to settle OK after that until the same Michael Collins lead off the fourth with a double and scored. However, he would be on the brink of a melt-down in the fifth when 'AP' sparked a two-out rally. Three successive hits would mix with an error and a wild pitch to saddle him with another two runs before he was asked to take an early shower for the first time in his brief but impressive Claxton Shield career. Nine hits and seven earned runs from his 4.2 innings would do some major damage to his very good career statistics at this level.

One guy whose career statistics are definitely heading in the right direction is the increasingly impressive Boston Red Sox professional Tim Cox who has proven to be an awesome stopper for the Patriots this year... and he was like a brand new bath-plug jammed into a rapidly draining bath in this game. His first act in this game was to battle the white-hot Michael Collins who he had struck out looking on a full-count to finish the fifth.

Just to show his class under pressure, 21yo Cox had to work around a leadoff hit and a walk in the seventh which he did with three successive strike outs... WOW!! Only a dropped third strike in the ninth inning preventing him from finishing this game with nine outs on the trot. I think we are looking at a young pitcher who could go a very long way here folks!

Yes subscribers, the Australian Provincials had snatched an immediate 4-0 lead in the first inning and they still led by a decisive 7-3 into the seventh inning. We are not going to attempt to guess which of the obvious answers is true out of the game turning based on poor Provincial pitching or superior NSW hitting... it was probably some of both! Veteran "knuckler" Phil Brassington made his third Game One start and he managed to keep his team in the game until things quickly fell apart for him in the fourth inning.

'Brasso' had looked capable of going deeper in this game than in his previous starts but, after a Tim Auty RBI single opened the Patriots' scoring in the third, he completely lost the ability to find the strike zone with two out in the fourth. A couple of leadoff hits and a passed ball cost him one run, but three successive walks on four, six and five pitches would see his day halted with a third run walked across the plate for a Trent Oeltjen RBI.

Seasoned Victorian and former Colorado Rockies professional pitcher Ross Hipke then did a very workmanlike job for the Provincials to stem the tide and maintain the lead for his team until he was, unfortunately, out of gas after 2.1 innings. One can only imagine better things for the Aussie Provincial team had Hipke been able to stretch out for maybe even one more scoreless inning... it was certainly a pivotal moment when he was replaced by Luke Wilkins in the seventh inning. 

Not in his worst nightmare would Wilkins have imagined the five successive hits, without an out, that were awaiting him in the seventh. An Auty single was followed by a Fingleson two-run homer, followed by a Kingman single, a Dening RBI triple and another RBI single by Atherton... young Luke would wake up in a cold sweat only to find out that this was the horrible reality of how rapidly the game had jolted from AP's grasp! Ryan Griffen did a nice job of tidying up the wreckage and he probably wished that he had been given an opportunity to work with a clean slate in this inning.

Former Montreal Expos (remember them?) pro David Thorne inherited a tied game from Griffen and he initially looked capable of working around a leadoff walk. After Tim Auty stole his way to second and then third base, he issued an intentional walk to hitting-machine Mitch Dening, only to load the bases by hitting Tim Atherton with a pitch. The man of the moment for NSW was maturing professional Trent D'Antonio who promptly delivered a clutch two-RBI single to effectively ice the game for the hosting Patriots who had Tim Cox on the mound to slam the door shut in the top of the last! 

19yo Boston Red Sox rookie Mitch Dening is setting a blistering pace so far in his second Claxton Shield campaign and his 4-4 today with a RBI was just another awesome display of class batting. Former pro Tim Auty continues his love affair with this competition with another 2-4 and RBI to match the performance of Minnesota twins signing Tim Atherton in this game. Ageless slugger Brendan Kingman nailed two hits, while his long-time team mate Gavin Fingleson supplied two runs via his seventh inning "big fly". Trent D'Antonio enjoyed a mighty three RBI game, while Trent Oeltjen walked to push one home. 

The prolific Michael Collins just keeps getting the job done for the Provincial team with his 2-4 that was punctuated by his "grand salami" in the first. Former promising pro Tom Vincent produced two hits for the game, along with converted softballer James Brooks. In fact, Brooks has already done enough in this competition so far to prove himself as a very legitimate baseballer, so we will leave off referring to his softball background right here... he can play!

Another win for the Patriots and just another hard-luck story for the Australian Provincials...

Our reporter at this game suggested that the Provincials were overpowered by the undoubted quality of the NSW offence, but this did come from a dedicated Patriots' supporter and it doesn't quite explain the skinny 11-10 advantage in the safe hits column. The Patriots did manage four extra base hits compared with AP's two, but the two Provincial errors were of little consequence in the outcome of the game. So where was it all decided folks? Expert US baseball commentators would quickly advise us that most big league games are decided by the one BIG inning and this game would be no exception. 

Boston Red Sox signing Michael Lennox has been one of the batting stars of the early going in Claxton 2008, but he ran very much hot and cold in his pitching start on this occasion. In three of his four innings Lennox faced the minimum number of batters in quite clinical fashion, but he found mighty big trouble in the second inning and again in the fifth before he was lifted. FIVE successive hits and a walk posted three runs on the Patriots half of the second inning scoreboard before a fielder's choice and a ground ball double-play added two more runs for a game-breaking five-spot!

He was finally relieved in the fifth after a couple of singles and a pair of stolen bases cost him two more runs. Maybe our NSW correspondent would have a fair point in the fact that Lennox was dealt with fairly harshly by some of the best hitters you could face in Claxton Shield competition, but then he would not be happy with his outcome of seven hits and seven runs from his 4.2 innings of work in this game. Stalwart Cameron Hardy was pretty good in middle relief until his former Provincial team mate Tim Atherton damaged a solid effort with his two RBI double in the seventh. Luke Wilkins survived yesterday's nightmare by pitching a neat ninth inning, just to prove how much baseball can change from day to day and it is a credit to his manager that he allowed him to get straight back onto the horse so quickly! 

The performance of Matthew Bennett would somewhat underline the reasons for winning and losing that we discussed earlier. Bennett's nine hits from his 6.1 innings start was not a whole lot more effective than his opposing starter Lennox, yet he was somehow able to limit the damage to two earned runs, compared with Lennox's seven... herein lies the ballgame folks! Also, making sure that New South Wales romped to an easy looking victory, was reliever Vaughan Harris who picked up where he left of from Claxton 2007 with another splendid relief display here. 

Two of the Patriots' "Tims" Atherton and Auty continue to have a marvellous time this year with 2-4 each, while former Minnesota professional Michael Lysaught is obviously a maturing player who has found his feet at this level with another 2-4 in this game. Atherton added to his RBI tally with a mighty three more today, while another powerful youngster Pat Maat trumped in with two RBI's. The usual suspects Kingman, Fingleson and Oeltjen would complete the production line. 

Of the players who had two hits for the Provincials in this game, I'm familiar with Mark Saunderson who already owns a .333 average from two Claxton Shield tours of duty, while I'm fast picking up on James Brooks who is rapidly growing in stature as an AMLB rookie. Sam Brown and Josh Parker are completely new faces for us but they are more than holding their own at this level so far with two more hits each. Brown produced one of the RBI's for the "green team", while experienced Victorian 'Maccas' Andrew McKenzie and Tristan McDonald both contributed one.

So, it looked for all money like another comprehensive win for the New South Wales "big dogs" but baseball, as we well know and love it, is a far more complex game than it can sometimes seem. The win is all that matters for the undefeated Patriots, while the Australian Provincial team will not be challenging for a Grand Final berth in 2008, as we predicted.

Here, our faithful subscribers, is just another example of how life is often so difficult for that ever gallant Australian Provincial team. In this game, like so many others, they held sway 3-1 until the bottom half of the sixth when things turned very obviously sour for the 'YAPS' (Young Aussie Professionals), not too long after18yo Atlanta Braves star Steve Kent was finally out of pitches. The fact of this matter is that, maturity aside, Kent might well have pitched the Provincials to another well earned victory... unfortunately, that is their prescribed lifestyle in Australia's biggest league. 

Ready to take full advantage of any presented opportunity would be the might and power of the NSW Patriots offence that is a potent mixture of superstar veterans (like Kingman and Fingleson), professional quality (like Oeltjen, Auty, D'Antonio and Lysaught) plus precocious young talent (like Dening, Atherton, Pender and Maat). This is the type of lineup that won't give you much breathing space and very few mistakes will go unpunished. 

Ross Hipke has pitched pretty well for the Provincials this summer, but it was his turn to feel the full brunt of the Patriots hitting. After finishing the fifth inning for Kent, Hipke allowed three hits in the sixth and his day was done when former Provincial Shannon Pender knocked him out with a big two-out, two RBI double. Re-converted former junior pitcher and recent professional outfielder Matt Ryan was next to face the music. He managed to get the last out to finish the sixth, but the NSW concerto continued with an Oeltjen RBI triple, an Auty RBI single and another hit to Gavin Fingleson. He wasn't able to get another out in the seventh when an Atherton walk and a Dening hit saw him given the hook.

This provided another opportunity for former LA Angels infielder Josh Davies to stake his claims as a recently converted pitcher after enduring a fairly torrid time on the Claxton Shield mounds so far. However, this may well have been Davies' finest moment as a pitcher with a near perfect closing effort against a rampant offence. His first action was to induce a ground ball double play, then to polish off the seventh with a strike out. Back for the ninth, Josh nailed down the Patriots with a 1-2-3 of two ground ball outs, followed by another "fanned" strike out... it was a first class display. 

For NSW, Todd Grattan started like a train in the first inning but two hits and a walk cost him a run in the second frame. Another quick third inning was concluded with a double-play, to be followed by a strong 1-2-3 fourth. But, his solid start was to crumble in the fifth when three of his pitches scurried to the back net behind his catcher. Two passed balls and a run-scoring wild pitch were interspersed with two hits and two walks, so he could not complain about the fact that only one run was scored amid the mayhem. 

It was time for the Patriots to summon a trump card from their bullpen and they had a right-bower in former major leaguer Brad Thomas ready and waiting to fit the bill. Thomas quickly shut down the fourth with the first of his four strike outs over 2.1 innings as he collected another win for his record book. Only a Matt Lawman RBI triple did him much damage in the fifth, while a Mike Collins double was left stranded in the sixth. Closer Matt Williams was even nastier than Thomas with five brilliant KKKKK's that neutralised two hits, a walk and a hit batter over the last two scoreless innings.

'Terrific Tim' Auty was the headliner of the NSW offence once again with his spanking 3-5, while 'Mr.Consistency' Gavin Fingleson delivered his umpteenth multi-hit game with 2-3 plus a walk. Shannon Pender was the top run producer with his two RBI triple, while big guns Kingman, Auty and Oeltjen were the other single RBI men.

Newcomer Ben Day couldn't have done much more to impress than with his tremendous 2-2 hitting day that included two walks and a run batted in... like Don Bradman, the NSW pitchers could not find a way to get him out! 'Mighty Michael' Collins had another routine day for him with the timber, batting 2-3 with a walk and hit by pitch. The multi-skilled Michael Lennox was back swinging the bat after starting the previous game on the hill... given only one pinch-hit opportunity late in the game, young Lennox was not going to pass up the chance to clout a stinging double off former major league hurler Brad Thomas. Matt Lawman and Ben Day were the sole run suppliers for the Provincials this time. 

Just another rather predictable series sweep for the NSW Patriots, while the plucky Provincials will, as usual, be able to point to moments in the series where they may have capitalised for the win that continues to elude them.

SERIES OVERVIEW: So, New South Wales have done all that they could have expected with six straight wins over the Aussie Provincials and this will put the pressure on Queensland to match them, or otherwise give the Patriots a running start when their all important head-to-head battles arrive. We just can't wait for those to increase interest in the Eastern Division.  The Australian Provincials have nearly completed their commitments in the 2008 Claxton Shield and, while they remain winless to date, they have already achieved their primary aim of showcasing some exciting new talent.   The NSW team could not get too excited about their starting pitching in this series, but their relief pitchers Tim Cox, Vaughan Harris and Matt Williams were quite superb. Young guns Mitch Dening (.545), Tim Auty (.481) and Tim Atherton (.435) are setting a scorching pace at the top of the NSW batting averages. Dening, in particular, is taking on "Nilsson like" proportions at present with only one strike out from 22 at bats, his .818 SLG% and his .615 OB%.  Steve Kent continues to be a genuine shining light among the Provincials' pitchers, while Ross Hipke has been pretty solid and Josh Davies was brilliant in the last game of this series. Although his young "partner" Angus Roeger did not appear in this series, future Red Sox pro Michael Lennox soldiered on to maintain his staggering .500 average against Claxton Shield pitching, while also making a start on the mound against top notch hitters... what a talent he is! Michael Collins also maintains his magnificent Claxton Shield record with his strong .320 average to date.  Our now standard tribute to umpires Paul HYHAM, Matt CARTER, Bob CRAWFORD and Trent THOMAS.

RAMS JUMP PROVINCIALS 9-4 IN SERIES OPENER!
QLD 1-0 AP;  9-4,  #-#,  #-#

We wouldn't expect there to be a whole lot of confidence bursting out of the Australian Provincial camp after their rather deflating 0-3 "home" defeat by New South Wales, but they have shown many times in the past that they can re-group marvellously and still provide plenty of stern opposition for whoever they might be playing. 

The main issue of interest would be whether, at 38 years of age, the "great man" David Nilsson would make a surprise appearance? Our mail is that he probably won't in this series, but don't count him out for the rest of the event because he still harbours hope of playing for the AROOS at the Beijing Olympic Games. Given his recent, or not so recent, baseball history it would be folly for anyone else but 'Big Dave' to suggest such a thing... but not for Mr. D. Nilsson!!

We would also be looking out for the availability of Queensland's former major league reliever Phil Stockman.

'Flintoff & Dunn' have already tipped that it is nearly an impossible task for the Australian Provincials to emerge from the Eastern Division with too many wins to their name, but the rain delays and the advent of seven-inning games might just make this series a little more of a raffle that would always bring increased hope to the underdogs! We'll see...

It would be a great thing just to see baseball being played in southern Queensland after the flooding rains that have just about brought normal life to a halt up there! Game 1 of the series would finally get underway at the wee small baseball hour of 9:00am at Holloway Field, not at the originally scheduled Redlands Baseball Club. There would be no sighting of David Nilsson in uniform on the baseball diamond, but someone reported that Elvis Presley and Lord Lukin were hiding in the cubicles of the men's toilets?... if anyone got a sighting we'd love to hear about it!

The scoreboard at the end of the shortened seven inning game would make comfortable 9-4 reading for the home standing Queensland fans, who were watching Claxton Shield baseball for the first time since the identical 2000 format, but this perhaps belied a much tighter game that was locked at 2-2 after four innings. The Rams would finally take advantage of a Provincial pitching melt-down to slam on seven runs in their home-half of the fifth and sixth stanzas.

The rain-threatened series and the shortened games would cause both teams to re-jig their planning in terms of the use of their pitching resources. Both teams would eventually use regular starting pitchers in middle-relief and both might regret that they did? Queensland's former Chicago Cubs professional Chris Mowday was strong for three innings and he finished his stint with a 1-2-3 third inning before handing over to usual ace starter John Veitch. 

Much like his opposing number today, Cam Hardy, who we will discuss later, Veitch was victimised by a two-out error for his two runs in his first inning today, but he finished his three innings of work very strongly with another breezy 1-2-3 sixth inning to conclude his day. Tristan Crawford reached 'AAA' level with the Minnesota Twins during 2007, but he would not have enjoyed his closing of the seventh inning today that began with three successive hits and resulted in two runs. Only a ground ball double-play prevented further damage. It demonstrates what kind of level Claxton Shield baseball can be! 

AMLB "grand pappy" Phil Brassington lasted one more inning than he did in opening the first series against NSW, but again he was milked for too many pitches with a walk per inning pitched, three errors and a hit batter during his tenure on the mound. Only one of the two runs allowed by Brassington was earned in what was a, sort of, typical performance for a knuckleballer. We have long admired the STALWART work of Provincials' warhorse Cameron Hardy, but the regular starting pitcher, like John Veitch, clearly did not enjoy being summoned from the bullpen in long relief today. 

However, Hardy was only one pitch away from escaping from the fifth inning after securing two outs, before Joel Naughton tagged him for a game breaking two-run homer... it happens! Hardy's confidence may have been sagging when he returned for the sixth but, by that stage, he was reduced to cannon fodder with a single and two doubles greeting him before a one-out Andrew Utting walk saw him given the hook. Re-converted pitcher-outfielder Matt Ryan cashed in both of Hardy's base runners before, mercifully, ending a five-run sixth with a strike out... it wasn't brilliant.

Highly rated Phillies catcher Joel Naughton jumped onto the big AMLB stage with 3-4 and three match-winning RBI's that came via a double and a home run. One of the nice things about this type of Claxton Shield competition, that we don't have time to discuss here, is the roster moves that allow a previously unknown player like Keiran Bradford to emerge with 2-3 and a RBI on his Claxton Shield debut. Matt Studeman, who last played AMLB with the 1999 Gold Coast Cougars, produced two-RBI's, while Independent League hitter and former Helms Award winner Brad Dutton also produced two. Former LA Dodgers professional David Sutherland also added a run batted in to his fine Claxton Shield record. Andrew Utting walked three times, while another Helms Award winner and new 'F&D Hall-Of-Famer' Brett Roneberg also walked twice!

Former Victorian softballer James Brooks continues his development in the baseball world with a most valuable 2-4 and two RBI's, while another new face Sam Brown contributed a terrific 2-4 with a run batted in on debut. Popular Victorian veteran Andrew McKenzie supplied the other RBI for the Provincials in a game where they appeared soundly beaten, yet the line score showed that they were out-hit by the narrow margin of 8-9.

The spoils go to the home-standing Rams who deserved their win in the delayed opening game but, as we very often say when the Australian Provincials play, they were far from disgraced YET AGAIN! Still, 1-0 is one-nil for the Queenslanders and they will, quite rightly, feel that they are matching their primary adversary New South Wales at this stage. The Aussie Provincials YET AGAIN proved their undoubted value as part of the Claxton Shield landscape.

Come on fellas, get fair dinkum… unless the catcher had to call for a snorkel, the pitcher needed an umbrella and there was lightning crackling along the cyclone wire fence, surely you wouldn’t call this game quits in the fifth inning? If I were an Australian Provincial player or manager trying to make the most of my seven run lead, they would have to carry me kicking and screaming from the diamond! Seriously, what a crying shame that Queensland ’s horrendous storms did not clear sufficiently to allow this series to progress normally. The schedule had already been delayed a by a couple of days, but their attempt to play catch-up has now also been thwarted by another downpour.

What makes this particularly disappointing for the Australian Provincial team is that they seemed well on their way to their first victory for Claxton 2008 and the timing could hardly have been more frustrating for them. We are assuming here that the established rule will apply whereby five completed innings are required to classify it as “a game”?

If not, the Provincials will have unfortunately “wasted” another outstanding start from their 18yo Atlanta Braves professional Steve Kent who had sailed through four innings and he looked capable of going deep into the game, if required. Kent had struck out five during his impressive outing and the efficiency of his pitching was in stark contrast to a nightmare performance from the Queensland throwers on this day.

Young Atlanta Braves signing Matt Timms was thrown to the wolves for his first AMLB start after pitching a couple of games in relief for the Provincials at Claxton 2007 in Perth. After a promising first inning, things just fell apart for Timms and the Rams in a horror second inning when seven green shirts crossed the home plate to score. Timms allowed two hits, two walks and hit batter to set the ball rolling out of control, but his own additional error made things worse.

By the time he was relieved by San Diego Padres rookie league pro Clint Naylor he had just walked the second and third runs across the plate. Naylor quickly joined the charity fund by walking across another, before allowing three more runs, even though two of those scored on ground out plays. Three hits, four walks and a hit batter combined to enable the Aussie Provincials to post a rare seven-spot for them. Naylor managed to pitch a scoreless third inning before handing over to 22yo lefty David Holland who walked the tightrope without allowing a run in the fourth or fifth, so far!

Unheralded Sam Brown plundered 3-3 with a RBI in this game, while seasoned Victorians Tristan McDonald and Andrew McKenzie both contributed two knocks and a RBI each, as did the impressive converted Victorian softballer James Brooks. In fact, seven different ‘AP’ hitters contributed RBI’s, but some of those were via bases loaded walks.

Former LA Dodgers pro David Sutherland simply continues to build upon his excellent Claxton Shield record with two of the Rams total of three hits in this shortened contest. It now remains to be seen whether the result of this game, or the player’s statistics, are to become part of Claxton Shield history, or simply ignored as if the game never happened?

PATRIOTS OVERPOWER PROVINCIALS IN SWEEP!
NSW 3-0 AP;  8-1,  6-2,  5-1

We congratulate those at Baseball Australia for rekindling this style of competition, even though it may be a little harder to schedule and it would cost more than staging the carnival in one place. The beauty of the programming is immediately evident when we find the first series of the Eastern Division taking place in the ACT suburb of Narrabundah. We guess that this is about as close as you are going to find to a "home venue" for the Australian Provincials, even though most of the players would find themselves on unfamiliar turf and we wouldn't expect the same parochial support as for the States. 

As we were to find with the Southern Division, some of the bigger (mostly professional) names listed on the "Protected Rosters" would not appear in this series, but we will have to learn to expect this as a sad fact of baseball life in Australia. The professional guys have no other choice but to do everything possible to protect their careers and, in some cases, they are simply taking orders from the boss! This aside, 'Flintoff & Dunn' will always pay special tribute to any of our more elite players who regularly forego much of their "annual leave" to help promote the game in Australia.

The notable players listed for NSW who did not appear in this series were to be Trent Oeltjen, Andrew Graham, Chris Oxspring and Brad Thomas... not a bad baseball quartet by any measure. Not playing in this series for the Provincials would be promising young professional Clint Naylor. On balance you would suggest that these losses would tilt the balance more toward the Provincial team but, as we detailed in our previews, we still would not hold too much hope for this Provincial squad to upset either New South Wales or Queensland who both boast much more quality and experience.

Nonetheless, we are always intrigued to find out what the Australian Provincials might produce...

In what must surely represent one of the oldest combined starting pitcher match-ups in Claxton Shield history, 38yo NSW sophomore David Rosser would be pitted against his 37yo junior Phil Brassington, who continues to add new chapters to what is already a remarkable AMLB career. We won't repeat the text in our preview, but the re-invented "knuckleballer" who emerged from recent obscurity to play in the 2006 World Baseball Classic is quite an amazing story!

With the game locked at a competitive 1-1 some may have queried from a distance why Brassington was replaced at the top of the fourth inning? We are alerted to the fact that "old Phil" was hovering on 80 pitches after throwing many balls and being fouled-off many times, even though he didn't allow a hit to any of the 13 batters he faced. For instance, Tim Auty fouled him off no less than eight times in a 12-pitch at bat in the second, while the next batter Pat Maat worked an eight pitch walk. In the wash-up, the patience of the Patriots' hitters may have been a big factor in the course of the contest. 

The man to suffer was Brassington's replacement, just-turned 18yo Luke Wilkins who was savaged for seven hits and NSW had posted a five-spot in the fifth inning before he was lifted for another 18yo rookie Ryan Griffin. Griffin and re-converted pitcher Matt Ryan were tidy enough in allowing only one run each, while future San Diego Padres' pro Andrew Gribben was untouched after pitching a very efficient ninth inning for the 'YAPS' (Young Aussie Professionals).

On the flip side, 2007 'Rookie of the Year' Rosser soldiered on manfully for the Patriots with a high-quality 7.2 innings start that provided more than enough backbone for his team to roll to a comfortable victory. Rosser scattered nine hits, but he was rarely under great pressure with six strike outs certainly helping to take the sting out of any Provincial opportunities. This enabled a perfect "low pressure" chance for new Texas Rangers' signing Tim Stanford to make a most promising Claxton Shield debut. He did allow four hits over his 1.1 innings of work, but the 17yo rookie did his job!

The NSW offence was led by some maturing young players Michael Lysaught, Mitch Dening, Tim Auty, Tim Atherton and Trent D'Antonio, when the past and present professionals produced two hits each. Lysaught's 2-2 included a double and was magnified by two stolen bases, while Dening incorporated a big RBI triple, Atherton a RBI triple and D'Antonio a RBI double. Although the emerging stars stole the bouquets in this game, evergreen Gavin Fingleson produced a clinic about team batting when he supplied three separate RBI's on two ground outs and a single... what a master hitter he is!

OK subscribers, it sure sounds like a cakewalk for the more potent NSW team who bashed up on the underdog Provincials in this game, doesn't it? Well. I can assure you that the score table does not include a misprint... yes, NSW won by the healthy margin of 8-1 but, hard to believe I know, they were actually out-hit 13-11 by the "minnows". 

Future professionals Michael Lennox (Boston) and Angus Roeger (Philadelphia) each smacked two hits on debut, while 2007 Victorian team medal winners Andrew McKenzie and Matt Lawman also produced a pair each. Another seasoned Victorian Tristan McDonald marked his return to the AMLB scene with two safe hits. 17yo Roeger spiced his brilliant debut game with his double, that was AP's only extra-base hit, and a stolen base. It would surprise very few keen followers of Claxton Shield baseball that recent Provincials' batting star Michael Collins produced their sole RBI.

In conclusion, even though the NSW team was marginally out-hit, the more experienced NSW batters certainly made sure that they "milked" plenty of pitches out of Phil Brassington and the fact that he was removed early may have been the decisive factor. We are continually told about major league statistics that show how most games are won by the team that produces at least one BIG crooked-number inning. In this case the Patriots did not pass up the chance to make hay while the sun shone when the Provincials replaced Brassington with the little known Luke Wilkins... tough luck Luke!

The early Saturday game in the Eastern Division series at Narrabundah would offer a battle between two of the most underrated starting pitchers in recent Claxton Shield history. Provincials' big-hearted 29yo stalwart Cameron Hardy versus New South Wales very steady 26yo left-hander Matthew Bennett.

Former Canberra native Cameron Hardy has been living in Melbourne for some years now, but he has always held strong to his Provincial "heritage" as the only player to have been part of six 'AP' campaigns to date. It has never been an easy or glamorous task to pitch for the Provincial teams who have often been undermanned and/or inexperienced, but Hardy has never failed to battle hard for his team. He did not have his best ever performance in this game, leaving after an uncustomary short four innings stint, but he was not helped by an untimely passed ball or a horrible outfield error. 

Matt Bennett has always seemed to live in the shadows of more illustrious pitchers in the NSW teams of his era, but on this occasion he would arrive in the ACT as one of the key pitchers in the Patriots' rotation. He had started only six of his 22 previous pitching appearances in AMLB, but he was extremely effective as a starter in this game, allowing only two hits and three base runners over his five innings. We assume that the only reason he was not left longer in the game was that he is still not accustomed to going much further than the 58 pitches he delivered?

Perhaps the other reason might be that New South Wales also have plenty of other quality arms to utilise in their bullpen and it was a good opportunity to let young Minnesota Twins rookie professional Jarrad Eacott enjoy a somewhat comfortable debut. Both Eacott, and the more seasoned Andrew Cook, had more than enough to make sure that there would be no hint of any real comeback heroics from the 'YAPS'. Cook was especially impressive in facing just one more hitter than the minimum while closing down the last two innings of the game. 

2007 Provincial star Mitch Dening has simply continued his fine form from Perth and from his impressive debut pro season with the Boston Red Sox... he haunted his former Provincial team mates again in this game with 3-4 and a RBI. Tim Auty and Shannon Pender also continued to enjoy a productive series with 2-4 and a RBI each, while Minnesota Twins' recent signing Tim Atherton also batted 2-4 for the second straight day. 

The other well known guy to produce two hits in this game was Brendan Kingman who is the only player to be entering his 17th AMLB season and he saluted the occasion by mashing his 101st AMLB home run, now just six behind the all-time AMLB leader Ron Johnson. 'Slugga' Kingman produced two RBI's while his not-quite-so veteran team mate Gavin Fingleson refused to go dry when he added one more "ribbie" of his own. 

The World Series Champion Boston Red Sox seem to have selected wisely with Mitchell Dening, and also with their more recent signing Michael Lennox who was the Provincials' only plural-hitter in this game with 2-4 to back up his 2-3 effort yesterday. Victoria's Minnesota Twins professional Matt Lawman would be glad to have persisted for his third Claxton Shield tour of duty. Lawman came into the tournament with an 0-10 "duck" but he has enjoyed a much better time in the 2008 Claxton so far with three hits for the series already and AP's only two runs driven in during this game. 

Even though the scores were tighter on this occasion, the NSW Patriots were never seriously threatened once again, and their 13-6 hits advantage for the game was a decent indication of their superior strength in both offence and pitching. It is already difficult to imagine anything other than a series sweep for New South Wales here...

For four innings in this game the Australian Provincials had out-pitched, out-hit and outplayed the much vaunted NSW Patriots in the series finale nightcap game in Canberra. At least the warm 30deg temperature at Narrabundah was a little more conducive to a double-header than the micro-wave oven that SA and Victoria endured in Adelaide... and the night time conditions would get cooler, while the relentless sun blazed on through the Adelaide afternoon! 26yo Vaughan Harris would be first to take the mound for NSW after performing very well at Claxton 2007 in Perth, while his starting opponent would be young Atlanta Braves' professional Steve Kent who was brilliant in relief for the Provincials at the same event. 

It did seem like a shame for the Aussie Provincials that 18yo Steve Kent could not continue beyond his 62 pitch count because, while he was on the mound, he did seem capable of keeping the talented NSW batting lineup under reasonable control. I'm not suggesting that his relievers were pulverised by any means, because they weren't, but Kent allowed only three hits over five innings, while the others allowed eight over four... it's a simple statement of fact. Steve Kent preserved a 1-0 advantage for 'AP' until the fourth inning when the experienced NSW hitters manufactured a run via a Tim Auty leadoff single and his stolen base, with no further safe hits in the inning... it was damn good baseball, but not Kent's fault!

It then took a Mitch Dening triple... yes, him again!... and a Matt Sundstrom RBI in the fifth for NSW to grab its first lead in the game and, perhaps more significantly, it saw the end of Steve Kent's evening on the mound after he had thrown an impressive 43 of 62 pitches for strikes. As I said, this did not exactly herald the opening of the floodgates for the Patriots, but they did manage to take the game out of the Provincials' range with single runs in the sixth, eighth and ninth. 

Meanwhile, the strong NSW bullpen did not allow starter Harris much rope and he was swiftly lifted after getting just one out in the third for the impressive Boston Red Sox 'A' level professional Timothy Cox. It didn't take long for anyone to understand why the move was made when Cox proceeded to completely overmatch the Provincial batters, striking out five while nobody could lay any solid timber on him over 4.2 innings of mesmerising pitching. What ever hopes the 'YAPS' may have held in this game were effectively snuffed out by the time that Cox had sapped their confidence... WOW!!

Matt Williams and Todd Grattan both allowed just one base runner while pitching an inning of work each at the end of the contest. They were highly efficient in wrapping up the game for New South Wales with Grattan striking out the first two batters he faced in the ninth inning... he had quality youngsters Lennox and Roeger both called out on strikes after each had worked the count full... the 20yo showed a fair bit of poise.

22yo Tim Auty continues to be a tremendous performer at Claxton Shield level with his menacing 4-5 today, while evergreen Gavin Fingleson couldn't possibly end a series without a multi-hit game and, of course, he also added a further RBI to his tally. Young New York Mets' catcher Pat Maat crunched three home runs for the Provincials during Claxton Shield 2007 in Perth, but he turned the tables on them in this game with 2-4 and two runs batted in for the Patriots. 

The familiar names were to the fore for the Provincials in a game where they managed just five hits. Angus Roeger concluded an excellent debut series with two more hits, while his rookie partner Michael Lennox added one on this occasion... NICE job lads! It was also typical to see the prolific Michael Collins emerge with two hits in the last game, building on his well earned reputation as the best hitter in the early history of Australian Provincial baseball at this level. 

So ended the 3-0 series sweep for New South Wales and few would argue that it wasn't a reasonable result as there were very few moments throughout the series when the Provincials had them under any genuine pressure.

SERIES OVERVIEW: We can't honestly say that we were surprised by the result of this series that saw New South Wales complete a fairly decisive 3-0 sweep. Our reckoning that the Australian Provincials have an undermanned roster compared with last season would appear to be accurate and this is only accentuated when you see so many of the 2007 Provincials already playing such prominent roles with their State teams of origin... this is a sad fact of life for the "Green Team" I'm afraid.  That said, the Australian Provincials still managed to overcome their obvious disadvantages to again provide genuine competition for the "big boys" and they certainly weren't disgraced by any stretch of the imagination. And, MOST IMPORTANTLY, they have once more provided a perfect platform for some exciting new players to give us an early glimpse of their talents... we love the fact that they maintain their focus on this most SPECIAL objective! The NSW production line of new talent is alive and well folks. We have mentioned the prodigious talent of rookie pro Mitchell Dening who topped their batting stats for this series with a terrific .500 plus two triples that boosted his slugging percentage to .833. AMLB star Tim Auty is a little more seasoned and his .429 average is no longer much of a surprise, while recent signing Tim Atherton made his presence felt with his .417 average... these were the headline grabbers among a fairly even team batting contribution for the Patriots. However, we could not overlook again one of 'Flintoff & Dunn's' most recent HALL-OF-FAME inductees Gavin Fingleson who batted .333 and he topped the team with five RBI's. Pitching wise, starters David Rosser and Matt Bennett both distinguished themselves once again with solid wins, but the man who stood like a beacon for us was Timothy Cox who was more like a "wrecking ball" than a pitcher in this series... he was AWESOME! The remainder of the New South Wales bullpen were all pretty good in this series and there are few weaknesses to be found there! One thing that will continue to excite us about Australian Provincial baseball is the opportunity that they give to players like the 2008 Edition stars Michael Lennox and Angus Roeger. Red Sox signing Lennox batted a team high .455 while Philadelphia signing Roeger was second behind him with .417... if anyone doesn't think that this is GREAT for Australian baseball, then I think that they would need a "reality check" on what this all means! Of course we would never downplay the importance of guys like Michael Collins who was third ranking with .333, but he also does the most important job of providing some experienced leadership to the newcomers... even at the ripe old age of 23!! Victorian youngster Andrew Gribben did not allow an earned run in his 1.0 inning Claxton Shield debut, while another Victorian Ross Hipke also did a solid job in his Claxton debut. Incredible veteran Phil Brassington still has something to offer as a pitcher of inherent quality, but the man who captured our imagination was Steven Kent who started the third game and who continues to give the appearance of a genuine Australian pitching star of the future. Our correspondent attending this series did not mention anything about umpiring intervention, so I will repeat my own opinion from the Southern Division Series in Adelaide: The UMPIRES each did quite splendid jobs. We all marvel at the players performing in any type of heat like this, but we should NEVER forget those often maligned men in blue who are out in the sun for EVERY PITCH of the three games. Aside from one or two "close calls", they were virtually unnoticed and this is about the highest tribute that you can pay to an umpire. Our hearty congratulations to Trent THOMAS, Matt PEARSON, Paul HYHAM and Greg KENT... you deserve a well earned drink fellas!