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 a