QUICK SCORE SUMMARY - CLAXTON SHIELD 2008

12

ACES WINS "DEAD" FINAL SERIES 2-1 OVER SA!
VIC 2-1 SA;  5-9,  11-14,  0-12

The visiting South Australian team would be largely unchanged from their last couple of series, but one interesting inclusion would be young Philadelphia Phillies future professional Angus Roeger who has already distinguished himself by batting .417 for the Australian Provincials in their opening series of Claxton Shield 2008. Yep, 'Flintoff & Dunn' were also initially surprised to see Roeger's name appear with the South Australian team in the same competition and, while this was never intended as part of the rules for the Claxton Shield, it did make reasonable sense in this instance. Apparently the teams agreed that he should not be deprived of another opportunity to play in a series that would have no influence on the overall Claxton Shield.

The Victorians would suffer some unfortunate exclusions, especially their batting average leader Daniel Berg who injured a finger playing club baseball last Sunday, along with quality pitchers Matthew Blackmore, Russell Spear and Andrew Dewar. Backup utility player David Tierney would also miss because of injury. The Aces would bolster their pitching stocks with the welcome inclusion of Boston Red Sox pro Adam Blackley for the first time this summer, along with the re-inclusions of Brett Flemming, Donavon Hendricks, Jason Blewjas and Elliot Biddle. Young gun James Beresford is still recovering from injury.

The more stable South Australian team will arrive in Melbourne with their high-quality starting pitching and, while this will always make them a very difficult opponent, we still think that the Aces should emerge with a slight edge at home.
 

Now there's another thing to like about this Claxton Shield format, the opportunity to see teams set their starting pitching rotations on a head-to-head, or series, basis instead of trying to pre-determine the match-ups with different opposition in a one week carnival. In this case we enjoyed the opportunity to see two of Australian baseball's most reliable "horses", Greg Wiltshire and John Challinor, battling each other in a vital opening game of this series. 

Victoria's 2007 Championship Game MVP Wiltshite looked more like his reliable self in Perth after missing the opening series and then struggling in his first outing against WA in Melbourne. If anything he was even sharper in this game with a quality display of starting pitching. His day started with a Josh Cakebread double and a Stefan Welch single, but there was some relief when he induced 'Bashing Ben' Wigmore to hit into a double-play, even though it produced the first run of the game. It proved to be the only earned run he allowed as he strolled through the next four innings with just two more hits.

Taking over from Wiltshire would be impressive 2008 Claxton Shield rookie Brett Flemming who, as always, produced his typically solid effort. Flemming is never scared to "pitch to contact" and it usually serves him very well, but an error and a towering foul fly ball that was literally blown back into play would cost him a couple of unlucky and unearned runs in the seventh. Donavon Hendricks was the man asked to nail down the victory for the Aces and he certainly looked like a man in a hurry. He started brilliantly by striking out the only three batters he faced in the eighth inning then, with a couple more runs added to his lead, he took the opportunity to challenge the hitters in the ninth. It cost him a run on two hits, but his no-nonsense, four strike out performance to close the game was a most impressive and confident display of relief pitching. 

One thing Victorian fans have rarely seen is their traditional tormentor John Challinor actually struggling to keep a lid on their hitters. We guess that it had to happen sooner or later, but it really wasn't his most penetrating performance as the very patient Victorian hitters made him work for every out and they reaped the benefit of five runs from five hits and three walks over his uncharacteristically short 4.1 innings stint. Challinor was relieved by the effective Steve O'Connor who shut down the fifth inning, then found himself replaced with two on and two out in the sixth.

O'Connor would be entitled to ponder why he was removed in favour of Tyler Green who promptly delivered a wild pitch, followed by a hit to Rikki Johnston that cashed in both of his inherited runners... tough luck O'Connor! Green went on to allow five hits and two earned runs of his own in a decent, but not brilliant, performance before handing over to Tom Fiebig who landed the final Victorian out without further incident in this losing cause. 

Quality outfielder Paul Weichard was the outstanding batter in this game with his 3-5 and two RBI's that included two booming triples while the most consistent Peter Stokes and Rikki Johnston each delivered two hits and two runs batted in. Harman, Kent and McIntyre supplied the other RBI's while Andrew Russell added a hit and a walk to his productive summer. 

Josh Cakebread has been a good player for some time now, but he has really come of age during Claxton 2008 and his 3-4 with a RBI and a walk was second only to Weichard in this game. Stefan Welch continues to emerge as a major factor in AMLB with another 2-5 and two RBI's. Simon Galpin drove in South's other run.

The Aces take a 1-0 lead in this series after what was generally quite an interesting and entertaining game.

We shouldn't need to verify for anyone that 'Flintoff & Dunn' love baseball but, there is no avoiding the honest truth that this game wasn't the easiest game we have ever watched... in fact, it was downright ugly folks! Just to help you to get some idea from the bland statistics, how about the totals of 32 hits, 16 walks, 3 hit batters and five errors... YUK! The game was ultimately timed at 210 minutes but, at one stage, it looked like becoming a six hour battle of attrition, or staying awake! 

Former LA Angels professional Brendan Wilson was the Game Two starter for Victoria again in this series and, unfortunately, his efforts here somewhat mirrored his last start struggles in Perth. The first horrible similarity was to set the tone for this ugly game by walking the first two SA batters on just eight wayward pitches. Wilson is a pitcher who is capable of settling into games after a rough start, but not on this day. He was a desolate figure leaving the mound after just 1.2 innings with six hits, four walks and six runs against his name... Brendan will want to forget this game pretty quickly!

2007 Golden Arm Award winner Dushan Ruzic would make his third start for South Australia in this game and, for a while, it didn't appear that it was going to be much better for him than it was for his Victorian counterpart. Big Dushan issued three first inning walks but, to be fair, it was only an infield throwing error that posted two runs on the scoreboard. After that, Ruzic regained control and only a Scott McIntyre single in the fourth inning separated eleven straight outs secured by the current Cincinnati Reds 'AA' farm hand. Dushan struggled through the fifth and sixth innings before a Glenn Mascoll RBI double finally knocked him out of the game with his team still cruising by virtue of a 12-3 advantage. 

Things suddenly became much more difficult for the pitchers in the red shirts as recent nightmares from their previous home series against the Victorians must have been starting to nibble at their consciousness. On that occasion the Aces always seemed to find a way to score too many runs against the SA bullpen and to win each game with a late assault. I'm even going to suggest that the whole thought became so unpalatable for them that they even compromised their pitching for Game Three just in order to make sure that the Victorians didn't snatch another one from right under their noses!

Tyler Green replaced Ruzic, but he could not get the last out of the sixth inning either after allowing two hits and a walk, even though both of the runs posted during his stay were scored unearned after another SA error. Paul Mildren, who reached 'AAA' with the Kansas City Royals in 2007, quickly cashed in a couple more of Green's base runners, unearned, before pitching a solid scoreless seventh. Quality veteran Darren Fidge was asked to make sure that there were no cardiac arrests in the SA dugout during the final frame, but even his guile couldn't prevent the Aces from twice bringing the tying run to the plate. We don't even want to contemplate the mood of the game had that improbable outcome happened... PHEW!!

I'll now move on to discuss the incredible total of 22 hits, yes folks that's twice as many as eleven, that SA racked up against the Victorian pitching in this game. I can't imagine when this may have happened before and we would wonder whether this might come close to a Claxton Shield record... it's certainly not the type of record the Victorians would cherish! 

Emerging New York Mets pro Stefan Welch has grown rapidly in stature during Claxton Shield 2008 and his mighty 4-5 with a walk and a RBI is further testimony of his exciting talent. Simon Galpin enjoyed one of his best games at Claxton Shield level with his three hits. I deliberately left another three-hitter 'Bashing Ben' Wigmore to last because, for the first time in his stellar AMLB career, he has not really dominated the headlines for the SA team. Yet, don't expect him to post lowly numbers at the end of the tournament with his 3-5, a walk and two RBI's preparing him for a grandstand finish.

Wigmore's 'Bash Brother' Tom Brice delivered another mighty 2-3 with three RBI's, including a sacrifice fly and a hit by pitch. Troy Cook also enjoyed one of his best games at this level with his 2-5 and four RBI's that also included a sac-fly. Joshua Cakebread has been almost impossible for the Victorians to solve in this series after struggling in their first series. He walked after his first two plate appearances today, then added two more hits for good measure. Dan Wilson continued his good form with 2-5 and a run batted in, while "dual citizen" Angus Roeger picked up where he left off with the Provincials by adding two more hits to his tremendous rookie resume. The most impressive Brendan Pett batted 2-6, while Langman drove in a run. 

Rising Boston Red Sox pro Adam Blackley made his first appearance at Claxton Shield 2008 and, with not a lot of work under his belt yet this year, he could be excused for not producing his most effective effort. However, Blackley showed the poise and determination to battle through some tough moments and to hold back some of the avalanche that had poured downhill onto the Vics after Wilson's unhappy start. Blackley allowed a bulky seven hits, but a more reasonable three runs over his 3.1 inning span in this game... overall he did a pretty decent job for his team under challenging circumstances. Future Minnesota Twins' lefty Elliot Biddle wasn't given an easy ride with an immediate error putting him off balance and, while he was quite tidy, he could not contain the South Australian batting onslaught. Jason Blewjas did a solid job at the end of the arduous journey for the Aces until another late flurry of hits nailed him for two add-on runs in the ninth inning.

To be very fair, four SA errors, nine walks and two hit batters helped to make Victoria's tally of ten hits look much fatter on the scoreboard but we will pay tribute to the Aces for refusing to go away when the game looked miles out of reach. 2007 Helms Award winner Mathew Kent has not been too happy with his hitting this summer but his average is still rising above .300 with another 3-6 plus three RBI's in this game. Brad Harman keeps reminding everyone of his quality with another terrific 3-6 plus a run batted in. Infielder Glenn Mascoll continues to be a sterling contributor both defensively and offensively and his RBI double was another highlight for him today. Surprise packet Peter Stokes knocked in two more Victorian runs. 

We don't often highlight defensive efforts in these reports unless they are really significant, but we just couldn't overlook the quite brilliant and eye-catching defensive display of young Victorian catcher Grant Karlsen in this game. We couldn't count the number of pitches that Karlsen had to handle on this most difficult of days but, regardless of how wayward his pitchers may have been on occasions, he scarcely mishandled a single ball and we can't recall anything getting past him. Grant may not be the only catcher who has done a fine job during Claxton Shield 2008, but some of his blocking of nasty balls in the dirt and his general receiving of pitches just couldn't escape the attention of those in attendance. It was a genuine catcher's clinic!

The Victorian Aces gave their healthy home crowd a bit of excitement near the end of this game but, really, you can't realistically expect to allow 22 hits and be truly competitive in any baseball game... it's as simple as that! Series 1-1.

Having endured an almost tedious afternoon game, the VERY healthy sized crowd at Melbourne Ballpark were rewarded for their attendance with one of the rare treats in Australian baseball. I can tell you that it was an absolute pleasure to watch in person a major league standard pitcher "dealing" some of his best stuff on an Australian baseball diamond. Yes, sure, most of us have seen past or present major league players in action, but you don't often get to see a current major league pitcher produce six innings of such supreme quality as Travis Blackley did on this occasion.

Travis, the former Seattle Marnier and 2007 San Francisco Giants' major league hurler, is on his way to the Philadelphia Phillies via the Rule 5 Draft and he will leave for the USA shortly with plenty to look forward to. His first start in Perth may have started in very rusty fashion, but his ability to settle there and to gain some valuable time on the mound has quite clearly paid dividends this time. The brilliant left hander slashed his way through six innings of sublime pitching, allowing only five base runners from three hits one walk and a hit batter, while striking out seven. The hallmark of Blackley's pitching is his ability to find the big strikeout pitch with almost monotonous regularity and you only had to watch the reaction of his strike out victims to realise just how "NASTY" some of his stuff is!

There is not much doubt that Blackley could have polished off the seventh inning of this "Mercy Rule" shortened game, but Victorian manager David White took the opportunity to reward a couple of his front-line pitchers with one last appearance at Claxton Shield 2008 in front of a supportive home crowd. Popular veteran Lee Hogan has often made the Altona venue a graveyard for teams he has faced and he really thrived on the big stage again in this game. 33yo Hogan had an obvious spring in his step while he tucked away the first two outs in the seventh with an economy of pitches, striking out the big bat of Tom Brice, then getting Dan Wilson to fly out. 'Hoges' enjoyed the warm applause when he left the diamond, replaced by Adam Bright who captured the final out of the game with a conclusive strike out. 

While David White had to find some game-time for a couple of his pitchers, on the flip side we did suggest that the South Aussies may have somewhat compromised their pitching plans for this game by turning to Darren Fidge and Paul Mildren at the end of the afternoon game. I'm not taking anything away from the talents of Todd Langman, Josh Tols, Dan Redden or Tom Fiebig because anyone who can earn selection at this level must be a very capable player, it's just that the Victorian Aces have already shown a real liking for the back half of the SA bullpen this summer. 

Langman was given the start in this game and, once again, the Aces hitters were not taking too many prisoners with six hits and five runs resulting from his three inning start. Young Josh Tols demonstrated a little more penetration in this game with four strikeouts from his 1.2 innings, but he was also stung for four hits and three runs. It would only get worse for Daniel Redden who couldn't contribute an out during Victoria's five run sixth inning while allowing three runs on four hits. The game may have been effectively over by the time that Tom Fiebig was called for mop-up duties, but he can be satisfied that he did all that he could by nailing the last two outs, even though he served a sacrifice fly RBI to Scott McIntyre. 

Likeable slugger Peter Stokes put a punctuation mark on a tremendous debut in Claxton Shield company by batting 4-4 with a RBI in his last game for this competition. The classy hitting of Brad Harman was also on display again with his 2-4 that included a rare home run at Altona hammered over left field for three big runs driven in. The regular contributions from Rikki Johnston and Paul Rutgers continued with two hits and two RBI's each in this game. Infield stars Glenn Mascoll and Scott McIntyre supplied the other runs batted in for the Aces. The South Aussies pitched around Andrew Russell, who batted .615 in the Adelaide series, limiting him to a walk and a catcher's interference plus a stolen base!

Only Ben Wigmore, Dan Wilson and Troy Cook could find a way to hit Travis Blackley on this occasion.

So the Victorian Aces won the last series 2-1, but they will take cold comfort from finishing narrowly behind the West Australian team who earned their right to represent the Southern Division next weekend in the Claxton Shield final. The South Australians will no doubt re-load and come out with all guns blazing for whatever type of competition we have next season... now there's a whole platform for discussion right there!!

It would not surprise too many that the pure 40-Man Roster class of Brad Harman would surface with his .440 average leading the way for Victoria, but from just six games. The exciting Danny Berg didn't get a chance to maybe build upon his terrific .400 average when he missed the last series due to injury. Surprise packet slugger Peter Stokes was next cab off the rank with .387 and it should be noted that Harman, Berg and Stokes all owned slugging percentages above .700! A glance at the remainder of the Victorian Aces batting averages shows an amazingly consistent competition for all of them.

With his last outing still strong in the memory, Travis Blackley confirmed his major league quality with his 1-0, 0.00ERA record from a competition that started in such horrible fashion in his first inning of work for the summer. Perennial "horse" Greg Wiltshire also overcame a slow start to come through with a solid 1-1, 2.65ERA from three starts, while rookie Brett Flemming was the next best of the "inning eaters" with his very workmanlike 4.50ERA that did not include a lot of luck. The uncanny Matthew Blackmore added four more saves from his four appearances, while Lee Hogan (2.45ERA from six appearances) and Andrew Dewar (2.57ERA from five appearances) were both most reliable relievers for the Aces.

Rising professional Stefan Welch was the undoubted star for SA this summer with his tremendously consistent and often brilliant .380 with a .500 slugging percentage. Little known Brendan Pett won't be "little known" again after batting a very good .300 in his debut national competition. 'Bashing Ben' Wigmore had his "worst" season for an eternity but, for him, this means a .295 average plus seven walks and four hit by pitches for a .404 on base percentage. Wiggy's 'Bash Brother' Tom Brice cooled off to a .292 average but his four home runs built him a big .604 slugging percentage. 

Statistically, evergreen Darren Fidge led the pitching for SA with his 0-0, 2.19ERA record from five appearances, but his veteran team mate John Challinor chewed through 23.1 innings for his very good 2-1, 3.09ERA. I'm sorry, but it is a bit hard to enthuse about the South Aussie's bullpen. If we had to pick one, we'd probably give the edge to Josh Tols who supplied 10.2 innings of useful work from six appearances, to own a 0-1, 4.22ERA record.

SOUTHERN DIVISION  Series 5  Thu 24 to Sat 26 JAN 2008

WA WINS SOUTH DIV WITH 2-1 OVER VICS! WA 2-1 VIC;  4-6,  7-2,  2-5

SERIES PRELUDE:  This series in Perth would provide a very simple scenario for both of the combatants... win the series to win the Southern Division title. This based on the high probability that Victoria would go on to win at least one of its home games against SA. Western Australia already has two losses against the 'Croweaters', but their previous series win in Melbourne would leave the Victorians needing to reverse the outcome in Perth or to be eliminated based on head-to-head performances.  The only significant move for the hosts would be to controversially "tinker" with what had already proven a successful lineup by including WA regular Andrew Kyle in the squad at the expense of well-performed newcomer Aaron Ottoway. Kyle has always been a steady defensive player for the West, but he has very rarely supplied much offensive punch, whereas Ottoway had been batting .316 in the opening two series before cooling a little in the previous series to .250. Making this more surprising was WA's willingness to break up their brilliant middle infield combination of Graham and Hughes!? On paper, the Victorian team selected to travel to Perth would appear to be strengthened from their opening two series with the important inclusions of professional stars Travis Blackley, Brad Harman and Adam Bright, along with the return of their best opening series starter Brendan Wilson. The inclusion of Harman, who has recently been added to the Philadelphia Phillies 40-Man roster for 2008, would be balanced by the loss of exciting young pro James Beresford who has been shut down with a groin injury. 2007 major league pitcher Travis Blackley should be a massive bonus, even though he will probably be limited by a pitch count, while Colorado Rockies 'AA' pitcher Adam Bright will further stiffen the Victorian bullpen. Making way for lefties Blackley and Bright would be the unfortunate Brett Flemming and Donavon Hendricks who have been solid contributors in the campaign so far, while Jason Blewjas makes way for the return of Brendan Wilson. Veteran pitcher Russell Spear would also add a sturdy and experienced presence in the Victorian bullpen. Recent major league slugger Justin Huber also misses this trip after his rusty performance in Melbourne, to be replaced by the ever competitive David Tierney who has done little wrong when representing his state. The Victorian Aces appear to be strong enough to overturn WA's marginal advantage from their previous series, but it would be unreasonable to tip against the West Australians who have won each series they have contested so far and they should enjoy the familiarity of playing on home soil. It promises to be a terrific battle with very high stakes!

SOUTH DIVISION - SERIES 5 - GAME 1 - Thu 24 JAN 2008 - 6:30PM - Thornlie Team: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 T H E  VICTORIA 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 3 6 8 2  WESTERN AUST 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 12 3 An interesting, but largely irrelevant, trend was maintained from the previous series contested by these teams when the team that recorded most hits found themselves on the losing side of the runs ledger again! The only thing that will matter to the travelling Victorian Aces will be the fact that they grabbed the victory in this vital series opener and now need to win just one of the remaining two games to secure the Southern Division title... if only it were just that simple! This game started as a tremendous pitching dual between Victoria's renowned big-gamer Greg Wiltshire and WA's new professional ace Liam Hendriks who each worked splendidly through 6.2 innings for their respective teams. In truth, Wiltshire had to battle a little harder to limit the possible damage from eight WA hits, a pair of hit batters and a couple of walks, whereas the more clinical Hendriks allowed only five hits and a walk from the same journey. Young Hendriks struck out nine compared with Wiltshire's six and he would have been a clear victor before the seventh inning started.  Entering the top of the seventh, Hendriks seemed to be sailing along with a two-run lead in the game and he had posted strikeouts numbers eight and nine before three successive hits ended with a Rikki Johnston two-RBI triple and posted the only two runs against Hendriks statistics for this game. Had Liam Hendriks been lifted after getting those first two outs in the seventh, his awesome pitching line would have read; 6.2ip 2h 0er 1bb 9k (WOW!) and he might well have played the major role in a magnificent shutout victory! Wiltshire also secured two outs in the bottom half of the seventh before back-to-back hits knocked him out for the day. Both starting pitchers could be very proud of their efforts in this big game.  Professional lefty Adam Bright quickly ended the threat in the seventh, but he ran into trouble after two outs in the eighth, leaving a serious bases loaded jam and deadlocked 3-3 game in the hands of Victoria's highly experienced righty Russell Spear who has not done as much pitching this year as in previous seasons. The poised Spear proceeded to throw three of the most important pitches of his long career with a strike one, strike two and strike three punch-out of an infuriated Luke Hughes who found himself tossed by the plate umpire. The Aces summoned ace closer Matthew Blackmore to nail down the win that looked very likely after the Victorian offence had ratted on a three-run buffer in the top of the ninth. However, the drama was not quite over when WA rallied again in the bottom of the ninth after a leadoff Balgera hit and an error enabled Brandon Dale to drive in a run with a ringing double. The West looked capable of least squaring the game after de San Miguel walked, but when Blackmore snagged a line drive "come backer" up the middle and doubled-up Dale not tagging at third base, it was an anti-climactic end to a really enthralling contest between two teams that seem remarkably evenly matched.  For WA, Travis Murphy and Brendan Thomas each snared one out at the expense of a double before making way for their regular closer Chris Goadby who has been as tough as anyone at the end of games this year, but it was not his day today. With one out in the ninth Goadby completely lost his radar and three successive walks saw him lifted with bases loaded for former pro Dylan Peacock who saw three Victorian runs score, but none of those were earned against his stats line. The experienced Paul Weichard and Brad Harman each batted 2-5 while driving in two runs and one run respectively. New star Scott McIntyre added to his outstanding debut AMLB season with 2-3 and a walk, while Rikki Johnston supplied the biggest blow for the Victorians with his two-RBI triple than finally knocked out WA ace Hendriks in the seventh inning.  For the hosts, seasoned star Clint Balgera always seemed to be on base, and he was, with a prolific 4-4 plus a walk. Regular hit producers Brandon Dale, Tim Kennelly and Mitch Graham each latched onto two safe hits, while Kennelly also walked and Dale was hit by a pitch. Impressive professional catcher Allan de San Miguel nailed one double and he also milked two free passes as a very useful team contribution. Balgera, Graham and the Dales, Brandon and Lachlan, each drove in a run for the West Australian cause.  So far there has been an eerie similarity between the four games contested by these teams in Claxton Shield 2008. In each game the tide has turned late in the game and the final outcome has not been certain until the very last pitch is thrown. If this continues we are in for a heck of a ride as the hosts know that anything less than two wins will cause elimination for them. The Victorian team know that they have have earned two chances to grab one more win, but it will not come without a fight to the death! It's good stuff folks...  VICTORIA PITCHING: Greg WILTSHIRE 6.2ip 8h 2er 2bb 6k; Adam BRIGHT 1.0ip 2h 1er 2bb 0k;  Russell SPEAR (W) 0.1ip 0h 0er 0bb 1k; Matthew BLACKMORE (S) 1.0ip 2h 1er 1bb 1k. OFFENCE:  Paul WEICHARD 2-5 (2RBI); Brad HARMAN 2-5 (RBI); Scott McINTYRE 2-3; Rikki JOHNSTON 1-3 (2RBI);  Andrew RUSSELL 1-4.  WEST AUSTRALIA PITCHING:  Liam HENDRIKS 6.2ip 5h 2er 1bb 9k; Travis MURPHY 0.1ip 1h 1er 0bb 0k; Brendon THOMAS 0.1ip 1h 0er 0bb 0k; Chris GOADBY (L) 1.0ip 0h 2h 3bb 0k;  Dylan PEACOCK 0.2ip 1h 0er 0bb 1k. OFFENCE: Clint BALGERA 4-4 (RBI); Tim KENNELLY 2-4; Mitch GRAHAM 2-5 (RBI); Brandon DALE 2-5 (RBI);  Allan de SAN MIGUEL 1-3; Luke HUGHES 1-4; Lachlan DALE 0-4 (RBI).

SOUTH DIVISION - SERIES 5 - GAME 2 - Fri 25 JAN 2008 - 6:30PM - Thornlie Team: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 T H E  VICTORIA 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 7 1  WESTERN AUST 1 0 0 0 0 3 1 2 X 7 12 0 The equation was simple for Western Australia... win or watch the Victorians advance to the Claxton Shield final. Their formula for success would also be quite simple... go with the increasing impressive Mark Kelly who has already humbled the Aces on their own soil at Melbourne Ballpark. Kelly would prove to be the perfect Aces' antidote once again. Yep, Mark Kelly proved himself the man for big occasion again here at Thornlie with a tremendously effective tutorial on the subject of starting pitching. He scattered just six Victorian hits over seven innings, while striking out seven in a brilliant win for himself and a vital one for his team. Only a Paul Weichard sacrifice fly in the sixth managed to snap his shutout in a performance that clearly frustrated some of the renowned Aces hitters... always a great sign for the pitcher! Backing up Kelly would be former Los Angeles Angels pro Dylan Peacock who seemed to enjoy the relative comfort of a solid 4-1 lead when he came into the game and only a Brad Harman solo home run in the eighth would cause him the slightest concern. This was especially evident after his lead was expanded to 7-2 before he took the mound for the top of the ninth which he terminated in a rapid-fire 1-2-3 inning. However, for all of WA's apparent pitching dominance in this game, the Victorian Aces still managed to tie the game at 1-1 after the top half of the sixth inning and it was only an untimely infield error that enabled the West to score two of its three game-breaking runs in the bottom of the same frame. Leading the way for the visitors was another former LA Angels pro Brendan Wilson who had been Victoria's best starter in the opening series in Adelaide, but he missed the previous home series against Western Australia. Young Wilson did not bring his very best stuff on this occasion and two first inning walks were punished (aren't they always?) by a Luke Hughes RBI double. As a sign of his growing maturity, Brendan still found a way to battle on in spite of allowing seven hits and four walks over his 5.1 innings stint. He had thrown quite a few pitches by the time that a walk, two hits and a hit batter called for him to be relieved on the mound by his club manager and venerable pitching master Lee Hogan.  Hogan has often been the "fireman" for Victoria since his return to the 'big league' in 2007 and he would have been again if not for the immediate infield error that should have produced an inning-ending double-play... instead it would add the two game-breaking runs onto the WA scorecard as the Victorian spirits nosedived. Hogan returned to pitch the seventh inning, but by that stage the hosts were feeling no pressure and they added another run via a double, a single and a fielder's choice. Left-hander Andrew Dewar has also been first-class for the Aces this summer, but he also suffered in this game after getting the first two outs in the eighth. Three successive hits cost him two more "insurance runs" for WA. In the end there could be no doubting WA's 12-7 advantage in the safe hits column, yet Victoria will rue the fact that seven of those came during the final three WA batting innings when much of the "sting" had gone out of the game. Leading the hit parade for the West were the most valuable Kennelly brothers, Tim batting 2-3 and Matt batting 2-4 with a RBI. Brandon Dale also batted 2-4, while Luke Hughes produced 2-5 with a RBI. Back hitting instead of pitching was the versatile Dean White who topped the run suppliers with two driven in, followed by Andy Kyle and Lachlan Dale with one each. AROOS star Brad Harman was the best hitter for Victoria with 2-3 that included his solo home run, while the hot-hitting Danny Berg chimed in with another 2-4, as did the increasingly consistent Rikki Johnston. Paul Weichard drove in the Aces only other run in this game with his sacrifice fly. The Victorian camp could not agree but, for the benefit of the Perth hosts and all neutral supporters, this was the result needed to keep the fire burning under this most interesting return series that will decide the Southern Division title. WA clearly deserved their victory in this game, but it all starts at 0-0 again tomorrow when they play for all the marbles!  WEST AUSTRALIA PITCHING:  Mark KELLY (W) 7.0ip 6h 1er 1bb 7k; Dylan PEACOCK 2.0ip 1h 1er 0bb 1k. OFFENCE: Tim KENNELLY 2-3; Matt KENNELLY 2-4 (RBI); Brandon DALE 2-4; Luke HUGHES 2-5 (RBI);  Dean WHITE 1-1 (2RBI); Andrew KYLE 1-4 (RBI); Clint BALGERA 1-2; Allan de SAN MIGUEL 1-3;  Lachlan DALE 0-5 (RBI).  VICTORIA PITCHING: Brendan WILSON (L) 5.1ip 7h 3er 4bb 2k; Lee HOGAN 1.2ip 2h 1er 1bb 1k;  Andrew DEWAR 1.0ip 3h 2er 1bb 1k. OFFENCE:  Brad HARMAN 2-3 (HR-RBI); Daniel BERG 2-4; Rikki JOHNSTON 2-4; Mathew KENT 1-4;  Paul WEICHARD 0-3 (RBI)

SOUTH DIVISION - SERIES 5 - GAME 3 - Sat 26 JAN 2008 - 4:00PM - Thornlie Team: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 T H E  VICTORIA 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 4  WESTERN AUST 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 5 7 2 One little conspiracy that the West Aussies had concocted for their visitors would be their decision to play this game at the ungodly hour of 4:00pm instead of the usual 6:30pm, under the guise of needing to get the game finished so that the locals could enjoy their much feted Australia Day fireworks. Of course, the real reason was to get the Aces out on the diamond in the hottest part of the day when only the locals could possibly stand the searing sunshine... just kidding! I didn't need to mention that it was extremely hot in Perth again did I?... now that would be stating the obvious!  I'm not going to pretend for most of our loyal subscribers that, as a proud and lifelong Victorian, we were not more than a little deflated by the final game of this series that saw our beloved Aces chucked out of the race for the 2008 Claxton Shield. It certainly was not a red-letter day for Victorian baseball, but we must admire the resilience and perseverance of the home-standing West Australians who hung in this game and ultimately snatched the big prize out from under the noses of the far too gracious and generous Vics.   Major league pitcher Travis Blackley was the man entrusted with the big start for the Victorians, but for a few very ugly minutes it didn't look like he'd last long enough to get a single out! Travis was obviously lacking a lot of work since the end of the 2007 US professional season, but he would still find it extremely frustrating. Graham doubled, moved to second on a baulk, Tim Kennelly walked, a botched pickoff scored a run, Hughes walked... all this before Blackley looked even remotely likely to get anyone out. To say that things looked grim for both Blackley and Victoria would be a massive understatement!  The great news for the Aces was that Travis Blackley suddenly called upon all his pride and class to steer his sinking ship away from the rocks. Not only did Blackley pitch his way out of that first inning jam with a couple of swinging strikeouts, but he then went on to look every bit the major league standard pitcher he is with four more most impressive scoreless innings. By the time that Blackley left the game he seemed to have steered his Victorian team on a course to the Claxton Shield Grand Final with a 2-1 lead that felt far more comfortable than the narrow gap in the score.  The generous Victorians had already passed up a golden opportunity to grab a decisive lead in the game in the fifth inning when class veteran Russell Spear was asked to take over the mound from Blackley who simply didn't have the conditioning to last any longer under these conditions and at this stage of his season. Spear maintained the safe passage for Victoria in the sixth, but a couple of horrible errors in the seventh would allow Mitch Graham to unleash a RBI double that felt like a torpedo hitting a mid-ships for the Aces who had just gifted WA scoreboard parity in the game.  Left-hander Adam Bright was the man called upon to take over the bottom of the eighth, hoping to quell a WA team that seemed suddenly re-energised by not having to play the game from behind. After claiming a strike out, the Victorian ship felt like it had crashed into an iceberg when another infield error deprived them of the second out. Who knows what this did to change the navigation of the game, but the momentum had very obviously swung and it was not much of a surprise when Brandon Dale followed with a single and Matt Kennelly banked three monster runs with his cracking home run shot over the left-centrefield fence. The game was well and truly over as a serious contest. While the Victorians may have contributed to their own fate in this game, much of the credit should also be allocated to the West Australian pitching that has not really allowed the Aces to break out for any significant rallies throughout the six games of the home and away series. Today's starter was impressive young Philadelphia Phillies pro Scott Mitchinson who clearly enjoyed the chance to set his record straight after his untidy last start loss to SA. This time Mitchinson was, more typically, a model of efficiency with only five hits and six strikeouts from his terrific seven innings of pitching mastery.  Brendon Thomas continues to be a go-to-guy for WA, but he wasn't given much rope when he allowed a one out hit to Aces skipper Mathew Kent in the eighth. You didn't need to be clairvoyant to guess that maturing Detroit Tigers lefty Brendan Wise would be jogging in from the bullpen. Unlike his previous games in Claxton Shield where he has often been struck by nerves, Wise has appeared to be a picture of confidence during Claxton Shield 2008. He put an immediate full-stop on any Victorian threat in the eighth with a double-play ball and he supplied the exclamation mark on the WA victory with a game-ending double-play in the ninth. Brendan Wise can be a very nasty "stopper" these days! It is far from unusual that the most important baseball games seem to be pitching dominated contests and this Division decider certainly fitted its billing. Mitch Graham continues to be a superstar for the West this summer and he capped his last preliminary game with another match-winning 3-4 plus a run batted in. However, he probably wouldn't mind handing the headlines to young Matt Kennelly whose three-run homer put the all-important gap on the scoreboard. Only Rikki Johnston managed two hits for the Aces, while Paul Weichard supplied their only RBI via a sacrifice fly.  Our sincere and hearty CONGRATULATIONS to the West Australian team for being the first state to book their passage through to the 2008 Claxton Shield Championship series.  WEST AUSTRALIA PITCHING:  Scott MITCHINSON 7.0ip 5h 1er 1bb 6k; Brendon THOMAS 0.1ip 1h 0er 0bb 0k;  Brendan WISE (W) 1.2ip 1h 0er 1bb 0k. OFFENCE: Mitch GRAHAM 3-4 (RBI); Matt KENNELLY 1-4 (3RBI); Luke HUGHES 1-3; Brandon DALE 1-3;  Allan de SAN MIGUEL 1-4.  VICTORIA PITCHING: Travis BLACKLEY 5.0ip 3h 0er 2bb 4k; Russell SPEAR 2.0ip 2h 0er 1bb 1k;  Adam BRIGHT (L) 1.0ip 2h 2er 0bb 1k. OFFENCE:  Rikki JOHNSTON 2-4; Glenn MASCOLL 1-1; Brad HARMAN 1-3; Paul RUTGERS 1-3; Daniel BERG 1-4;  Mathew KENT 1-4; Paul WEICHARD 0-3 (RBI).

Leaving the South Australians aside for a moment, this really was a tremendous battle between two teams who came from opposite directions, but finally confronted each other as very evenly matched opponents that produced six contests of high intensity, if not always the highest quality.

As we have praised them many times already, the West Australians deserve great credit for reacting as they did to a miserable winless home tournament in 2007. Not only did they come back with a slightly improved and a slightly more mature team, but they spared no expense or energy to give their players the best possible preparation by supplying them that most valuable real-game competition. 

In almost total contrast, the defending Claxton Shield Champion Victorian Aces would go into this series with a squad sprinkled with big names, along with other very experienced and proven campaigners. What the Victorians would lack was any significant preparation as a team and the stability of knowing exactly what players would be available for each series. This lack of continuity, combined with the short span of each series did not make life easy for the Aces this season. 

If you want to examine WA's success in this series in a more global context, it does, once again, demonstrate the relative equality of the baseball talent around Australia and the undeniable fact that victory is usually achieved by "intangibles" such as hunger, team spirit and, most importantly, PREPARATION! Well done to Baseball WA, we tip our caps to you!

In a far cry from their 2007 batting drought, five of WA's most important batters have shone through with good numbers from the preliminary games of this tournament. Clinton Balgera provided us with a reminder of his AMLB pedigree with a team high .450, while he and pro catcher Allan de San Miguel (.289) have been the big improvers in later series. Mitch Graham continues to be a consistent stand-out with his .385, while Luke Hughes .304 just shades the Kennelly brothers, Matt with .298 and Tim with .289... these young fellows are really coming of age!

Liam Hendriks 3-0, 1.90ERA and Mark Kelly 3-0, 3.00ERA have been the cornerstones of WA's success in Claxton Shield 2008 with their consistently dominant starting pitching, while Scott Mitchinson gives every impression that he is ready to make an even bigger impact in the Grand Final series. Brendan Wise with 1-0, 1.35ERA from four appearances has become a real bullpen key for WA, while Dylan Peacock has also been excellent with his 1-0, 1.93ERA from five games. It is also fair to say that ALL of West Australia's pitching staff have done an important job at Claxton Shield 2008.

Another important, but sometimes overlooked, factor for Western Australia was the dominance of their defence that was so important to the effectiveness of their pitching. In blunt statistical terms, WA's overall .976 fielding percentage quite easily outstripped the .955 achieved by their opponents.

Just to validate the influence of WA's pitching, the Victorian Aces still have much stronger overall batting statistics from their series so far, but I don't want to go into so much detail as they still have three home games against SA remaining. Emerging star Daniel Berg remains their top hitter with his .400 average and .750 slugging percentage, even though the quality of Brad Harman didn't take long to surface with his .455 average from these three games in Perth. Of the regular Aces, Scott McIntyre and Paul Weichard both share .333, while Paul Rutgers and Andrew Russell share .324. Rikki Johnston came through again in this series to raise his average to .314, while Matt Kent is still batting .297. The underrated Glenn Mascoll is batting .357 from just 14 at bats, while injured young star James Beresford sits on .286 from his limited three games.

Traditional "horse" Greg Wiltshire with 0-1, 3.00ERA bounced back hard in this series to join Brendan Wilson 0-1, 3.18 as the Vics' top starters and it remains a little deceptive that both own losing records even though they have both started winning games! The immensely valuable veteran Lee Hogan didn't have much luck in Perth, but his record still stands at 1-0, 2.70ERA, while his veteran Aces team mate Russell Spear leaves Perth with a 1-0, 0.00ERA record from his two outings.

Our now standard tribute to umpiring crew ... TBA