Thanks largely to the superb start of Adam Blackley and the Victorian offence that shortened yesterday's game into a seven inning sprint, Aces manager Phil Dale was afforded the luxury of giving most of his bullpen a nice workout in the third game of this series at Mt.Gambier. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the home team who also used a committee of pitchers, but theirs was more by necessity than design as they continue to struggle finding reliable arms for middle and late relief duties.

For Victoria, nasty lefty Dean Barker gave a thumbnail image of what he has very often been like over the years. When his control wanders he is capable of walking more than one per inning, but he also has that hard-to-hit stuff that will help him escape damage as he did here. At the end of the day it is unfair to criticise a performance that did not yield a run and Dean has been very good for the Aces so far this summer.

Making his first appearance for Victoria in Claxton Shield 2009 was Colorado Rockies ‘AA’ left-hander Adam Bright who would have enjoyed his scoreless cameo. Lefty No.3 was recent pro Donavon Hendricks who used a unique formula for success today. He started the seventh and eighth innings today by “plonking” both Tom Brice and then Dan Wilson with hit-by-pitched balls to allow a teasing leadoff runner. Then, on each occasion, he eradicated that pest by inducing a ground ball double-play!

Glen Richards was next entrusted to get just one out to complete the eighth, before Phil Dale did what I would consider a pretty intelligent thing. Promising nipper Blake Cunningham would not have been feeling too upbeat after watching a Victorian win slip away in the final inning against Queensland last outing. In these instances it is vital to “get back on the horse” and Dale didn’t hesitate to call his number again with a more secure lead in this game. Blake allowed a solo home run to Stefan Welch, but he concluded his day on a high by claiming the considerable scalps of Wigmore and Brice in the bottom of the ninth.

Seasoned professional Paul Mildren, who played ‘AAA’ ball for the Kansas City Royals organisation in 2008, was also making his first appearance for SA this campaign and, we guess, he could not stretch out beyond his two inning start just yet. It was a pity, because he looked capable of keeping the shackles on the Victorians with four successive strike outs to finish his nice cobweb reducing day at the office.

Once again, none of the SA relief corps was especially effective, but after Lawson, Doyle, Talbot and Eldridge had come and gone with some damage to their ERA, Tom Fiebig was maybe their best reliever in closing the last. Only a leadoff long ball to Brett Tamburrino would saddle him for a run.

On this occasion the Victorian offence was paced by their marvellous young catcher Grant Karlsen who, after years of being an understudy to Matt Kent, is starting to feel like he belongs as a front-line player at senior national level. Karlsen added some extra punch to his fine defensive work on this occasion with two doubles and two RBIs a very successful harvest.

Former pro pitching star Rikki Johnston was the only other Vic to rack up two hits, while the brilliant Brad Harman could only manage 1-2 with his RBI double. Brad wasn’t allowed to do much more damage because of three walks, one intentionally issued. Scotty Wearne and Brett Tamburrino each delivered two runs batted in, while Dingle and Rutgers recorded one each for the day. Jimmy Beresford set the tone for the day with a leadoff double in the first at bat for the afternoon and he also walked to put a productive lid on a wonderful weekend for him.

New York Mets professional Stefan Welch has started a little quietly in Claxton 2009, compared with Claxton 2008, but his ninth inning home run might be just the tonic to get him started after being hit by a pitch earlier in the game. Stalwart Jeremy Cresswell drove in South’s other run via one of his three walks, while Wigmore and Kempf were the only other safe hitters for the home boys. ‘Wiggy’ was also hit by a pitch for the umpteenth time recent Claxton Shield history, as one of five South Aussies to be nailed by pitched balls. It’s not much fun when you’re being beaten, and beaten-up at the same time!

The Victorian Aces will come away content with an away series sweep that keeps them clear atop the 2009 Claxton Shield table after two complete “Home & Away Rounds”. South Australia, tragically, are still without a win after battling hard and we really hope that they finish this competition on a more positive note.

Adam Blackley may well have been inspired by the recent return of his major league brother Travis to Australia. Just before heading off to Mt.Gambier Adam closed a combined shutout in Victorian club ball to back up Travis who had struck out 15 in seven innings! Adam Blackley hasn’t quite matched the electric stuff of big brother at this stage of his career, but his effort in this game was almost as effective and it came on a much bigger stage. His seven innings complete game shutout with six strike outs and only four hits is perhaps his finest display in Australian major league baseball. It not only ensured another valuable victory for the Aces, but it helped his manager to maintain a fresh bullpen.

Headlining the “Mercy Rule” run support for Blackley was his club mate and Minnesota Twins hot prospect James Beresford who must have driven the South Australians crazy with his two hits and two walks from five plate appearances. Better still, leadoff batter Jimmy also served a role as a run producer with his three RBI double and his RBI single. Beresford has been good before, but this may have been his best offensive effort to date. Another impressive young infielder Scott McIntyre chimed in again with 2-4 and two RBIs, while seasoned campaigners Paul Rutgers and Rikki Johnston both hit 2-4.

Victorian newcomer Scott Moore announced his arrival on the national stage with 1-1 and two RBIs. Brad Harman and Scott Wearne each drove in runs to cap another explosive 12-0 game for the Aces offence. Eleven hits and six walks would maintain the scoring momentum for the visitors.

The grandpappy of Australian pitching in this competition, Phil Brassington, would make his 71^st appearance and his 37^th AMLB start since his 1993 debut with the Canberra Bushrangers in the ABL. Believe it or not, the re-invented knuckleballer now throws slower than anyone in the Claxton Shield, but in his early days he threw as hard as anyone in the Australian Baseball League. ‘Brasso’ was just OK for the South Aussies today with a walk per inning not helping him to stay out of trouble. Tom Fiebig traded one hit for one out, while Lachlan Eldridge came up short of the required standard to be effective at this level. All-rounder Jared Kempf, who has batted reasonably well for SA during Claxton ’09, was inserted to soak up the last frame and he wasn’t the worst hurler seen on the mound here.

The handy Josh Cakebread supplied two of the ‘Croweaters’ paltry four hits while Fidge and Cresswell were the only others to excite the home scorer on this occasion. Adam Blackley demonstrated his class by limiting the heart of SA’s batting to zero hits and only a solitary walk to Ben Wigmore. Having done that it is no wonder that the hosts struggled to compete in this extremely one-sided Game 2.

A few significant things happened even before this series started at Mt.Gambier. Firstly, the inclusion of slugger Tom Brice would instantly bring a huge boost to the home-standing SA team, both in terms of offensive threat and team confidence. The visiting Victorians would have to do without in-form sluggers Danny Berg and Andrew Russell, but this would be somewhat balanced by the return of Brett Tamburrino and Scott Wearne to the squad.

Maybe the most significant thing to happen in the game was that the South Aussies would really enjoy some strong pitching for a rare moment lately that, thankfully, gave their offence a chance to stay in the game right to the bitter end of the tenth inning. Little known Michael Ewart built upon his brief debut start in Blacktown, while reliever Jay Ziersch enjoyed probably his finest moment over a long AMLB career that stretches back to the 1999 Adelaide Giants in the final season of the ABL.

Ewart allowed almost a hit and a walk per inning on the hill, but he did very well to limit the damage to just two runs, neutralising an Aces’ outfit that has been leaping out of the blocks offensively in most games this summer so far. 28yo right-hander Ziersch owns an ERA of 8.00 at this level of baseball, but he really “hung tough” for his team on this occasion to finally take a tough-luck loss in the first extra inning. Only an unearned run in the top half of the tenth would snatch what could have been an even more heroic performance from him.

Seasoned Victorian Darryn Cassidy missed his previous start with the Friday night rain-out in Melbourne last week, but he was back doing his customary thing in this series opener. As previously mentioned, there is seldom anything to guess about how Cassidy will pitch, no matter what the level. He will always give up a few hits too many, walk very few and, most importantly, he will bend but not break! Typically, only a solo homer by Brendan Pett and a manufactured run in the sixth would interrupt the effective sequence of zeroes on his part of the scoreboard.

Donnie Hendricks was solid enough once again with his 1.1 innings of scoreless pitching highlighted by a vitally important ground ball double-play induced from SA superman Ben Wigmore with the go ahead run(s) threatening. Matt Blackmore hasn’t quite enjoyed the same uncanny success ratio in the 2009 Claxton as he has previously, but he was back to his incisive sharpest here. Blackmore inherited a one on and one out situation in the eighth but, after walking Pett in the same inning, he then proceeded to mow down the last seven outs in succession. Two strike outs and five ground outs would put paid to SA’s hopes of a late victory, especially when he closed out his win in the last of the tenth with three ground balls induced from the heart of the South Australian batting order.

SA’s Brendan ‘Teachers’ Pett was the batting star of the game with his brilliant 3-3 punctuated by his swirling home run over right field to lead off the second frame. Not far behind him was prolific Victorian Brett Tamburrino, a former Claxton Shield Championship MVP, who marked his return to the Aces with another 3-4, plus a RBI. This guy just loves the Claxton Shield spotlight. For the hosts, Tom Brice and Josh Cakebread were the other two-hitters, while evergreen pitcher Darren Fidge drove in their other run as a re-invented outfielder.

Apart from the ‘Tambourine Man’, no other Vic managed multiple hits, but leadoff star Jimmy Beresford did his job with a hit and a hit by pitch, while Paul Rutgers walked twice and drove in a big run via a sacrifice fly. It was welcome news for Victoria to find Scott Wearne back in action quickly following what initially looked like a season-ending shoulder injury in Blacktown. Wearne, a renowned team player, walked once and then drove in the winning run with his hard-hit ground ball out to first in the tenth. And, word has it that Wearne also took one of the great Claxton Shield catches on a fouled fly ball.

In the wash-up, the Victorian Aces will not sneeze at another very useful win in this competition, especially after an extra-innings battle royal. The winless South Aussies might well be wondering what they need to do to secure a victory in Claxton 2009, but at least they will feel quite a bit better about the fact that they have been much more competitive here with Brice back in the fold.