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WEEK 3 SERIES  Game 18  Sat 21 NOV 2009

WA SNATCHES SERIES WITH 4-3 WIN OVER RAMS!

Sometimes writing about so many games in a compressed time scale gets wearisome but, when you get to analyse baseball games like those this past weekend, it just reminds you what a wonderful game we have been gifted with by our American allies. I embrace many sports; however, nothing seems to provide the same level of unpredictability and unrelenting interest as baseball. This thought was reinforced once again by another knife-edged 4-3 game, and series win, by the canny WA Heat in far away Queensland.

Somehow or other WA was good enough to overcome a pitching dominated game in spite of the four errors that might, most often, tilt such a narrow contest. This was crystallised by the fact that only one of the runs scored by the Rams was earned. Even allowing for that, the Heat spoiled a could-be triumphant Claxton Shield return by former ace P.J Bevis who, no surprise, overmatched TEN batters with strikeouts at the rate of nearly one-and-a-half per inning. Bevis, who can be overpowering, comes onto the bat pretty hard... long balls by ‘Mighty Mitch’ Graham and ‘Typhoon Tim’ Kennelly hurt him most and were chiefly responsible for saddling him with a loss that his offence maybe should have prevented.

To stick with the Rams, relievers Lamb and Timms were both effective, even though they could do no more than keep the score close behind their visitors. The same can be said for WA’s bullpen of Murphy, Driessen and Saupold who each avoided earned runs and, more importantly, kept the Heat ahead in the contest despite a couple of unearned runs that closed the gap in the eighth. Saupold earned the big save for his team.

Not yet mentioned is West Australian starter and former pro Dylan Peacock who should be regarded as an established star these days, even though he’s still just 21 years young. Peacock was the unsung hero in this game with his decisive six inning, winning start that saw just one run cross the plate and, while not as explosive as PJ’s double-figure Ks, he was more effective even though he walked three to make his home fans a bit more nervous.

To round off the Queensland commentary, it would not surprise many that young pros Baker and Naughton led the way with a pair of knocks each, while Trent Baker also walked to demonstrate the plate discipline he possesses. Shayne Watson singled and walked twice, while Melbourne’s own Andy Utting homered for the third time in this series and he walked later in the game to keep the dice tumbling.

Last report we mentioned the famous name of Nilsson and the possibly future-famous name of Kennelly, but one of the very first players we unanimously inducted into ‘Flintoff & Dunn’s HALL OF FAME’ was, naturally, super slugger and WA great Tony Adamson. To mention “breeding” again, it should not surprise any of us that blossoming San Diego pro, his son Corey Adamson, would make his mark here with a convincing 3-4 so early in his Claxton Shield life. To even suggest that he might have taken the bacon from Helms man Nick Kimpton, with 2-4 and a RBI, or ‘TK’ Kennelly, or two RBI homer hitter Mitch Graham surely says enough about what the future could hold for this young fellow.

So, in conclusion, the redoubtable WA Heat is, once again, in a prime position to challenge for a three-peat of Claxton Shield titles. The Queensland Rams have some work to do to put themselves back into contention but I’m not prepared to write them off just yet... it’s a tough gig!

Our now standard recognition for umpires Mark BRAMWELL, Paul LATTA and Gary COONAN.
 

WEEK 3 SERIES  Game 17  Sat 21 NOV 2009

GEELONG RAIN POSTPONES SERIES DECIDER!

This deciding game in what had been a most interesting and competitive series started in drizzling rain at Geelong that steadily became harder until the game was called with Brad Harman on first base for Victoria with nobody out in the bottom of the second inning.

Before that South Australia had posted two runs in the first inning from Victorian starter Greg Wiltshire when Jeremy Cresswell doubled then, after a 33 minute rain delay, Stefan Welch walked and 'Bashing Ben' Wigmore drove them both in with a two RBI double that bounced into the base of the centre field fence.

I don't think that anyone would deny the fact that the game was far from decided mid-way through the second frame but, personally, I still don't see why any statistics recorded in such weather shortened games should be erased from the record books. Ben Wigmore might not need the additional double or the two extra runs batted in, but Cresswell's double would have enhanced his numbers.

Victorians were quite confident that a better prepared Greg Wiltshire was more than capable of re-grouping for a solid outing yet I suppose he won't mind having this start expunged from his career numbers... that's baseball.

We will await news on the probability that this game will be re-played when Victoria visits Adelaide after Christmas.

Our now standard recognition for umpires Greg HOWARD, David MILTON and Mark GOODING.
 

WEEK 3 SERIES  Game 16  Sat 21 NOV 2009

WEST AUST REBOUNDS FOR 7-4 WIN IN QLD!

One word regularly associated with West Australian baseball during their past two Claxton Shield Championship seasons is “resilient”. It is a complimentary word that is always relevant in sports, but it maybe has more relevance to baseball than most others. Quite simply, it is the admirable ability to bounce back quickly from adversity with a positive outcome. Having been soundly beaten by the Queensland Rams last night, the resilient Heat hit back hard with solid 7-4 victory in game two.

And, significantly, it was a winning result fashioned by the West, even though their starting pitcher, future Philadelphia pro Dan Schmidt, didn’t manage to produce a quality start this time. To be honest none of the four pitchers in this shortened seven inning game really prospered, apart from newcomer Terrence Wohlever. He came into the game earlier than anyone, other than the Rams, would have hoped. By the end of the game he was an instant hero for the Heat with a debut win against tough opposition on the most distant away soil. His four-plus shutout innings was a vital contribution to the win that he so richly deserved.

Schmidt struggled, as did Queensland’s young professional duo Albury and Erasmus who could never quite contain the offensive power of the Western Australians on this day. That said, it didn’t help them to be at their best when a too regular sprinkling of defensive errors forced them to extend the number of outs required and to stretch their respective pitch counts.

Two names that couldn’t be ignored in this game, or for Australian baseball, are Kennelly and Nilsson. Quickly emerging young pro catchers Tim and Matt Kennelly are already established stars with the dual Claxton Shield Champions from WA and, if I remember correctly from meeting their father in Perth, there is a least one or maybe two more boys on the baseball horizon... this is not good news for rival states, but it might be great news for Aussie baseball.

The first generation of Nilsson’s Ron, Bobby, Gary and ‘Flintoff & Dunn’s #1 AMLB LEGEND’ David carried the family name with distinction through in ABL era, and beyond. Now we see the recent arrival of Jay, who played professionally with the Indians, and recently signed Indian Mitch, who are both nephews of ‘Big Dave’, we assume. They will keep the most famous name in Australian baseball prominence for maybe the next decade, and possibly beyond.

The Kennelly’s batted 4-6 with four RBIs in this game, with Tim taking the honours by virtue of his super 3-3 that comprised a RBI double, a two run jack over left field plus a walk, just for good measure. This should not completely overshadow Matt’s RBI double with an added hit by pitched ball. The Nilsson’s batted a combined 3-5 with three RBIs but, while Jay owned two of those hits and two of the RBIs, young Mitch also milked a walk. Let’s enjoy following these blue-chip blood lines.

To stick with the “pro guys” for a moment, WA’s Toronto Blue Jay, and son of an ex-pat Canadian, Chris House, also left the Holloway yard for a bomb over right field as part of his 2-4 that also comprised a RBI single. His power shaded Philly pro Alan Schoenberger who is making a name for himself so far this AMLB summer with his 2-4 that continues a very consistent, perhaps breakthrough, campaign for him. Underrated Steve Greer also drove in another run for the northern state hosts.

As they most often do lately, the WA Heat has ensured that they will fight out the series down to the last game. The outcome could produce a significant swing for the Rams who need to make a statement to ensure that they don’t lag too far behind in this tough competition. It’s early days!

Our now standard recognition for umpires Paul LATTA, Mark BRAMWELL and Gary COONAN.
 

WEEK 3 SERIES  Game 15  Sat 21 NOV 2009

VICTORIA HANGS ON TO BEAT SA 3-2!

These two life-long sporting rivals treated the hardy, I hesitate to say “crowd”, at Geelong with another intriguing contest on a fairly miserable day that threatened rain and ultimately made good on that threat with a washout of the nightcap. Josh Cakebread was narrowly short of his third hit for the game after his long ball found the glove of Andrew Russell just a few feet from the right field fence to end the game... it allowed the Victorian faithful to exhale with a nerve jangling and important 3-2 victory tucked away. It also inflicted the first defeat, a gallant one, on the visiting South Aussies. Had that ball travelled just a few feet more SA could have taken home a series triumph... who knows?

As it was that stirring finish may have unjustly spoiled a terrific pitching effort from former Provincial stalwart Casey Jones who seems to be relishing his deserved opportunity to wear the navy blue Victorian uniform with his second win from as many starts this summer. Jones called upon all of his renowned poise and skill to stay resolutely on top of the SA batting, walking one and striking out nine in his seven-plus innings. Only into the eighth did he start to show signs of faltering when a pair of doubles plated his only run allowed for the game.

Not quite as dominant as Jones, but equally as competitive as ever, was lion-hearted veteran Darren Fidge who kept his team squarely in the contest with a typical seven inning quality start. Even though he was consigned to a hard-luck loss, not for the first time in his illustrious career, this guy never gives anything less than everything he has. Reliever Chris Lawson also kept the game very much alive with a solid eighth inning when only an unearned run scored on an error was the unfortunate, but decisive, outcome.

Backing up Jones for Victoria was Geelong local Elliot Biddle who did a neat job to contain the threat in the eighth but, a leadoff walk to Wigmore and a one out single saw the Aces clinging precariously to the lead with runners at the corners. There was unanimous belief among Victorian supporters that veteran star Lee Hogan would be the man called upon to face the fire... and of course he was. Hogan secured the big second out at the expense of a sacrifice fly by Angus Roeger, before facing the in-form Cakebread with a runner still aboard. Lee didn’t appear too concerned when Cakebread’s fly ball fell agonisingly short for him and, when I spoke to him later, Hogan flashed a hint of a grin when he described the hit as a “pop up”... yes folks, it was a 350 feet pop up!

A remarkable thing happened to end Victoria’s eighth and final inning in this game... Josh Davies grounded out to the second baseman. What’s so remarkable about that, you might well ask? Well, after two more hits and a walk from his first three plate appearances today he had not been retired in this series while batting a “lazy” 7-7. We mentioned that he was seeing the ball like a water melon, but you might have to change that to the planet Jupiter. His 2-3 again headlined the Aces offence in this game. ‘Rusty’ Russell opened the Vics scoring with his RBI single and he later walked, as did Brad Harman who added a walk to his earlier double. Matt Lawman continues to enjoy a solid campaign with the bat after driving in another most important run.

Mathew Smith joined Cakebread as a multi-hitter for South, while Cresswell and Roeger were the all important run producers in a very tight contest. Some will be sick of us mentioning Ben Wigmore so, in that case, we won’t mention that he hit and walked for twice more on base.

The Victorian Aces were happy to have levelled the series, but they were no so happy that their chances of a home series victory were thwarted by the rain out of the deciding game, as you will later hear. It was a most entertaining and evenly matched series while it lasted!

Our now standard recognition for umpires Mark GOODING, Stewart HOWE and David MILTON.
 

WEEK 3 SERIES  Game 14  Fri 20 NOV 2009

QUEENSLAND QUELLS WA HEAT 8-1!

Andrew Utting is a former professional catcher who played for the Melbourne Reds in the ABL as the younger brother of long-time Victorian star Ben Utting. His biggest claim to fame was once hitting a home run from US pitching great Dwight ‘Dr K’ Gooden while filling in at ‘AAA’ level with the Baltimore Orioles. He may not have superseded that feat here, but his two booming home runs over Holloway’s right field in this game for four RBIs would surely be among the highlights of his AMLB career.

You would normally expect that such a performance would make him a lock for the game MVP award but, on this occasion, he might have to share that honour with his pitching team mate Simon Morriss who enjoyed a “career game” on the bump for Queensland with his tremendous complete game victory. In fact, had he not been stretched in the last inning to allow his only run on three hits, this would surely have ranked among those absolute greatest starts in Claxton Shield history. As it was, he was brilliant in allowing just two other hits through his first eight shutout innings with just one free pass and six strike outs.

I haven’t seen enough of him in person to presume that he is a predominantly “fly ball pitcher’ even though eleven of his victims in this game were dismissed in this manner. Simon Morriss may have had a varied career at national level to date with more good outings than bad; however, this could prove to be the impetus for him to really put his name forward as an elite pitcher going forward... nice work!

Mark Kelly was his opposing starter from WA and, while he has already established his credentials, this was not to be his finest day. Kelly toiled hard until Utting homered in the fourth to break the scoring ice, then it became a real struggle for Mark after that. Only a very timely double play saved him from further pain before Brad Dutton homered in the fifth but, when he walked his third batter for the inning, he was lifted in favour of Todd Murphy.

Murphy wasn’t really able to stem the flow either after starting with two walks, the second of which produced a bases-loaded RBI. They were first of five walks he surrendered across his 3.1 innings and these certainly hurt him almost as much as Utting’s three run bomb in the eighth that added a nasty bulge to his numbers for the day.

I’ve mentioned Utting’s two long balls and Morriss’ pitching heroics but only those efforts could overshadow that of reliable former Helms Award winner Brad Dutton whose 4-5 included his own RBI jack over right field and another RBI double in the eighth... this guy can hit folks! Cleveland ‘A’ league pro Trent Baker also batted a strong 2-3 plus a walk, while Phillies pro Alan Schoenberger remained hot with a single and a walk. Another pro Joel Naughton walked twice, as did Wade Dutton.

Among WA’s meagre five hit total only Matt Kennelly’s RBI single activated their scoreboard. Bother Tim Kennelly doubled and was hit by a pitch, while Mitch Graham did likewise with a double and a HBP.

For West Australia it was a simple case of too much Morriss, too much Utting, too much Dutton and too many darned walks. Queensland, on the other hand, would be feeling good about being back on home turf for an uplifting win. They now need to dominate the series to make up some ground.

Our now standard recognition for umpires Mal MACKAY, Paul LATTA and Mark BRAMWELL.
 

WEEK 3 SERIES  Game 13  Fri 20 NOV 2009

SOUTH AUSSIES STUN VICTORIA 6-4!

If South Australian baseball had been in the doldrums since their unfortunate semi-final loss way back in 2007, then the cavalry has certainly arrived to give them a significant boost. We won’t go as far as to suggest that the US “Foreign Legion” has come to rescue the cause, because this would be inaccurate. Yes, we believe that there are a few “non nationals” appearing in this SA team, even though we cannot yet verify exactly how many, but these guys are only adding some strength and depth to the core group of local players who have carried the flag proudly for them through the tough times.

I’m not going to pass judgement on the philosophy or wisdom of allowing “foreign” players to compete in our traditional Claxton Shield competition, but it is much more like our former ABL National League setup. Traditionalists like me might not prefer it, but if it does help to boost interest and support in South Australia just ahead of our new National League, then I guess there is a bigger picture to consider here?

Even though Wayne Ough is a former ‘Banana Bender’, it was not foreign players who shackled the Victorian Aces but the experienced pitching trio of former South Aussie professionals Paul Mildren and Dushan Ruzic, plus Ough of course. It is clear that SA was determined to maintain their momentum in this opening game by rolling out some of their strongest pitching. Mildren battled early and rode his luck at times, but in the end he earned a meritorious win for the team.

Ruzic locked down a couple of important middle innings until he left Ough with a nasty mess to tidy up in the eighth. The experienced Ough may never have toiled so hard to record a save before in his lengthy career. He managed to scramble out of an inherited bases loaded jam with one out in the eighth, then he fashioned his own bases loaded challenge with two out in the ninth. He emerged as a hero for the red shirts after escaping from both situations with the visitors still leading 6-4 on the scoreboard.

Victoria’s Donavon Hendricks has been particularly effective as a starting pitcher at this level, however, this was not to be his day, or is that night. The game two starter from week one was shuffled into the game one slot for this series and not a lot went right for him. After a strong first inning he battled a borderline leadoff walk to open the second before three successive singles, none hit really hard, saw him on the ropes and the Aces’ two run lead was overrun. The SA hitters had clearly decided to tee off on him early in the count and a leadoff triple by Jeremy Cresswell in the third opened the gate for another two runs... this saw Hendricks consigned to an early shower.

Had Victoria managed to rally for a win in this game, the major hero would have been reliever Matty Blackmore who has had a nice career in Claxton Shield baseball, but all of that has come in brief relief situations, unlike his extended 6.1 innings of mastery on this occasion. The laconic Blackmore was quite outstanding with those six-plus scoreless innings, striking out six, walking none and allowing just three hits. He deserves hero status even though his team was on the losing side of the equation.

Strangely, even though the South Australians grabbed the whip hand quickly after the Aces staked a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, the hosts would eventually out-hit the visitors 11-8… not that this always means much. Contributing to this with almost half the hits for the Vics was former pro, third baseman Josh Davies who enjoyed a remarkable “career game” with 5-5 and three RBIs. Davies has been good before, but rarely have we seen him dominate in quite this way. He is seeing the ball like it is a water melon and his sweet timing is finding the gaps to perfection. Confidence has always been a marvellous thing in any sport! Solid first baseman Hayden Dingle was the only other batter with multiple hits for Victoria, while Brad Harman drove in the other run for his team. Harman also walked to add to his hit, as did star outfielder Andrew Russell.

‘Dangerous Dan’ Wilson was the only two-hit man for SA, while Stefan Welch doubled and was plonked by a pitch. Speaking of hit batters, Ben Wigmore must feel like has a target sewn on his uniform as nobody, surely, has been hit nearly so often as he has over the past few seasons. ‘Wiggy’ singled, walked and, yes again, was hit by a pitch to keep him relatively quiet on this occasion. Even putting him on base seems a better option than letting him dictate with the stick!

South Australia remains undefeated after their opening four games of this series… this already equals their total of four wins from their Claxton Shield campaigns in 2008 and 2009 combined. The Aces will need to regroup quickly to get a positive result from this important home stand.

Our now standard recognition for umpires Stewart HOWE, David MILTON and Greg HOWARD.