Against an undermanned Franksto Tomatoes we were able to cruise to a comfortable albeit less than convincing victory, helping us to a 3 - 1 record and a healthy ladder position. With novice pitcher Glen Ferret Mascoll in control throughout for his first complete game winner the Dodgers were rarely troubled. Best of the hitters were Scott Wearne 4,JJ O'Conner, Ryan Berg,Adam Bonaddio, Adam Silva and Luke Farrelley 2and Alex DaSilva and Glen Richards 1. A tough game awaits this weekend against local rivals the Dandenong Angelsand with the Dodgers missing Sam Beasley and Ryan Berg at the schoolboys in Perth and Scott Wearne finally in the USA the team will need to show improvement to be in the contest
A2 - Berwick 6 def. Frankston 1.
Prelude: The team manager returned to the fold this week after his scouting drive in the sunshine state. After conducting a number of tryouts with potential first basemen, the manager feels humbled, and a little ashamed, that he thought that a player of Paul Quinn's inimitable ability could be replaced. Thanks to Ben Bartlett for giving the necessary encouragement which allowed Paul to blossom and show off his extraordinary skills. Congratulations on a fantastic game last week Paul. The manager does feel that maybe just a skerrick of the criticism leveled at Paul may have sown the seed of inspiration and opened the door to let the sunshine in to allow his confidence to grow.
Match Report: Another beautiful sun shiny day greeted the team as we prepared for the inevitable onslaught from the tomatoes. The number of sore heads around was a bit of a concern to a few but not the ever confident manager. The first 2 digs came and went in a blur of 4 K's for Michael on the hill, along with a good strong hit up the middle. I do not know why but official ineptitude, (OI hereafter), always seems to make an appearance at most games and today was no different. Michael got out of the top of the third inning and scores were still 0-0. Michael led off with a walk and then after taking a piece of advice from the manager, Paul Quinn slotted a line drive into the right field corner for a stand up triple and scoring Michael. Shaun Fahey then hit to right field to score Paul. Andrew Peulan walks to advance Shaun, Jesse Gavan hits to right field to score Shaun. At the completion of three innings the good guys are up 3-0.
The top of the 4 th saw the Frankston hitters take advantage of some OI resulting in a single run being scored. In the bottom of the 4 th single base hits to Jesse and Jack were not enough to trouble the scorer. Speaking of scorers, ours is the wonderful Mandy Avent, and what a sensational job Mandy does, so on behalf of the team THANKS MANDY. At the completion of the 4 th inning Dodgers 4 – Tomatoes 1
The 5th inning saw another Frankston batter nearly cross the plate as a result of the only error produced by the dodgers today. Just a little bit of skill lacking in one department. John did all he could, but was let down. Nice job Puss. Benny took a fast ball in the back, the brave soldier that he is, Paul hits again, Andrew hits to score Benny, John gets a free pass, Rowan gets his second free pass which scores Paul. After 5 Dodgers 6 – Tomatoes 1
With Michael in complete control on the hill it's 3 up and 3 down for the Tomatoes. Benny leads off with a four week muscle tear to the groin resulting in the manager coming into the game. With the Frankston pitcher struggling for control he is replaced but the Dodgers are unable to take advantage. Dodgers 6 – Tomatoes 1.
The top of the 7 th the manager shows great judgement in moving from 5 to 4 and putting John at 5 resulting in a great running bare hand pick up and throw to 3 for an out. Great job Puss. The bottom of the inning sees the Dodgers 3 up 3 down.
Top of the 8 th Michael finished off the job not allowing the Tomatoes anything. The bottom of the 8 th saw a bit of a Dodger rally with a couple of walks and a hit to the manager to na avail as time was called mid inning. Final result Dodgers 6 – Tomatoes 1.
Next week it's the Dandenong Angels at their park.
See you on the Diamond
Jeeba
A3 - Berwick 10 lost to Frankston 17.
On a delightful saturday arvo, we took on an experienced Frankston team and although we were soundly beaten 17-10, we put in a good performance and was still encourged that we could have a successful season. Sean Howe started the game for 3 innings and was relieved by Daniel Betreen who did a good job for the remaining 5 innings. In the batting, we had 17 hits for the game with 2 hits going to Dick, Andy, Ben, Ryan, Daniel & Sean with singles to Cam B, Hilly, Cam Mc, Rene and cam Ross.
Even though we lost, keep up the good spirits boys, with 17 hits and scoring 10 runs will win us a lot of games.
A4 - Berwick 12 def. Frankston 5.
We travelled to the Patch on a fine and sunny Saturday to find the diamond in pristine condition ready to take on the “Tomatoes”. We jumped out of the blocks in the first with the return of “Lil' Mick” Leembruggen with a lead off hit being scored by the first of 4 hits from “Hughesey” who was inturn then scored off a towering homer from “Beefa” Lees to notch up 3 runs in the first inning. “Sammy” O'Connor started off on the hill and the “Tomatoes” hit back to post a run but we managed to close out the inning with loaded bases and no further damage. Sam was struggling with his location and a “mystery zone” in the second and after Frankston added 3 runs to take a 4 – 3 lead after 2 digs we threw the ball to “Hoges” and stopped the bleeding. We continued to bat the ball and eventually broke clear of Frankston. With a single, double and 2 big solo bombs to Brad Hughes teaming with “Hoges” single and double, “Sammy” and “Porno” Chinnock's double, a single and double to Steve Johnson and 2 hits to Kristol Pyke we had too much artillery for the “Tomatoes” and ground out a 12 -5 victory. Next week we host the top team Dandenong in what should be a sighter on where we need to be in the mix this season.
Till then – see you on the diamond.
Roger Greene.
Womens - Berwick 8 def. Doncaster 3.
The Dodger girls did well on the weekend, knocking off a sharp looking Doncaster line up. In her first game for the Dodgers, new recruit Taylor McKay looked good on the hill, throwing four innings and only giving up a couple of runs. Wearnie took the ball and threw the last 3, looking a little rusty, but she walked off the field after the game – so that has to be a positive.
With the bat this week it was again superstar Shae Lillywhite with 2, Houghy with 2, Taylor with 2 and a great double from young gun Sabrina Lees! No luck for Ash, who went up to bat 4 times, and was hit 4 times. Ouch! Facing off against Aussie Squad member Sinead Flanigan, the girls did well to stay in touch, with Shannas throwing with a bit of pop!
Some great plays at short stop by Houghy, including one in the hole, and some great plays at second base by Gabby and Jenna. Jess also did some good juggling work at first base. Also, special mention to Shae who got it done behind the dish this week. Ever the versatile player, Shae continues to hold the team together.
All in all, a lot of fun had by all. Thanks to Houghy for filling in, and welcome to new players Jenna and Tay. Next week we take on the Monash girls @ Monash. Looking forward to another fun game! Game time 2.30pm.
Under 16 - Berwick 15 def Cheltenham Blue 8.
In the absence of Peter Gelsi this week, Jeeba took over as coach of the undefeated team and continued on their winning way beating Cheltenham Blue 15-8. Jesse Gavin started the game and for 3-1/2 innings kept the Rustler bats quiet, was relieved by Chilly and then Jade Geaves closed out the game in her first pitching appearance in junior baseball. In the batting, Matt Chilcott had a huge day out with 2 hits, including a Grand Slam home run against quality pitching, and hitting in 5 R.B.I's for the game. Craig Barnett also had a good days batting with 3 hits and singles to Jesse, Ethan, Lachy and Turtle.
Under 14 - Berwick
Under 12 - Berwick def. Carrum Downs.
Playing at home this week against Carrum Downs started and ended well for Berwick. Richo was our starting pitcher and he did a great job. Giving up 2 runs to Carrum Downs in the 1st & 2nd Innings, to only allow them to score 4 runs for the whole game. He also got 7 strike outs for the 3 innings. Well done Richo. Rydge Hogan was the relief pitcher and with only having to pitch to 10 batters he also got 6 strike outs. Some fantastic pitching by the boys. With our hitting this week was Blake with a 3 base hit, Rydge with a 2 base hit and a single, and some other singles from Marchy (2), Richo (2), and Hope with 1. Scoring 7 runs for the game. Great catching from Marchy this week also. Also a special mention to our scorer Gill who was very hung over Saturday Morning. Thank you
