Another bright sunny day greeted the players as they took to the field against the Angels, for this 1 v 2 battle of the unbeaten teams.
A few changes to the line up saw Benny “Dykstra” Bartlett on the hill and Craig “Junior” Barnett behind the dish. The top of the first saw John “Puss” O'Conner hit to left, Paul “Quinstar” Quinn advance on balls, Rowan “Rouser” Hall also advance on balls giving us bases loaded with 1 out. Unfortunately we were unable to “seal the deal” and score the run.
After that point the game settled down to a battle of the pitchers, with Dykstra v Bumpstead becoming an intriguing battle.
Of course, official ineptitude (OI) was surreptitiously present
through the early and middle innings of the game, and then the monster reared it's head to see Andrew “Bull” Peulan ejected from the game for a misdirected bat toss.
The bottom of the 7 th saw the only run of the game scored by the Angels, after an error in the field. A second run was saved by an “on the money” throw from 8 by new Dodger Darren “Gangles” Jobling.
Top of the 9 th was our last chance to get the run back. Quinstar led off with a hit to left, he advanced on a pass ball and then on a sac bunt by Matthew “Chilly” Chilcott. Again we are unable to “seal the deal” and score the run.
A very tight, tough game of baseball, resulting in a 1-0 loss. Nothing to be ashamed of. With a little more concentration on pitch selection, I am sure we would have had more than 3 hits for the day. Great job by both Dykstra (22 balls out of 92 pitches) and Junior.
Next week it's the Pirates at home.
See you on the Diamond
Jeeba
A3 - Berwick 8 def. Dandenong 2.
We have certainly been blessed so far with the weather this season and this week was no exception with the boys taking on third placed Dandenong, coming away with a hard fought 8 - 2 win. Sean Howe took to the mound and with a 129 pitch, 9 innings outing, showed his class restricting Dandenong to only 2 runs with 1 earned run. Our batting form continued again against some good, quick pitching from young U18 DBA pitcher Jake Kendall. Hits going to Dick and Andy with 2 each and singles to Hilly, Mark, Jnr lil legs, Cam Ross and to Sean with a 2 run single to left which broke open the tight 2-0 game in the 5th. Special mentions to Cam McRae with a sensational catch in left which stopped a Dandenong surge and a great bunt to set up runners into a scoring position. Andrew Hemmes had a great day at first base with some good stretching outs and hitting in 3 R.B.I's. Hilly behind the plate controlling the game and Dick "Twinkle Toes" Gyton controlling the outfield.
Keep up the good work boys and wins will follow.
BB
A4 - Berwick 5 lost to Dandenong 7.
In perfect conditions we prepared to take on the undefeated Angels at Cyril last Saturday. Rob Hogan took to the hill and started with an array of curve balls and change ups to lock down the Angels in the first. We put a little pressure on Dandenong's defence and took a slender early lead. He game closed up and both teams struggled to add runs until a throwing error from behind the plate and wild throw to first gave up the runs to give the Angels the lead in the 4 th . We continued to graft with the bat but Dandenongs defence held sway. Defensiely, we steadied and in the last dig mounted a charge which saw us with bases loaded and 2 out. Unfortunately with 10 of the 12 players getting single hits, we couldn't get the job done and went down 7 – 5 to the ladder leaders. Solid prformances from Marty “McFly” Kmet, Paul”Porno” Chinnock, “Hoges” , Mick “Fish” Whiting and “Hughesy”shows me that we have a line up that will be competitive this season, as long as we can manage our personnel the right way. Thanks again to Cam Boucher and Hughesy for calling the strikes.
Mornington away next Saturday.
Till then – see you on the diamond.
Roger Greene
Womens - Berwick 19 def. Monash Uni 2.
The Dodger girls were victorious for the third straight week, cementing their place at the top of the ladder, and having a bloody good time along the way! Wig and Shae did the damage with the ball, throwing 4 innings between them, and Jade Geaves did a great job having a go in relief.
With the bats, Shae continues to do the damage, hitting safely 3 times, and scoring 4 of our runs. Other good hits went to Wig, Ash, Jenna, Tay, Jess and Gab. But the stand out player of the day was Jade. She had two hits, including a huge double, and also took a great flyball at centrefield. Jade won the game day mvp ball.
Special mention to Kristol who did a great job behind the dish, Gill who is injured but continues to work hard as our first base coach, and Cass, who took the reigns as head coach for the first time and did a great job.
Next week the girls take on Moorabbin @ Carrum Downs, 10am. Get down and support the girls as they chase their fourth win for the season.
Congratulations!!
The team would also like to say congratulations to Shae Lillywhite, who has been selected once again to represent Australia. Shae will be going to Venezuela in August to represent Australia in the fourth Annual IBAF Women's Baseball World Cup. This is a great honour for Shae, and for our club.
A fundraiser is being planned for sometime in July, please get behind this as we help Shae fundraise to get to the Tournament. Well done Shae!!
Under 16 - Berwick 9 def. Mornington 1.
The boys took the long trip down to Mornington this week and came away with a resounding 14-1 win, which reverted back to 9-1. Jesse Gavin took to the mound first and continued his excellent form, throwing a 68% strike rate and restricting Mornington to 1 unearned run and striking out 7 of there bats. Craig B relieved in the last innings, striking out 2 hitters. In the batting, David Mulhall made the most of his half game, hitting a grand slam home run and finishing with 6 R.B.I's for the game. Chilly, also had a great hitting game, batting 1000% for the game with 4 hits and 1 walk. Other hits went to Scott Simpson with 2 hits and singles to Joel and Craig.
Under 14 - Berwick
After a disappointing forfeit to Mornington Pirates, the Dodgers were ready to prove a point at Dodger stadium on a cold a Saturday morning once again. Alex Clark out this week so Oliver Dunn, 11 yrs old, got the job to start on the bump in the middle. Top 1 st Dunny goes bang with three strikeouts. Bottom 1 st Dodgers come out swinging scoring four runs, Mat McLardy scored by Dunny on a SAC fly. Shortstop Lachlan Beasley doubled, then Hayden Wood singled and Steve Hughes go walked. Catcher Brad Kmet then came up with two out bases loaded to do a job for the team. He delivered with some great two strike hitting and smashed a line drive through right centre field. Two runs score. Dodgers retire up 4-0. Top 2 nd Dunny back to work, a great fly ball taken by centre fielder Ryan “Roo” Lowe. Dunny then struck out the next two hitters. Bottom 2 nd and Dodgers score five runs with hits to Mat, Lach, Hayden, a moonshot by Steve Hughes to left field for a double. Good team hitting by all players. score 9-0. Top 3 rd and Dunny walks a player, player then steals around to third base. No.9 hitter for Dingley then did a great team play and had a go, she scored the run by hitting a groundball to third base. One earned run to Dunny!! Bottom 3 rd and Dodgers score three more runs with lead off Mat getting on and being scored by a Dunny line drive and then Lachy scored Dunny with a double, then Woody pitched in and scored Lachy with a double. Wow Dodgers have found the bats in a dominant hitting display of long, hard, line drives. Top 4 th Steve Hughes got the relief job and threw well 11 strikes, 5 balls to shut out Dingley. Well done Dodgers, the boys made a statement this week that we are a true contender for finals action. We still got lots of work to do coming up against Cheltenham Blue this week.
