The 1sts defeated Bonbeach 3 - 2 on Sunday at Surrey Park in a very tight and tough contest. After leading 1-0 into the top of the 8th, an error and then a hanging slider (the only errant pitch for the day) was sent yard by Bonbeach's Simon Myles to take the lead 2-1. Melbourne then came back in the bottom of the 8th scoring 2 runs to get the lead back and the win.

Daryn Cassidy got the win going 8 innings, striking out 7 on 5 hits for 2 runs. An outstanding performance. Brendan Ratcliffe closed out the top of the 9th. Bonbeach starting pitcher Ben McDonald went 6 innings for 3 hits and 1 run. The losing pitcher for Bonbeach was Matthew Prior who went 2 innings for 2 hits with 5 walks and 2 runs.

Coach Brett Caulfield hit a fine double and also had 1 rbi for the day. Daryn Cassidy continued his fine form with the bat and had 2 rbis. Right fielder Matt Houlden, another one hitting the ball well had 2 singles. Stuart Cox and Tim Frost both had singles.

Bonbeach has been promoted this year from Second Division and certainly acquitted themselves well in the season so far with their record now 4-4..

MCC had many runners on the bags during the game and never really looked like losing it however had a couple of things not gone their way could have quite easily lost the game. It was a very good contest.

Thursday night see the first Thursday Special as the firsts meet Malvern for the first of two meetings this week. Altona, 6:30pm start.

The ladder tells an interesting story. Well not really, it is kind of hard to read too much into the ladder at this stage. A quick look sees Melbourne 8th, but with up to 4 games in hand, and as many loses as Waverley the top placed team the next few Thursdays will see how far we can climb.

Div 1 - Round 6, 12 Nov 2006

Women Division 1 vs Port Melbourne - Lost 1-29

2nds vs Bonbeach - WON 6-3

Div 1 Res - Round 6, 12 Nov 2006

3rds vs Bonbeach - Drew 3-3

4ths vs Bonbeach - WON 12-9

Div 1 Fourths - Round 6, 12 Nov 2006

Under 18 State vs Fitzroy - WON 11-2

Jordan Mitchelhill went the distance on the mound in a sterling display from a second baseman. Melbourne are sitting 5th on the ladder with 2 wins, 1 loss and 2 draws.

Under 16 State vs Geelong - Lost 3-6

This week the Demons were up against Geelong at Surrey Park. Alex Hondo started on the mound and kept the Geelong hitters at bay in the 1st with some great outfield work by Tristan Field at CF. At our equalising turn at bat, Justin Gourlay was hit in the ribs, but recovered well and eventually scored our first run on a pass ball. Once again infield errors cost us dearly in the 2nd dig with 2 out, only to see Geelong scoring 2 unearnt runs. The demons tied up the game at 2 - 2, and then with bases loaded and 2 out, Tristan Field hit a blinding line drive down the 1st base line only to see the Geelong 1st baseman awake and making the 3rd out which could have easily resulted in 3 or possibly 4 RBIs - but it wasn't to be....

With the big out being made at 1st base, the game then swung Geelong's way with Alex Hondo losing some momentum and the visitors scored 4 runs at the top of the 3rd.

Campbell Wiggins replaced Alex Hondo and silenced the Geelong hitters for the remainder of the game. We scored our 3rd run at the bottom of the 5th and could have easily scored another 1 or 2 but lost a few base runners in the process. In the end, we ended up losing a reasonably tight game 6 - 3.

Some highlights were:-

Jack Rintoul coming off the bench at the bottom of the 4th and picking up 2 really good safe hits to right centre.

Jayson Shaw throwing out 2 runners trying to steal 2nd base.

Campbell Wiggins once again doing a fantastic job in relief.

And the team continually out hitting our oppostion....again.

This coming Sunday we are up against Cheltenham at Cheltenham.

Melbourne 3 defeated by Geelong 6

Under 14 vs Waverley Lost 5-18

The team was at home today to 2nd top side Waverley so this promised to be a tough game with Brandon sidelined. Patrick Politis opened the pitching to Stephen Joyce and was backed up in the field by some good catches and field work holding Waverley to 1 run.

Melbourne was up to bat and jumped out with hits to Stephen Joyce and Patrick Politis batting in our 1st run. Mitchell Armstrong hit to infield which had Patrick cross the plate for our 2nd run. Second dig Waverley started to settle in with 4 hits and 4 runs in for a total of 5. Melbourne errors in the field costing us 3 of the runs. Melbourne came out batting and Chris Vapp started the 2nd dig with a big 2 base hit to left field only to see the next 3 batters retired for no runs. Waverley was held scoreless in the 3rd through some good pitching from Patrick and a great catch to Adam Hayman on 2nd. Melbourne could not add runs with our top order striking out for no runs. Patrick retired from pitching in the 4th with an injury to his right hand and Adam Hayman came out to relieve but today was not his day with Waverley scoring 7 runs in the 4th through 5 walks and a HPB and wild throws from the fielding Melbourne team. The game had taken a turn and Melbourne had a lot of work to turn the game around. Melbourne came out batting in the 4th with hits to Chris Vapp and Stephen Joyce and a walk to Jesse Rintoul saw these three players cross the plate for 3 more runs for Melbourne 5 : Waverley 11.

Chris Vapp came out to close the game and Waverley took him to pieces hitting in 7 runs from 5 hits including a Grand Slam from Jared Ohlsen. Melbourne had spent all their fuel and couldn't add more runs in their last dig. The game was all over with Waverley taking the honors. Melbourne held their ground for 3 digs with good pitching from Patrick and some good hitting from Stephen, Patrick, Mitchell Armstrong and Chris. There were far too many errors in the field which cost more than 5 runs, so the team need to work on these critical fundamentals.

Checking the ladder you can see that Melbourne has now played the 3 top teams (drawn 1 lost 2) so we are faring OK. We play 3 of the bottom 4 sides over the next 5 weeks as we go into the Xmas break so these games are "must win" games to keep our finals hope alive.

U/14 Metro East - Round 5, 12 Nov 2006

Under 12 vs Waverley Cougars - WON 12-1

An excellent game in which we only had 8 players due to flu and a few kids away for the weekend, Jack pitched an outstanding game - striking out 13 of 17 batters faced, he then played Short Stop where he made the final 2 assists of the game. Matt also had a great game catching 12 of the 13 strikeouts and completing the other out with a good throw to 1st. Lachlan went 3 for 4 and his only out was a hard hit to RF playing rather short and a 9-3 play - tough luck. Lachlan relieved Jack in the 5th dig and closed it out forcing 2 ground balls to finish the game.

Titus got his first hit of the year and Hudson was robbed of an excellent hit to RF with a running catch by the Waverley 2nd Baseman. Ted played 1st Base all game and was typically consistent - making sure of each opportunity. Cooper and Michael both had a number of BB's and hung in the batting box to allow a couple of runs to score completing a game where everybody contributed something to the team - an outstanding result against pretty good pitching early on from Waverley.

Centre Comps

Recent Matches

MELBOURNE BLUE VS. PRESTON- 10/11/06

Our guys had every reason to be nervous when they arrived at La Trobe for warm-up before the match and found we only had 6 players.
A quick look at the rule book confirmed that opposition players were allowed to fill in for us, avoiding a scratched match (thank-you to the Preston players who helped us out and showed great sportsmanship).

There were 13 available Preston players, all looking sharp, but our guys, undaunted, just wanted to play. Ted and Jack showed great leadership, Ted pitching most of the match and making 3 runs. Jack was catcher for the whole game, and was sensational, contributing 2 runs.
Michael gained confidence at bat, Titus pitched 12 balls and made one run, Josh played a great game and got a few hits, listened to Tom and stole a couple of bases, contributing the 5th run of the match. Brett who had faced the 1st ball of the match made his first home run ever in the 7th inning and he couldn't get the smile off his face!

Everyone contributed to keep Preston scoreless and to gain a confidence-building 9-0 victory. Thanks to Tom for his excellent coaching and encouraging support.

Just wait and see what the FULL team will do.

Teeball Wrap

It is only week two but our T-Ballers are already showing some good signs. Everyone tried hard in the field and with the bat, with some great hits and fielding efforts. First-timer George Kabourakis and Alex Hayman combined for a fantastic double play during the T-Ball game, and quite a few hitters made it to home base.

George and Alex were joined by Ethan Smoothy, Max Mackay, Thomas McGoldrick, James Stewart-Lambert, Luke Matheson, Mark Davidson, Natasha Donley, and Jessica Critchley-Roy. Shanae Smoothy and Wilson Swan stepped up and played in the Under 12s, which was a fantastic effort.

T-Ball began with stretching and skills practice, particularly underam and overarm throwing and catching. Those who held their concentration were rewarded with some great catches and throws. Junior club chairman Rodney Hough helped out until coach Brock Donley arrived after a work hiccup. Mark’s dad Len and Alex’s Mum Kate also pitched in. Brock then divided the children into two teams for a game, which saw some strong hitting and fielding. While many of the children are still learning, they are picking up the basic skills well.

Brock then hit and threw some balls out for fielding practice, catching some of the fielders off guard with his trick throws. The players learned that if someone hits the ball deep into the outfield, they must relay the throw back home via another player. After some enthusiastic running exercises Brock congratulated everyone for their efforts. “Good practice guys,” he said, as families headed for the sausage sizzle. “Give yourselves a hand.”

Anyone with children aged 6-9 who would like to play T-Ball from 6-7pm on Friday nights can contact Rodney at rhough@rohmhaas.com.

For those who can't read the email please visit the Batchat section of our website at http://www.melbournedemons.baseball.com.au/newsletter/

From time to time pictures of players may appear on the club website and/or club newsletter. If you do not want pictures of your self or your child to appear, please let us know - demonsbc@yahoo.com.

It was almost a sweep...

Calendar

This Week

Upcoming Matches

Results

1sts vs Bonbeach - WON 3-2