1sts vs Malvern - Drew 1-1
The 1sts drew 1 all with the strong Malvern side last night under lights at Melbourne Ballpark in Altona in the first midweek special for the season. Melbourne led 1 nil into the bottom of the 8th, which was the last innings of a two hour time game, and really should have won the game. Malvern was two out and an unearned run scored from third on a controversional play at home plate that left the MCC players seething with the umpire's call.
Brendan Ratcliffe went the full 8 innings for MCC for 2 strikeouts and 6 hits and did a super job in restricting Malverns solid hitting line up. Mark Richards started for Malvern and gave up 9 hits and 1 earned run over 6 and 1/3 innings. He was lifted when the MCC batters started to get to him and replaced by Stewart Williamson.
Stuart Cox, Matt Houlden and Jordan Mitchelhill ( 1rbi ) all had 2 singles each. A single each to Brendan Ratcliffe, Daryn Cassidy & Tim Frost.
The 1sts are now 4 wins 2 losses and 1 draw. Next game is on Sunday again versus Malvern at Malvern.
1sts vs Malvern - Lost 4-5
The 1sts have lost 5 - 4 to Malvern on Sunday at Malvern in a very tight 11 innings game that could have gone either way. Coming off a 1 all draw on Thursday against Malvern the boys were very keen to make amends. Malverns relief pitcher Stuart Williamson ( 4 inn ) got the win after replacing starter Ross Mclean ( 7 inn ). Daryn Cassidy started for MCC going 6 innings with 6 strikeouts for 4 runs but giving up 10 hits.
VIS squad member 16year old Andy Mann came in as relief for 5 innings and did an outstanding job. Going up against the powerful veteran Malvern lineup he struck out 5 on 3 hits for 1 run and unfortunately was tagged with the loss. After getting off to a good start and scoring 1 run in the top of the first, suddenly things were looking decidely shakey in the bottom of the first when Malvern came back and scored 4 runs off the usually unhittable Cassidy.
But Melbourne stuck to the task and levelled the score by the 9th sending the game into extra innings. Centre fielder Michael Dunn was outstanding at the plate hitting 3 doubles and driving in a run. He was closely followed by Mark Doubleday with 2 singles, a triple and a run batted in.
Coach Brett Caulfield ( 1 rbi ) and Matt Houlden both hit the ball hard for 2 singles apiece. Stuart Cox & Robby Hondo both had singles. A game that could have gone either way at the end.
Div 1 - Round 7, 19 Nov 2006
| |
Team |
P |
W |
L |
D |
Bye |
For |
Ag |
Pts |
Pct |
|
| 1 |
Waverley |
11 |
8 |
3 |
|
|
54 |
38 |
16 |
587 |
| 2 |
Essendon |
10 |
7 |
3 |
|
|
92 |
30 |
14 |
754 |
| 3 |
Geelong |
12 |
6 |
6 |
|
|
50 |
44 |
12 |
532 |
| 4 |
Blackburn |
10 |
6 |
4 |
|
|
40 |
41 |
12 |
494 |
| 5 |
Malvern |
11 |
5 |
5 |
1 |
|
52 |
43 |
11 |
547 |
| 6 |
Melbourne |
8 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
|
27 |
37 |
9 |
422 |
| 7 |
Bonbeach |
9 |
4 |
5 |
|
|
35 |
43 |
8 |
449 |
| 8 |
Sunshine |
9 |
4 |
5 |
|
|
35 |
47 |
8 |
427 |
| 9 |
Sandringham |
8 |
2 |
6 |
|
|
30 |
60 |
4 |
333 |
| 10 |
Newport |
10 |
2 |
8 |
|
|
26 |
58 |
4 |
310 |
Women Division 1 vs Springvale - Lost 0-16
2nds vs Malvern - WON 3-1
Another good team effort on the weekend shut down an always strong Malvern outfit. Pitching once again was the difference in the game. A strong start from Tim Frost (1 run) ensured the team only had to get 3 runs across the plate to seal victory.
Big hits from Jayson Shaw & Travis Fegan scored the winning runs, whilst Ben Telford gave another lights out effort in relief. 5 wins after 7 games with the bottom 2 teams the next 2 weeks has ensured a strong position at the mid point of the season.
Div 1 Res - Round 7, 19 Nov 2006
| |
Team |
P |
W |
L |
D |
Bye |
For |
Ag |
Pts |
Pct |
|
| 1 |
Geelong |
7 |
6 |
1 |
|
|
60 |
15 |
12 |
800 |
| 2 |
Blackburn |
7 |
5 |
0 |
2 |
|
52 |
17 |
12 |
754 |
| 3 |
Melbourne |
7 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
|
31 |
20 |
11 |
608 |
| 4 |
Essendon |
7 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
|
47 |
18 |
9 |
723 |
| 5 |
Waverley |
7 |
3 |
4 |
|
|
40 |
24 |
6 |
625 |
| 6 |
Malvern |
7 |
3 |
4 |
|
|
30 |
39 |
6 |
435 |
| 7 |
Bonbeach |
7 |
2 |
5 |
|
|
39 |
38 |
4 |
507 |
| 8 |
Newport |
7 |
2 |
5 |
|
|
40 |
60 |
4 |
400 |
| 9 |
Sandringham |
7 |
2 |
5 |
|
|
21 |
53 |
4 |
284 |
| 10 |
Sunshine |
7 |
1 |
6 |
|
|
12 |
88 |
2 |
120 |
3rds vs Malvern - Lost 3-11
Like many of the game the thirds have played this year the game started out being a tight tussle. It was a pitchers dual through three as both teams were without a hit although Malvern had managed to establish a one nil lead on an unearned run. A couple of extra base hits in the top of the fourth saw Malvern extend their lead to two. Melbourne battled back putting runners on two and three courtesy a Craig Mitchell’s warning track shot that landed him a double. Quite mysteriously, given they had a two run lead and there was still an hour to go, Malvern played the infield in and Tom Andronas was only too happy to make them look silly by picking the gap between first and second (No offence intended to Tom who did his job superbly but I have to question Malvern on this one as it would have been a routine out if they'd played it straight up). What resulted was two Melbourne runs and a level ballgame with a runner on second. A wild pitch and flair to short by Adam Promnitz and the Demons had found the lead. Unfortunately Malvern responded in the fifth in grand style seven hits, four walks, three Melbourne errors, a balk and eight wild pitches and well... I'm sure anyone reading this article more or less gets the picture. Despite a couple of tough losses against quality teams the thirds had managed to avoid big innings thus far this year – the challenge for the thirds now is to see if they can put together one or two themselves.
4ths vs Bonbeach - WON 12-9
Div 1 Fourths - Round 7, 19 Nov 2006
| |
Team |
P |
W |
L |
D |
Bye |
For |
Ag |
Pts |
Pct |
|
| 1 |
Geelong |
7 |
6 |
1 |
|
|
83 |
32 |
12 |
722 |
| 2 |
Blackburn |
7 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
|
90 |
43 |
11 |
677 |
| 3 |
Malvern |
7 |
5 |
2 |
|
|
84 |
49 |
10 |
632 |
| 4 |
Melbourne |
7 |
4 |
3 |
|
|
60 |
62 |
8 |
492 |
| 5 |
Newport |
7 |
4 |
3 |
|
|
52 |
59 |
8 |
469 |
| 6 |
Bonbeach |
7 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
|
59 |
49 |
7 |
546 |
| 7 |
Waverley |
7 |
3 |
4 |
|
|
69 |
60 |
6 |
535 |
| 8 |
Essendon |
7 |
2 |
5 |
|
|
36 |
70 |
4 |
340 |
| 9 |
Sunshine |
7 |
1 |
6 |
|
|
28 |
70 |
2 |
286 |
| 10 |
Sandringham |
7 |
1 |
6 |
|
|
36 |
103 |
2 |
259 |
Under 18 State - BYE
Under 16 State vs Cheltenham - Lost 4-10
Under 16 State - Melbourne/Waverley - BYE
Under 14 vs Blackburn - WON 15-13
Melbourne move into 7th position with a win over Blackburn on Sunday.
Melbourne started off with some solid hitting from Stephen Joyce, Mitchell Kelly, Brandon Hough and Chris Vapp to register 3 runs for the 1st dig. Blackburn jumped ahead to a 6:3 lead with equally good batting. Some walks and some errors by Melbourne set the scene for a tough "come from behind" task ahead. Melbourne came out with some leadership from Sebastian Dunbar slamming a 2 base hit to left starting the Melbourne comeback. Patrick continued his pitching in the 2nd dig but was unable to contain Blackburn. With 2 runners on base, it was time for a pitch change with Brandon relieving to get Melbourne back on track he pitched 5 strikes to close the innings with only 1 run added. This dig included a great catch to Sebastian Dunbar. The score at the bottom of the 2nd was 7 a piece. Adam Hayman led the 3rd dig with a hit to centre field followed by Matt Abbott's 2 base hit to left and Patrick Politis 2 base hit also to left batting in 3 runs for the dig. Brandon pitched a remarkable 3rd dig with some fantastic change ups, pitching efficiently with 6 strikes to shut out the Blackburn side. Melbourne lifted and you could sense confidence building. Melbourne was now up 10:7 with still a tight game ahead.
Melbourne added 2 more runs in the 4th with Matt Abbott batting in the runs. Score now 12:7 Brandon came out in the 4th to continue his brilliant pitching shutting out 3 batters with 11 pitches and 2 K's as he again executed his change up pitches perfectly. The 5th dig Melbourne added another 3 runs with hits from Brandon Hough and Mitchell Armstrong batting in another 3 runs for an unbeatable lead. Blackburn, with the help of some very tight calls from the umpire came out and hit their way into a 15:13 result with some good hits and some poor errors in the field by Melbourne. Great catching from Stephen Joyce with more throw-overs in this game as he improves his techniques. Melbourne recording 12 hits for the game and every player hit safely so a great team effort all round.
Under 12 vs Bonbeach - Lost 8-7
A tough game to lose - up 4-1 going into the last and we scored 3 to be 7-1 with three outs for the game to go, this was the time the Bonbeach bats finally started going - they strung 7 consecutive hits together to take the game from us. While it was difficult to find much positive in the emotion after the game, this is one of the better teams in the league and we outplayed them for all but 10 minutes of the game. Where we went wrong was not putting the ball in play to put pressure on the defence, something you need to do at any level of baseball - we only managed 3 hits for the game, had too many K's and allowed too many soft outs from not doing the basics well - like running through first base. On a positive note Jack Scheffer had another outstanding game - striking out 11 in his 4 innings of work - Matt Meyers had another great game behind the plate by catching everything that came his way - Noah Jenney threw well in his 2 innings - he threw lots of good strikes - they just hit the ball better than us. Much better base running from all of us in this game - lots of steals and some good aggressive running from Titus Lin, Jack and Matt. Another good team performance - just not reflective of the scoreboard - we will learn to play the game out to the end from now on.
Centre Comps
Under 12 Blue
Our team played away again this week but couldn’t manage to make it 3 straight wins. Batting first, Titus opened the scoring with the first run, a huge hit from Noah got Chris home for the second and last Melbourne run of the match. Michael and Titus did some great work getting 2 Malvern players out at 1st base. Malvern remained scoreless until the 6th Inning but ran away from us in the final stages. Josh was so close to home at 3rd base but unfortunately Brett was 3rd man out before Josh could complete his run. It just wasn’t happening for the Blues even though Ted worked hard as catcher. Nayoa pitched the last Inning and the game ended 2 – 4 with the guys disappointed but looking ahead to round 4. GO DEMONS ! ! ! !
A night where we just could not put bat on ball - not that the pitching was strong - we all struggled in the batting box and only scrambled a few hits for the game. Chris Burrows pitched well and was relieved by Titus Lin, Noah Jenney with Naoya Ikeda finishing off - lots of strikes and good low pitches, only giving up 4 runs in an u12 game should have been enough but Friday nights really put the pressure onto your hitting as there are no free rides with coach pitch. Brett Cronin gets special mention for playing the game out although feeling quite ill, Ted Middleditch copped one in the nether region early on and still caught a good game and hung in there behind the plate! Thanks to Chris Burrows and Noah Jenney for helping out the Blues with the Melbourne Reds having a bye.
Teeball Wrap
T-BALL REPORT FOR WEEK THREE, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2006.
HUGE hits into the outfield by Liam Grant and Oliver Grummish were a highlight of T-Ball this week. Everyone struck the ball well and gave it their best shot in the field. Natasha Donley controlled first base and Mark Davidson did really well fielding throws to the home plate. Mark’s brother Carl also took a fantastic catch in the outfield.
They were joined Luke Matheson, George Kabourakis, Max Mackay, Jessica Critchley-Roy, Wilson Swan and Thomas McGoldrick. Everyone fielded well, practicing with two hands using the “alligator” motion. Coach Brock Donley explained the importance of moving to the ball and allowing it to come in to your body while catching, rather than just grabbing at it.
While it is still early days, the T-Ballers are starting to understand batting and fielding techniques. All batters made it to at least first base, with Brock switching from anti-clockwise to clockwise to avoid the sun. Players had plenty of fun trying to remember to run the “wrong” way. Brock included lots of warm-up drills and fielding practice. He was helped by Mark and Carl’s dad Len, who lined up the bats and explained fielding techniques.
Thomas’s Mum Nancy helped in the outfield and with some of the exercises. Our T-Ballers also learned some valuable lessons this week. Brock stressed the importance of stretching properly before a game and of not throwing gloves onto the ground. “Take care of your equipment and it will take care of you,” he said.
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. | 
