1sts vs Geelong - Lost 0-17
The firsts have beene blitzed 17 - nil by Geelong at Surrey Park on Sunday. Geelong's Cameron Forbes got the win over 5 innings on 4 hits 5 strikeouts 1 base on balls. Andy Mann took the loss for MCC over 3 innings on 5 hits 3 strikeouts 2 bb 1 wild pitch and 3 earned runs. With Jonathon Wiggins not available till after Xmas MCC struggled on the mound with its relief pitchers.
Hits were few with Doubles to Robbie Hondo & Matty Houlden and singles to Will Keys & Rhett Mitchelhill.
A must win game on Thursday night at Altona against fellow lowly placed Sunshine is cruicial in the context of the season.
2nds vs Geelong - Lost 2-21
3rds vs Geelong - Lost 0-28
A coach’s role is many faceted, sometimes it involves planning and directing to the smallest of detail, other times it involves just “rolling out the ball” and letting the team do its thing. Sometimes it’s the role of guide, motivator or friend. And sometimes the role of the coach is to make up a paragraph of filler to make up for the fact that there’s no good news in the real world - this is one of those times. The history of sport and the history of baseball are full of examples of one-sided encounters.
There have been times where one side so outplayed the other that the very concept of “competition” came into question. Was the thirds game at Geelong last Sunday one of these times? Should it be considered amongst some of the most memorable annihilations in baseball memory? Well… Yes.
The Melbourne thirds got the top of the first going with base hits to Harley Scheffer and Liam Davine before standing them on second and first – and then Geelong put on a clinic. 18 hits, 12 walks, 3 hit batters and 5 Demon errors to boot and the game was a 28 to zip crushing. And that’s all I have to say about that.
4ths vs Geelong - Not on net
Women's Division 2 vs Chelsea - Won 12-2
Masters vs Newport - Not on net
Under 18 State vs Cheltenham
Melb/Donc 001 100 0 = 2
Cheltenham 201 320 x = 8
Once again we came up against some pretty good pitching - a high class effort from Kable Hogben, and some very good hitting offensively from Cheltenham. It was a credit to the boys that they stuck to their task - although out hit 11 to 5, they hung in there and made the opposition work for their runs. Along with our 5 hits we collected 4 'free passes' - but 11 Ks shows the dominance of the pitching we are facing in State League and our difficulty in getting runners on base. Defensively we made 4 errors, but all in all they were not the difference. Again, Rhett did a great job on the mound and Josh tidied up to finish off the game. It was a welcome return to the team for Ben Cull from his overseas sojourn - 4 good flys in centrefield.... not a bad start to his season.
Play of the day: Tony's play of the day was Andy's head first slide into the infield to evade a tag at third on a throw from centrefield (he then went onto score our second run from an RBI to Ben) .... Mine was his chest-on knock down of a hard hit ground ball - recovered, and then tagged the runner from 2nd advancing to third ... either way - Andy wins !!!
Coach's quip: "not disappointed - the guys stuck at it."
Hits: 1 each to Josh Bevis, Rhett Mitchelhill, Andy Mann, Ben Cull &
Dane Pearce
RBI's: Rhett Mitchelhill , Ben Cull
Next week: Newport at Surrey Park.
Under 16 State vs Fitzroy/Preston - WON 12-0
An overcast hazy morning greeted us at Latrobe Uni for round 6. As the cloud cover lifted and parents renewed acquaintances from the winter season the game got underway. Good pitching from F/P kept the Demon bats restrained in the 1 st inning with Justin and Brad going back to the shed on C/F flyouts, Tristan HBP and Emmo grounding out to 2 nd. Alex took 11 pitches to despatch F/P in the reply inning with a strikeout then a double play S/S to 2 nd to 1 st.
The 2 nd inning was also hard work with Alex knocking a single to C/F, Campbell grounding out to 3 rd, Chris swinging his way back to the dugout and Jack popping a flyout to 2 nd. Alex continued untroubled on the mound with a strikeout first up, a dolly single to S/S which ended in a steel coming unstuck from a well directed and weighted throw from the plate by Jack to Cam at S/S, and finishing with another strikeout.
Top of the 3rd inning saw the pendulum shift rapidly as Bryce singled to R/F, Justin doubled to L/F, then Brad skyed a monster to L/F bringing home Bryce and Justin. Tristan squeezed a walk, likewise for Emmo and Alex. Brad, Tristan and Emmo ran across the plate on passed balls followed by Cam hitting a C/F flyout, Chris taking a ball for the Team, Jack driving a line drive flyout at 2 nd causing Chris to be caught returning to 2 nd base. Score 5-0. Alex resumed on the mound and got in big on DIY with 2 strikeouts and a Pitcher to 1 st out.
Innings 4 saw the Demons accelerate with the bat. Justin lobbed a C/F single and eventually made it home on a passed ball, Brad and Tristan walked, Emmo delivered a single to C/F when the ball did a giant hopper over 2 nd after bouncing off the mound and this was enough to score Brad and Tristan. Harley then carved a single neatly into C/F and Cam fired a rocket to the L/F fence (missed an HR by a metre or so) bringing home Emmo and Harley. Chris followed with a walk, Jack singled to S/S sending Cam home, Bryce walked and Justin finished the inning with a R/F single scoring Chris for the 7 th run. Score 12-0. Bryce pitched the bottom of the 4 th using up a measly 12 pitches and 4 batters.
The 5 th saw a further 7 runs from the Demons however time and game was called immediately after thereby the score reverted back to 12-0. I guess you don’t want to hear the plays? No? Ah, what the heck. …..
Brad leading off smacked another C/F double, Tristan singled to L/F allowing Brad home, Emmo spanked a triple to L/F getting Tristan home and making it home himself on a passed ball, Harley cracked a C/F double, Cam singled to L/F, Chris survived an infield fly to 2 nd and Jack speared a double to C/F bringing Harley and Cam back to the dugout. Bryce next up was short-changed as time was called halfway through his at-bat, why, because Chris and Jack were cheeky enough to run home on passed balls. We last saw Bryce chasing the 2 of them down toward the soccer field.
In all, a convincing win, plenty of power hitting and a super effort from Alex (5SO) and Bryce on the hill.
Batting wise, Brad finished with 2 doubles, Emmo a warp speed triple plus a single, a double and single to Justin, Cam, Harley (2 from 2) and Jack and singles to Bryce, Tristan, Chris and Alex.
Under 16 Metro vs Bonbeach - Lost 12-2
Under 14 vs Doncaster Wizards - WON 22-2
Jack started on the mound and quickly had the Doncaster hitters on the back foot with his mouldy chedder. The game was well closed out by Mitchell Kelly. But it was in the batting box where Melbourne really shone. Massive doubles and even a mammoth home run to Ted were the highlights of this game. In addition good at bats for all batters were another highlight. At times there were good plays in the field but overall it was the offence that won this game.
Little League vs Mulgrave - Lost 13-22
An experienced Mulgrave got off to a good start and had us on the ropes early with 2 high scoring innings. Melbourne fought back hard and got the game back to 12-9 after 4. Liam was great on the mound, threw several strikeouts and plenty of strikes. Our batting and base running were good, the highlight was a 3 run home run to Matt Myers over Centre field; Matt was impressive behind the plate also. Mulgrave came to terms with heat and Charlies pitching later in the game and got away from us again but all should be pleased with their effort.
Little League Centre
With daylight savings now in full swing, the Friday night comps have started up again. Each Friday night there will be game at Surrey Park with away games at venues around Melbourne. Any players for Teeball, Under 12 and Under 14 level are still required and are encouraged to contact:
Stuart Rintoul
srintoul@bigpond.com
0438 809 181
Results
Melbourne Blue vs Fitzroy - Won 5-2
Melbourne Reds 12 vs. Malvern Mets 8
Our first Friday night game was a successful win at Malvern. We started off with only 6 players but Adam Slape came to the rescue and played his first game of baseball. With only 7 on the field, Justin started pitching his first game, got over some early nerves and did a great job with several quick innings. The fielding was excellent early, Brett and Justin made a couple of seamless plays to first base and Shaun was excellent behind the plate, despite his attempt to head–butt Justins knee on a popup.. Brodie came in and relieved and will be better for the run.
Teeball
Teeball week two, Friday, November 9, 2007.
It was a case of double trouble at Teeball on Friday with two Jamies, two Harrisons and two Maddys. To confuse things a bit further the two Harrisons are also known as Harry, one Jamie is a girl and the Maddys were a Madi and a Madeline. Not to mention Hamish’s non-playing brother, who is also Harrison.
B$ut none of that stopped 11 keen Teeballers working on their catching, throwing and hitting with great results. New coach Adam warmed everyone up before demonstrating how to hold and throw the ball properly. “Treat the ball like an egg,” he explained. “We’re trying to keep the egg intact.” Adam also covered some important rules, like never batting without a helmet.
Mason’s sister Madi then helped the kids practice their batting swing as Adam gave everyone a turn at hitting while the others fielded. There were some fantastic hits, with 5-year-old Nathan giving the ball a huge whack. Ethan, 6, was not far behind. They were joined by Jamie, 5, Madeline, 5, Samantha, 9, and her sister Jamie, 7, Harrison, 6, Jessica, 8, Hamish, 4, Harry, 6 and Mason, 6.
Adam was really pleased with their efforts, and urged the kids to practice their catching and throwing during the week. “I want you to nag mum and dad or someone to throw with you every week,” he said. “Just nag them until they throw with you.” Adam added that once the kids mastered the basic skills they would be able to do so much more. “In coming weeks you’ll get to do some more fun stuff,” he said.
New children are still welcome; anyone interested should contact Stuart Rintoul, srintoul@bigpond.com, 0438 809 181.
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