Mens 1 sts – beat Blackburn 4-2
Two top sides squared off in what was a very exciting game. It was an excellent display of starting pitchers with Melbourne’s Daryn Cassidy going up against Anthony Collis from Blackburn. Cassidy threw very hard in the early part of the game staking Melbourne to a 1 to nothing lead. Blackburn clawed their way back to hit the front 2-1 by the mid point of the game. But Melbourne had the answer as they jumped back in front thanks to a two RBI shot by Jay Willis. Although it was a tight game early Melbourne looked the better side and even after losing the lead the spectators were left with the feeling that they were not going away. Daryn Cassidy got the win from seven innings and Ben Smith got the save for closing out the last two. Brett Caulfield’s calling of the game again was superb against a very dangerous batting line up.
Mens 1 sts – lost to Malvern 4-3
The firsts lost 4-3 to Malvern in a two-hour game at Altona on Wednesday. Brendan Ratcliffe just off the plane from the US yesterday morning did a fine job on the mound given the circumstances. Malvern jumped out to a two run lead in the first innings, one of which reached on an error. Mark Doubleday drove in a run early in the game but Malvern responded, scoring a couple more. In the last innings the lads were able to graft a couple of extra runs but the rally would fall short. A disappointing night with the bat was somewhat consoled by some good defensive work in the outfield and by Jay Willis at third.
Mens 2 nds – lost to Blackburn 10-3
Looking to continue the positive form from the last few weeks, the Demons started well with a hit from the second pitch of their first batting dig. The first few innings were littered with hits but the ability to score the runners on base was lacking and the scores remained tied heading into the second hour. One disasterous innings saw Blackburn score 5 runs, with the vast majority unearned and that was effectively the ball game. Jordan Mitchellhill was brought in the last inning and calmly proceeded to strike out the side giving the Demons one last shot at victory but the bats had well and truly left by that stage and could only muster one hit in the last to go down by 5. Hits went to Matt Houlden, Chris Cassidy, Nathan Jones, Mat May, Andrew Mann and Brendan Mann, with RBI’s by Shaun Mead and Richard Williams.
Mens 3 rds – lost to Blackburn 6-4
Mens 4 ths – lost to Blackburn 11-5
Traditionally a tough game where we usually lose by plenty. This game was in the balance right up to the last innings. After leading 5 -3 we eventually reverted to old habits and allowed 8 runs to cross the plate. Another great game by Andrew Speed who contained the powerful Blackburn line-up for over 4 innings. Hits were also hard to come by however it was pleasing once again to see our Junior players hang in there and when needed get on base or bat runs in. With the leader board tight at the top we need to get back in the winners circle next week against Cheltenham. Hits went to Chao (Double), Andrew Speed (2), Rhett Mitchelhill (RBI) and Jamie Hough. |
Ladies – beat Williamstown 11-5
The girls came back from a disappointing loss last week to beat Williamstown 11-5. The pitchers had another good game managing to overcome a few run-conceding errors in the first two innings. The batting on the other hand was again good and managed to easily get the girls over the line.
Under 18 – Lost to Malvern 19-14.
This was a disappointing result against a team we should have beaten. Having only 8 players was one problem; missing starting pitcher Hondo was a worse problem. The less said about our performance in the field, the better. More positive was our display with the bat, with all players contributing well. Julian Davis and Peter Moore gave us solid starts at the top of the order; Peter Jacobs had 6 RBIs including two triples, and Sean Mead was again solid following up his outstanding 7 RBIs in the previous match. The U18s will do well this season if they can get 9 players on the field!
Under 16 – lost to Bonbeach 5-0
Well at least the weather was good!!! Another disappointing day, with no sign of David Ortiz, the Melbourne hitters were unable to produce anything that represented clutch hitting. Failing to score despite 5 hits and 7 walks, runners were left in scoring positions multiple times. Good, solid pitching again from Jonathan initially, then Andrew, should have been enough to be competitive but the bats weren’t there to help. Jamie Hough had an unlucky day with the bat – 3 line drives for flies (including a nice one by our substitute!!!). There was also some good hard hitting from Chris and Rhett!
Under 12 –lost to Upwey FTG 14-13
The U12's played their first home game of the season in perfect conditions for baseball. They played Upwey in what promised to be a challenging game. Upwey looked sharp and our team was depleted by 3 players away for the long weekend. We had fantastic support form 3 Friday night players Declan Gates, Wynona and Aiden Harvey-Nelson whom all contributed well to help Melbourne take the challenge to Upwey. The game started well with both teams scoring runs. Brandon Hough opened the pitching in blistering fashion with a pitch count of 32 strikes from 46 pitches in the first 2 digs, supported by Ravi Vithal behind the mask, restricting Upwey to just 3 runs. The batting was strongly supported with 4 players having safe hits - Aiden Harvey-Nelson in his debut for the club, Brandon Hough, Jai Batten (2 x doubles) and Jack Scheffer having a blinder of a game with 4 hits from 4 at bat's. Jai Batten pitched well to close out the match with support from Aiden Harvey-Nelson behind the mask also support from Michael Zukier, Patrick Politis and Chris Vapp who helped Melbourne to a respectable score. Unfortunately the team went down by 1 run in an exciting game that could have gone either way in the final few seconds of play. Well done Melbourne you played your hearts out only to be beaten by a lucky throw to 1st where Patrick Politis was called out leaving the equalizing runner, Jai Batten on 3rd base. |
