MARK’S WRAP UPS - WOMEN’S LEAGUE D1 - ROUND 1

OCTOBER 13 2024 BY MARK MCGARRY

SD 10 @ Adelaide 0

Glenelg 4 @ Sturt 18

HG 9 @ Woodville 18

A big season of Division 1 Women’s Baseball got underway on Sunday with the three games producing plenty of runs and showcasing the offensive power in the leading teams.

Woodville hosted Henley and Grange at Findon where the Senators were able to post an 18 – 9 win. The Senators scored back-to-back maximum tallies of 7 runs in the third and fourth frames to close out a Henley side who were able to post a maximum of their own in the third inning to threaten the Senators lead. Henley outhit Woodville 9 to 8 but gave up 3 errors which ultimately saw them give up 6 unearned runs. Two hits apiece and two RBI’s apiece to Oates and Stott lead the Rams hitting, but doubles to Edwards, Higgs, Dolman and Saunders enabled the Rams lineup to rotate around the bases. Senators hitting was lead by Brown and Lee both with 2 hits the latter providing 3 RBI’s. Pitching was lead by Quinn for Woodville and she collected the Win with her opponent Saunders taking the Loss.

At Plympton the Adelaide Angels hosted the visiting Southern Districts Hawks and were on the wrong end of a 0 – 10 Mercy rule loss. The Hawks offense just had too much power recording 8 hits to the Angels 3, but the clear difference on the day was the inscrutable performance of Sarah Short who threw a complete game shut out for the Hawks giving up just the 3 scattered hits and no free passes. Her counterparts for the Angels issued 7 free bases – always hard to defend. The leading hitters for Souths with 2 apiece were Grist (1 RBI) Maslin (2 RBI’s) and Cunningham (2 RBI’s). To cap off a stellar day, Short batted in 3 runs on her big hit for the day as well as collecting the Win. Mourtzios took the loss for Adelaide.

The third game at Mitcham featured the reigning Premiers Sturt hosting Glenelg and the Saints did not take long to assert themselves and make a statement about their intentions for this season. Sturt began the game powerfully with back-to-back maximum innings and followed up in subsequent innings with runs in each frame before closing out an emphatic 18 – 4 win. Glenelg’s runs all coming in a feisty second dig where a number of uncharacteristic errors allowed base runners to score after the inevitable hits that follow errors. Sturt’s strike-throwing machine Georgia Davis continued to pound the zone and held out the Bays before the Sturt offense clicked in to gear again. Pitching is always the key to baseball and 19 free passes to a Sturt lineup ready to press home the advantage was just way too much for the Bays to defend. By contrast Georgia Davis gave up just one walk and no earned runs in collecting her first win of the season. Dunn from Glenelg was the starter for Glenelg who took the Loss.

Stats for this week’s games

Sturt 18:  Hits to Ramsey, Smith, Wadham, L.Davis, G.Davis (3B) and Lightbody (3B)

Glenelg 4: Hits to Handy, Harris, Lok and Forrest

Pitching: G.Davis (W) J.Dunn (L)

South 10: 2 Hits to Grist, Maslin (2B), Cunningham, Hits to Short and Doyle

Adelaide 0: Hits to Mead, Mourtzios and Hacker

Pitching: S.Short (W) A.Mourtzios (L)

Woodville 18: 2 Hits M.Brown, Lee and hits to A.Brown, Quinn, O’Hazy-Zschorn and Turner

Henley & Grange 9: 2 Hits Oates, Stott and hits to Edwards (2B), Higgs (2B), Dolman (2B) and Saunders (2B), Bellett

Pitching: Quinn (W) Saunders (L)

PHOTOS: STURT BASEBALL CLUB / JEFF NICHOLAS
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