ROB’S RECAP - STATE LEAGUE DIVISION 1 - ROUND 3

BASEBALL (October 26, 2024)

RANGERS HOLD ON

By Robert Laidlaw

THERE WERE SOME WORRYING moments but Gawler Rangers held on to beat Golden Grove Central Districts 8-6 at Illyarrie Reserve in division one baseball.

It was all Gawler early, with a run in the first frame, after a walk and hits by Dylan Child and Boyd Worden, and four in the third inning, for a 5-0 lead.

Child was hit by a pitch, Worden singled, Bawden reached on a fielder’s choice, Seb Heintze-Unger was hit by a pitch, which scored a run, Brad Przibilla hit a two-run double and Tyler Renken had a RBI single.

But then it was the Dodgers turn to mount a challenge from the bottom of the fourth dig, with two runs, after hits to Jake Shotton, Kynan Skein and Tom Walsh, and Nick Walsh’s sac fly.

In the bottom of the fifth inning Brandon Manzella tripled and came home after three free passes for the Dodgers, and another in the sixth, after hits to Nick Walsh and Brayden Caskey, and two walks, to close the gap to 5-4.

The Rangers managed to build a cushion with three runs at the top of the eighth, with three walks, Renken’s double, Child’s sac fly and Aidan Prokopec’s RBI hit up the middle.

Again, the Dodgers fought back, with two runs in the bottom of the eighth, after Noah Rodgers doubled and Daniel Youngblood smashed a home run, to make it 8-6, with neither team scoring in the ninth.

Gawler starter Seb Heintze-Unger went five innings for the win, conceding six hits for four strikeouts, while John Inglis did a good job in relief for the Dodgers pitching five frames for two hits and eight strikeouts to stem the flow after being 5-0 down.

STURT WON BUT NORTHERN DISTRICTS gained plenty of respect at Mitcham, where the Saints scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to steal the points with a 5-4 victory, on Jordan McArdle’s double.

Going into the bottom of the ninth dig the Reds led 4-3, and retired the first batter. But Sonny Beaumont ran out an infield hit and Zach Altamura reached on a wild throw, which set up McArdle’s big hit.

In the bottom of the opening inning, Sturt scored twice, after Beaumont hit a lead-off home run, Altamura singled, McArdle walked and an error made it 2-0.

But at the top of the third frame, North mounted its charge and scored four times, after Steven Maturic doubled, Tom Regnier reached on a fielder’s choice, Tyson Lees hit a RBI single, Tom Fraser bunted, Alex Dailey had a RBI single, Albert Dominquez hit a sac flay and an error, to go 4-2 up.

The Saints looked like they were going to break the game open in the bottom of the fifth when it had one run in and loaded bases with none out, after hits to Altamura and Blake Farr, and two walks. But a double play helped North out of a messy situation.

Neither side could break through over the next few innings, which led to McArdle’s heroics in the bottom of the ninth.

Reliever Todd van Steensel claimed the win for two innings of work, conceding one hit for two strikeouts, after Ky Hampton had done the job after the Reds’ big rally, pitching four frames for one hit and eight K2s.

For North, starter Albert Dominquez threw four innings for five hits and two K2s, while Zane Tomaszek was unlucky to be saddled with the loss, after conceding three hits for five K2s over 4.1 digs.

IT TOOK EXTRA INNINGS but Woodville remained undefeated this season with a 6-5 victory over Adelaide in 10 frames at Findon.

The game looked cooked for the Angels going into the top of the ninth inning, as it trailed 4-1 with two out and two runners on base via walks to Lachlan Pace and Ty Forney, but veteran slugger Stefan Welch put one out to tie up the ball game.

After the Senators could not answer in the bottom of the ninth the game went into a 10th dig, with Adelaide managing a run after a wild pitch and a wild throw scored the placed runner.

But Woodville answered in the bottom of the 10th, after Jose Castellano bunted for a hit and Cesar Perez walked to load the bases with none out.

Drew Janssen hit a sac fly to tie the scores, then Troy Nicholson was intentionally walked to set up a possible double play. Hayden Carroll hit into a fielder’s choice but avoided an out at first base, with Castellano coming home with the game-winner.

Earlier in the game the Senators scored a pair of runs in the third frame on Perez’s two-run hit, and single runs in the bottom of the fourth (Wade Moore dinger) and sixth (pair of errors), to lead 4-0.

Adelaide scored a run at the top of the seventh, after hits to Pace and Forney, and Liam Spence’s RBI groundout.

From the mound AJ Verastegui (four innings, four hits, eight K2s) and Drew Janssen (five frames, three hits, 10 K2s) were dominant for Woodville, before Welch’s home run changed the complexion of the game.

A LATE RALLY AND exceptional relief pitching by teenager Deakin Filko saw Kensington come from behind at Erindale to beat Goodwood 7-5.

With the Indians leading 5-3 after five frames, Filko came onto the mound and shut Goodwood out the rest of the way, conceding two hits for four strikeouts over four digs, for his first win in division one.

At the top of the opening dig the Indians scored three times, on Darren Fidge’s two-run single and Henry Weise’s RBI double.

Another Cardinal teenager, Will Tanner made his mark on the game in the bottom of the second frame, with a two-run home run, to close the gap.

But Goodwood extended its advantage with a pair of runs in the fifth dig, on Brodie Heeps’ dinger and through Billy Sutton, who doubled and came home on a groundout.

Kensington managed a run in the bottom of the sixth, when Tyler Butterwick doubled, Jordan Spratt singled and Tanner gained an RBI with his groundout.

Then the bottom of the seventh saw the Cardinals explode for four runs and put themselves in a winning position behind Filko’s pitching.

With two out, Lachlan Spratt walked, Filko reached on a wild throw, Butterwick walked, a wild pitch scored one run and Michael Bishop smashed a three-run home run to put Kensington 7-5 up, which held the rest of the way.

For Goodwood, starter Konsta Kurikka pitched four innings for two hits and eight strikeouts.

STRONG PITCHING PAVED THE way for West Torrens 5-1 victory over East Torrens at Payneham.

Masa Sawada threw seven innings for two hits and two strikeouts to lead the Eagles, with just Mark Stewart’s solo home run in the bottom of the fourth putting a dent in an otherwise exemplary effort from the mound.

West Torrens opened the scoring at the top of the fourth with two runs, on RBI hits from Mason Clavell (a double) and James McFarlane.

Clavell hit another two-bagger in the sixth and eventually scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-1, then the final two runs came in the seventh, which featured hits by Nat Vanderlinden and Clavell, Nick George’s bunt and a couple of errors.

For the Redsox, Jude Ard pitched six innings for six hits and two strikeouts.

IT WAS ONE WAY traffic at Semaphore for most of the game, as Southern Districts mercied Port Adelaide 14-4.

The Hawks scored a run in the second inning and four in the third, after Matt Hutchings singled, two walks and Ben Short’s grand slam home run.

With a 5-0 lead, South then all but ensured victory with an eight-run third frame, which featured a Nic Paparella two-run double, Brett Hattersley’s two-run dinger, and consecutive hits from Tailen Hobson, Jake Campbell and Luke Hansen to pad the rally out.

Leading 14-0 at the bottom of the seventh, the Hawks only had to keep Port to four runs or less to end the contest, and they did, but only just.

Dayton Mitchell reached on an error, Ethan Murphy and Jack McKay walked, Wil Paech hit a RBI single and Nick Vasic belted a three-run double, for four runs for the Magpies, to cut the final margin to 14-4.

South starter Tamoya Kawakami pitched six innings for the win, conceding two hits for 11 strikeouts.

HENLEY & GRANGE GOT DOWN TO business and did enough to beat Glenelg 7-0 at West Lakes.

With Jordy Grose doing the job from the mound (six innings, two hits, five K2s), the Rams were never in trouble.

In the bottom of the first inning, Jack Partington led off with a walk, stole two bases, and after Patrick Inglis also reached on a walk, was involved in a double steal to score the game’s first run.

Then in the third frame, Jet Clohessy walked, Partington hit a RBI double, Koki Yonezawa had a RBI single, and with an error scoring a third run, Henley went 4-0 up.

Three walks in the seventh set up Liam Bull’s RBI single and Locky Burrows RBI base on balls, for another pair of runs and a 6-0 advantage. Boston Hodges singled and eventually came home on a wild pitch for the final run of the game in the eighth dig.

For Glenelg, starting pitcher Jayden Eldridge threw four innings for three hits and five strikeouts in a solid outing.

* * * * *

Division one baseball results:

Gawler Rangers d GGCD 8-6 (hits: Gawler – Worden 2, Przibilla 2, Renken 2, Child, Prokopec, S. Heintze-Unger; GGCD – Shotton 2, Skein 2, Wallis 2, Caskey 2, Manzella, Rodgers, Youngblood (hr), Walsh. WP: S. Heintze-Unger; LP: T. Green).

Sturt d Northern Districts 5-4 (hits: Sturt – Beaumont 2 (hr), Altamura 2, McArdle 2, Farr 2; North – Dailey 3, Lees, Clifton, Maturic. WP: T. van Steensel; LP: Z. Tomaszek).

Woodville d Adelaide 6-5 in 10 innings (hits: Woodville – Castellano 2, Perez 2, Moore 2 (hr), Papps; Adelaide – Forney 3, Welch (hr), Ganley, Congdon, Pace. WP: T. Nicholson; LP: B. Damon).

West Torrens d East Torrens 5-1 (hits: WT – Clavell 3, McFarlane 2, T. McGarry, Scott, Nat Vanderlinden; ET – Stewart 2 (hr), Ashcroft. WP: M. Sawada; LP: J. Ard).

Southern Districts d Port Adelaide 14-4 (hits: South – Campbell 2, M. Hutchings 2, Kawakami 2, Hansen, Paparella, Hattersley (hr), Rees, Short (gshr), Turner, Hobson; Port – Vasic, McKay, Paech, Bird. WP: T. Kawakami; LP: T. McKee).

Henley & Grange d Glenelg 7-0 (hits: H&G – Partington, Yonezawa, Bull, B. Hodges, Clohessy; Glenelg – Mathews, Arnold, Ross. WP: J. Grose; LP: J. Eldridge).

Kensington d Goodwood 7-5 (hits: Kensington – L. Spratt, Filko, T. Butterwick, Bishop (hr), J. Spratt, W. Tanner (hr); Goodwood – Sutton 3, Fidge 2, Heeps (hr), Gibbs, Wiese. WP: D. Filko; LP: T. Howarth).

Premiership points: Woodville 6, Sturt 6, Port Adelaide 4, East Torrens 4, Gawler Rangers 4, Henley & Grange 4, West Torrens 4, Southern Districts 2, Glenelg 2, GGCD 2, Adelaide 2, Kensington 2, Goodwood 0, Northern Districts 0.