ROB’S RECAPS - STATE LEAGUE D1 - ROUND 15
TOP TEAM TUMBLES
By Robert Laidlaw [Adelaide versus North photos from Paul Taeuber]
IN ANOTHER SHOCK RESULT, it was top team Southern Districts that lost a division one baseball game it was expected to win, when it went down 10-6 to Goodwood at Mortlock Park.
A four-run fifth inning turned the Indians’ fortunes around, as it reversed the momentum and held the lead the rest of the way.
Billy Sutton smashed a lead-off home run to give Goodwood a 1-0 lead in the first frame, but the Hawks equalised with a run at the top of the second, taking advantage of a pair of errors.
Then in the third, South seemed to take control of the game with three tallies, after Matt Hutchings walked, Brett Hattersley had a RBI single and Ben Short smashed a two-run home run, for a 4-1 lead.
It looked like a big day for Sutton when he hit his second dinger in the bottom of the third to close the margin to 4-2.
Both teams scored a run in the fourth dig, South after two free passes and an error, and the Indians on Josh Bradley’s homer.
A couple of free passes and Griffin Weber’s infield single loaded the bases for Goodwood in the fifth frame, with Sam Galpin hitting a three-run double, then eventually scoring on a wild pitch to put the Indians 7-5 up.
In the sixth the Hawks closed the gap to one run on Drew Davies’ RBI single, but Goodwood answered with two in the bottom of the frame, after hits to Sutton and Galpin, and a wild throw, to go 9-6 ahead.
The final run of the game came in the bottom of the eighth, on two South errors, to pad the margin out to four runs.
THE BIG BASH CONTINUED for Henley & Grange in its 10-0 victory over Gawler Rangers at West Lakes, to go clear at the top of the table.
Over the past three games the Rams have scored 50 runs (with six against), while smashing out 10 home runs.
But it was a tight contest against the Rangers up until Wilson Lee belted a grand slam home run in the bottom of the fifth inning, to blow Henley’s lead out to 6-0, then scored another four runs in the seventh to force the mercy rule ending to the game.
Gawler had its lead-off men on in the first (Zac Heintze-Unger hit by pitch) and third (Boyd Worden single) frames, with both stealing second base, but neither scored.
Henley struggled to keep its early baserunners but in the bottom of the second dig managed a run when Liam Bull, who had doubled, took a daring run from third base as the ball was thrown to first, and slid under the tag at home for the game’s first score.
Then in the bottom of the third inning Jack Partington touched all the bases on his hit over the leftfield fence, to make it 2-0.
In the game-defining bottom of the fifth, Jay Couzner and Jet Clohessy hit singles, and Partington walked to load the bases for Lee’s big fly, which scored four runs and took the margin out to 6-0.
Three walks, Bull’s double, Koki Yonezawa’s two-run triple, Luke Trevaski’s sac fly and Clohessy’s RBI hit saw the end to the game in the bottom of the seventh.
Lee was all but unhittable from the mound, giving up just that one single in the third frame, while striking out 13 batters in seven innings.
STURT HAD A BIT OF A SCARE before recovering to beat East Torrens 6-2 at Mitcham, after scores were tied 2-2 going into the bottom of the fifth inning.
In the bottom of the opening frame, Mitch Lightbody doubled and eventually scored on Terrell Joyce’s sac fly, for a 1-0 lead.
Then in the bottom of the fourth, singles by Joyce and Simon Bauer, and a Blake Farr walk loaded the bases, with Tyson Ottoway forcing in a run when he was hit by a pitch for the Saints.
A Jay Sanderson home run at the top of the fifth dig was followed by a Troy Chandler single, a Kason King bunt, an error, and a Carter Powell RBI groundout to tie the game at 2-2 for the Redsox.
Sturt responded immediately in the bottom of the fifth, when Lightbody was hit by a pitch, stole second base and came home on Jordan McArdle’s hit up the middle for a 3-2 advantage.
Zach Altamura tripled and scored on Ottoway’s single in the sixth to make it 4-2, then in the seventh, McArdle singled and Joyce smashed a two-run dinger to pad the scoreline to 6-2.
From the mound Damon Arnold pitched five innings for four hits and a strikeout to claim the win, with help from Sturt’s relievers Todd Van Steensel (one frame, two K2s) and Ky Hampton (three digs, one hit, three K2s).
IF THE GAME AT LOCKLEYS was decided on earned runs, Glenelg would have beaten West Torrens 1-0, but it was the Eagles with a 12-run third inning that prevailed – 12-2.
That devastating 12-run West Torrens’ rally was fuelled by four Tigers’ errors, which was even harder for Glenelg to accept after it had two out with just one run in!
The carnage was assisted by two Mason Clavell RBI doubles, two Tom McGarry two-baggers (and two RBI), Sam McGarry’s two-run single, and Austin Gallagher’s two-run dinger.
At the top of the fifth frame the Tigers scored twice, on RBI hits to Elliott Ross and Jaikob Matthews.
From the mound Masa Sawada pitched five innings for the win, conceding four hits for six strikeouts, while Glenelg reliever Carson Angeroth threw three shutout frames for one hit and three K2s.
WOODVILLE LOOKED IN TROUBLE at Findon when it trailed Kensington 2-0 going into the bottom of the sixth frame, but managed to escape with late inning rallies to win 9-2.
Two big Jack Platten doubles set up the Cardinals’ two runs, as he scored on an error in the fourth dig and came home on Tyler Butterwick’s sac fly in the sixth, for a 2-0 lead.
The Senators first signs of life in relation to winning the game came in the bottom of the sixth, when Jose Castellano hit a RBI single and Drew Janssen hit a sac fly to make it a 2-2 ballgame.
Jayden Carroll’s two-run home run helped Woodville grab a 5-2 lead in the seventh, while in the eighth, three walks, hits to Janssen, Cesar Perez, Tom Dineen and Troy Nicholson, and a Castellano sac fly, saw four runs in and the lead blow out to 9-2.
Starter AJ Verastegui pitched eight innings for the win, conceding four hits for 12 strikeouts, while Kensington’s Kensuke Miura kept the Cardinals in the game, giving up six hits in six frames for three K2s.
INGLE FARM SEEMED TO BE hosting a home run derby in Adelaide’s 17-8 victory over Northern Districts.
At the top of the opening inning the Angels scored five times, on Billy Damon’s two-run single and Henry Cann’s three-run dinger.
In the second frame Liam Spence and Damon hit doubles for another run, while in the bottom of the third, a pair of errors and Can Dziego’s single saw the Reds on the scoreboard, but trailing 6-1.
Solo home runs by Spence in the fourth and Riley Yeatman in the fifth saw Adelaide 8-1 up. But in the bottom of the fifth, North scored five runs to close the gap to 8-6, with Josh Whelan’s grand slam home run the highlight.
The Angels scored another run in the sixth, on Stefan Welch’s sac fly, but then North closed the gap to 9-8 on Zane Tomaszek’s two-run double in the bottom of the seventh.
Three walks, an error and hits to Ben Ganley, Ty Forney and Damon (two RBIs), saw five Adelaide runs in the eighth, and in the ninth, Spence hit another dinger and Yeatman followed with a two-run single to put the game out of reach for the Reds.
While the game was a hitters’ paradise, Angels’ reliever Cann quelled the North bats over the final two innings, conceding two hits for five strikeouts.
CONSISTENT BATTING WAS THE key to Port Adelaide’s 14-4 victory over Golden Grove Central Districts at Semaphore.
In the bottom of the opening inning the Magpies scored three times, on RBI hits to Sammy Steigert and Dayton Mitchell, and a Flynn McKee sac fly.
The Dodgers managed a run at the top of the second, on Lucas Manson’s RBI hit, and then at the top of the third tied the ballgame at 3-3, after a hit batsman, an error and Daniel Youngblood’s double.
A run-scoring two-bagger by McKee and a RBI groundout by Ethan Murphy saw Port regain the lead 5-3 in the bottom of the third.
A couple of free passes, Manson’s second hit and an error saw the Dodgers score its fourth and final run of the game at the top of the fourth, as it only trailed 5-4.
But it was the Magpies the rest of the way, with a run in the bottom of the fourth (Brodie Arriola double), three in the fifth (Nick Vasic two-run single), four in the sixth (after hits to Mitchell, Murphy and Tommy Bird) and one on the eighth (a Murphy single and three walks).
Steigert pitched seven innings for the win, conceding five hits for five strikeouts.
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Division one baseball results:
Sturt d East Torrens 6-2 (hits: Sturt – McArdle 2, Joyce 2 (hr), Baumer 2, Lightbody, Farr, Altamura, Ottoway; ET – T. Chandler 2, Lucas, Couzner, Sanderson (hr). WP: D. Arnold; LP: W. Couzner).
Henely & Grange d Gawler Rangers 10-0 (hits: H&G – Partington 2 (hr), Lee 2 (gshr), Bull 2, Clohessy 2, Yonezawa, Inglis, Couzner; Gawler – Worden. WP: W. Lee; LP: S. Heintze-Unger).
West Torrens d Glenelg 12-2 (hits: WT – McFarlane 2, S. McGarry 2, Clavell 2, T. McGarry 2, Gallagher (hr), Scott, Chapman, Ni. Vanderlinden; Glenelg – Huttunen 2, Mathews, Bentley, Arnold, Ross, Steff. WP: M. Sawada; LP: Jay. Eldridge).
Woodville d Kensington 9-2 (hits: Woodville – Perez 2, Hayes 2, Nicholson 2, Castellano 2, Janssen, Park, Carrill (hr), Moore, Dineen; Kensington – Platten 2, Bishop, South, Collins. WP: AJ Verastegui; LP: M. Bishop).
Adelaide d Northern Districts 17-8 (hits: Adelaide – Spence 4 (2 hr), Damon 3, Forney 2, Yeatman 2 (hr), Cann (hr), B. Ganley; North – Whelan 2 (gshr), Tomaszek, Dominguez, Dziego, Matulic, Hee. WP: H. Cann; LP: Y. Chen).
Port Adelaide d Golden Grove Central Districts 14-4 (hits: Port – Arriola 2, Steigert 2, Mitchell 2, Murphy 2, Bird 2, Vasic, McKee, Schrapel; GGCD – Manson 2, Youngblood, Green, Conry. WP: S. Steigert; LP: J. Inglis).
Goodwood d Southern Districts 10-6 (hits: Goodwood – Sutton 4 (2 hr), Heeps 2, Weber 2, Galpin 2, Bradley 2 (hr), Pratt, D. Howarth; South – South – Davies 2, Campbell, Hattersley, Short (hr), Hanson, Turner. WP: T. Howarth; LP: T. Steven).
Premiership points: Henley & Grange 36, Southern Districts 34, Woodville 32, Sturt 32, West Torrens 28, Adelaide 26, Port Adelaide 24, East Torrens 22, Gawler Rangers 16, Glenelg 14, Goodwood 12, GGCD 10, Northern Districts 4, Kensington 4.