By Sean Talbot
Nine games. Nine wins.
In a huge weekend for the Upwey Ferntree Gully Tigers and Tigress’, all nine senior teams recorded wins in their games, truly showing the strength and depth of the club in the new season.
Buoyed by the return of U18 Team Australia team members Jack Ratcliffe and Ryder Wilson and riding a dominant start from staff ace Jarrod Turner, the Firsts scored all three of their runs in a huge 5th inning to run away from a dogged Blackburn Orioles outfit 3-1 at Kings Park on Sunday.
Receiving contributions up and down the line-up and led by Wade McConnon and Harvey Chinn with two hits apiece, the Tigers made sure they capitalised on their chances with runners in scoring position when they needed to, finding a way to put pressure on the Orioles defence with some well-timed bunt singles to set up Jayden Christie-Dossetter and Chinn to cash in, the former with an RBI groundout and the latter with a two-run double.
Turner as mentioned was at his mercurial best, steadying after a first inning run to stifle a potent Blackburn line-up over eight innings, surrendering just three hits, the aforementioned one run and recording four strikeouts, before giving way to Wilson who made his first appearance for the year, slamming the door shut courtesy of two strikeouts and a flyball to secure the end the game
The hard-fought win sees the team improve to 3-0 on the season, sitting equal 1st on the Premier 1sts ladder as they look forward to next Sunday which will see them host Berwick Cougars at Kings Park.
Themselves facing a stiff opponent, the Seconds also worked around a first inning Oriole run to score one in the second and three in the fifth to clutch onto a nerve-racking 4-3 win. With Sean Meldrum being rested, Pat Gawith made his first start of the season and worked his way through some first inning control issues to apply the clams to the visitors, going 4 1/3 innings before handing the ball to Daniel Smith to put the finishing touches on the victory over the final 2 2/3. The pair of pitchers surrendered just three hits and five walks over the seven innings played, while the offense received huge contributions from the middle-order hitters, particularly third sacker Sam Griffiths (two hits, one RBI, one stolen base) and catcher Ash Geary-Smith (also two hits, one RBI and a stolen base).
The result sees the Seconds also improve to 3-0 on the season and share top of the ladder with Williamstown while hosting a surprisingly slow starting Berwick this weekend.
Heading up the Princes Freeway to Berwick, the Thirds jumped their hosts, scoring in five of the six innings played (highlighted by three in the first and six in the fifth) to run away with a 12-4 win that saw eight players record hits, led by Richard Ferguson and Mathew Smith with two apiece. Coach Tarquin Booth kept his charges on the move, registering six stolen bases for the game to go along with eight free passes and a HBP.
Harry Snoxell took the start for the Tigers and was brilliant during his appearance, going a dominant 3 2/3 innings whilst racking up eight strikeouts against just three hits and a single walk against before Tyler Kilby put the finishing touches on the result, working the remaining 2 1/3 innings whilst keeping the lead in hand as the Tigers kept on pushing the lead.
Standing alone in first place on the ladder with a 3-0 record, the team will host vaunted rival Waverley this coming weekend in what promises to surely be another hard-fought chapter in this long rivalry.
In the curtain-raiser, the Fourths created the blueprint for the Thirds win, scoring in all six of their innings played (including five in the fourth and a seven spot in the sixth) to run away with a 19-3 win over the Cougars.
With a box score to dream of, every one of the twelve hitters in the line-up recorded at least one hit and all bar one recording an RBI, led by coaching Richard Ferguson who went 4-4 with three RBI’s in the heart of the order while receiving ample support from veterans Sean O’Halloran (two and one), Stephen Johnson (three and one), Tim Young (two and two), Chris Dean (three and two) and the consummate professional Dom McGrath (two and one).
McGrath (three innings) and teenage sensation Archie Hooper (three innings) handled pitching duties, doing more than enough to keep the hosts in check whilst the hitters continued to pour it on in the batter’s box (22 hits, three walks and a HBP) and the base paths (16 stolen bases). Sporting an embarrassing amount of speed in the line-up, coach Ferguson will be sure to look to his speedier players to set the tone for the offensive production as he looks to lead his charges back to the Promised Land for back-to-back premierships.
Improving to 2-1 and claiming fifth on the ladder, the team will be sure to be tested by second placed Waverley next weekend, as the Wildcats boast an undefeated record whilst having only surrendered a single run against whilst scoring 26 in their two games to date.
Playing on the Kings Park backfield on Sunday, the Fifths and Sixths played host to Ormond Glenhuntly and turned the Hunters into the hunted, running away victors 7-2 (Fifths) and 17-10 (Sixths) in a pair of results that will be sure to put a smile on club coach Donavon Hendricks’ face after a pair of tough losses at the hands of Bonbeach last weekend.
Featuring a mix of veterans, young and upcoming Tiger Cubs and players new to baseball, the teams will certainly be tested against more experienced clubs but promise to certainly be more than competitive as the season progresses as the team’s gel and the veterans guide and mentor the younger and new players.
Stats for the Fifths and Sixths were unfortunately unavailable at the time of writing; however, it can be safely assumed both teams received contributions from all players in uniform in two full team efforts.
Travelling to Toomuc Reserve on Saturday afternoon, the Tigress’ exploded out of the gates, scoring four in the first, the maximum seven in the second and another maximum in the fifth to comfortably secure a 20-4 win against hosts Pakenham White.
With four players (Jess McDonald, Amanda Dean, Zienna McCulloch & Victoria Chinn) recording multiple hits and McDonald, Dean, Chelsea Mosbey, McCulloch and Chinn all recording multiple RBI’s, the visitors ensured their twelve free passes, one HBP, nine stolen bases and eleven hits inflicted maximum scoreboard damage and put the result out of hand early. Hayley Mather (three innings) and Mosbey (two innings) were tasked with pitching duties on the day, and were more than effective when called on, scattering three hits and five walks to firmly shut down the Pumas scoring opportunities.
As was the case during their long undefeated streak to kick off the 2023/24 campaign, the team has jumped to a 3-0 start to the season and has a firm grasp on first place on the ladder, currently leading the league in scoring and looking extremely dangerous each week.
The Tigress’ will again be on the road this weekend as they travel back to Toomuc Reserve to take on Pakenham Black as they dream of the upcoming string of home games they will play whilst looking to improve their record to 4-0.
Hosting Ormond Glenhuntly on Monday night, the 38+ Masters (Black) side tight roped their way through an unusually low-scoring game against the Hunters, doing enough when it counted before tightening the screws to hold onto a dramatic 2-1 win in front of their home crowd, the first under the field’s new floodlights. Looking to defend their premiership win last season, the team has started off on the right foot and is currently 2-0 and in a three-way tie for first place with Blackburn and Upwey Gold, the latter of which was unable to square off against their Tiger brethren in the hotly anticipated Upwey v Upwey season opener which was lost due to a washout.
Also playing on home soil, Masters (Gold) broke a 0-0 deadlock in the bottom of the fifth inning with a run before pushing across two more in the sixth to secure a 3-0 win against the visiting Melbourne team, last year’s Grand Final runner-up. The team was led by pitchers Adrian Rice (four innings), Neil Castle (one inning) and Ian Birchwood (two innings) who were terrific in combining for a shutout against a normally potent Demon lineup.
