By Sean Talbot
On a day that was terrific for hitters and rough for pitchers, the Upwey Ferntree Gully Tigers did enough to outlast the Werribee Giants and a former premiership teammate Saturday in Wyndham Vale,
After making their way down the freeway and to Presidents Park, the Tigers were greeted by a familiar face in their former teammate and 2022/23 premiership player Wes de Jong who was looking to guide his side past the visitors as he squared off with Tigers ace Jarrod Turner.
The Tigers opened their scoring in the first inning as Harvey Chinn came all the way around from first to score on a Josh Hendricks double after being drilled by a pitch. The Giants answered right back in the bottom half of the inning, as clean-up hitter Wade Balzer left the yard for a two-out, two-run home run.
While the Tigers were unable to score in the second or third, the Giants padded their lead in the bottom of the third on an Addison Bishop-Worn single, scoring Joseph Jaco.
The Tigers blew the game wide open in the top of the fourth inning, as three walks, one HBP, five hits, a sacrifice bunt, a fielder’s choice and a home run to Chinn saw Upwey score 7 to take an 8-3 lead and chase de Jong from the game. Not to be outdone, the Giants scored five of their own in the bottom half of the inning as Turner temporarily struggled with his command and capitalised with well timed base hits to tie the game 8-8 and end Turner’s day, with Donavon Hendricks calling on Ryder Wilson in relief.
The Tigers re-took the lead in the fifth as Jack Ratcliffe lifted a sacrifice fly ball to score Nick Rice, making the score 9-8. Wilson worked a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom half before Upwey scored four more times in the top of the sixth to take a 13-8 lead, highlighted by doubles to Jayden Christie-Dossetter and Ratcliffe before Wilson again kept the hosts scoreless.
After a scoreless seventh for both sides and a scoreless eighth for Upwey, the Giants came roaring back, scoring three runs on a Jaco home run to peg the lead back to 13-11, however Wilson and closer Staci Rogers were able to prevent any further runs scoring, securing the win for Upwey and a perfect 5-0 record on the season.
Ratcliffe (two hits, five RBI), Chinn (two hits, three RBI), Josh Hendricks (three hits, one RBI) and Donavon Hendricks (two hits, one RBI) were the pick of the Tigers hitters, whilst Turner, Wilson and Rogers covered the nine innings played, showing solid bullpen depth in very encouraging signs as the season works towards the start of midweek games.
The Tigers will play host to last years premiers Waverley on Sunday at Kings Park in a game both teams will be wanting to win in the latest chapter of the storied rivalry between the two clubs.
Taking the field for the early game with the wind howling, the Seconds made their eight team hits count for maximum return, taking advantage of ten walks and two HBP’s from the Werribee pitching staff and eight errors from the defence to easily run away winners 16-3 in an rough showing from the home side, punctuated by Upwey scoring four, four, five and three in the first four innings played.
Looking to firmly keep pressure on their hosts, the Tigers were put in motion by coach Ben Thorn all day, stealing 11 bases as a team, led by Stuart Milz (four) and Ryder Wilson (three). The visitors received production up and down the order, with every starter reaching base via a base hit or walk at least once each, led by cleanup hitter MC Cameron (two hits, one RBI), assistant coach Michael Oxworth (one hit, two RBI) and Shaun Irvine (two hits, two RBI).
While starter Sean Meldrum (three innings) and reliever Dan Smith (one inning) were not at their best on the day, they were more than enough for the Werribee hitters, keeping the Giants off base and giving the Tigers plenty of chances to keep piling it on before closer Pat Gawith worked a no-nonsense, scoreless last inning to secure to lopsided win, one the Giants will be keep to quickly move on from.
The win sees the Seconds also run their record to a perfect 5-0 and maintain top spot on the ladder as they host 5th placed Waverley next weekend.
Hosting the visiting Mornington Pirates, the Thirds got a brilliant start from pitcher Harry Snoxell, who firmly applied the clamps to the visitors over 6 1/3 terrific innings en route to a hard fought 6-1 win.
With both team scoreless through three full innings, the Pirates struck first in the top of the fourth to take a 1-0 lead before the Tigers broke through for four runs on the back of patient, team-oriented hitting in an inning that saw two walks, four hits, a sacrifice bunt and a stolen base.
With all the run support he would need for the game, Snoxell continued to tighten the screws on the visitors before coach Tarquin Booth called on Steve Johnson to record the final two outs of the game.
Johnson was the pick of the Tigers hitters on the day, collecting three hits and three RBI in a terrific day from the two-hole, whilst Snoxell was brilliant on the mound in the win.
The win sees the team also maintain a perfect 5-0 record as they hold top spot on the ladder, looking forward to next week which will see them on the road to Sandringham.
Themselves hosting Mornington on Sunday, the Fourths scored early, often and regularly on their way to a blowout 20-10 win at Kings Park.
In a game that saw 30 runs, 27 hits, 12 walks and six stolen bases, defense took a back seat to offense as both teams took advantage of the friendly winds to continually put the ball in play and keep the scoreboard ticking over.
In a terrific showing of team depth, five hitters recorded multiple hits (led by Oscar Monagas with three hits, four RBI), three others recorded one hit and Sean O’Halloran being walked three times in the lead-off spot.
The game saw the Tigers scoring multiple runs in all four innings played, including a third inning where both teams scoring the maximum seven runs possible.
All credit must go to the Pirates, who despite facing a 7-1 deficit in the third inning proceeded to take an 8-7 lead before the Tigers did enough to re-take the lead and hold onto it. A special mention must also go to Mornington pitcher Andrew Jones who threw a 144-pitch complete game while doing everything he could to keep his side in the game, a truly lionhearted performance.
The win improves the Tigers to 4-1 on the season, good enough for second place on the ladder as they take on the 9th placed Royals at Tjilatjirrin Reserve on Sunday.
Scores and stats for the Fifths and Sixths were unfortunately unavailable at time of publishing, with Masters Gold and Masters Black to play Monday night.
Travelling to Napier Park to take on Waverley on Saturday morning, the Tigresses ran into a brick wall of veterans, unable to do enough to get past the experienced Wildcats in an 11-3 loss.
Staying well within the contest until a game breaking fourth inning, the Tigresses scored once each in the first, third and fourth innings to trail 4-3 and well within reach, however the Wildcats took reliever Hayley Mather to the sword, making the young righty work deep into counts and working walks to plate the maximum seven runs to take an 11-3 run as time ran out.
Unlike previous weeks, the Tigresses were unfortunately unable to cash in on seven team hits and eight stolen bases, with Waverley pitcher Terina Stokes working in and out of trouble in a complete game effort.
While both sides fielded extremely well, it was ultimately the 11 walks issued by Upwey pitching that was provided Waverley the baserunners needed to keep running up the score.
The Tigresses will have an extra week to rest and refocus as they have the bye next week due to the withdrawal of St. Kilda’s side after Round Two.
