By Sean Talbot
The Upwey Ferntree Gully Tigers took Game One of their best-of-three series against the Blackburn Orioles 2-0 on Tuesday night at Robert Booth Reserve, Dandenong as both teams battle it out for a spot in the Grand Final series which kicks off next week.
With both clubs sending their aces to the mound for the contest, Blackburn with American import Michael Cabeza and Upwey with Jarrod Turner, runs promised to be hard to come by as two of the leagues best squared off. Upwey struck first in the bottom of the first inning, as Wade McConnon laced a one-out single to center field before coming all the way round to score on Jordan Elliott’s double down the right field line before Cabeza settled to close out the innings. Blackburn immediately looked to counterpunch, as veteran leadoff hitter Andy Tierney drew a walk and was sacrificed to second base by Ryan Berg, however Turner came back with a strikeout and a groundball to quickly work himself out of danger.
Upwey were unable to add a run in the top of the second, with Harvey Chinn drawing a one-out walk but unfortunately being unable to be advanced beyond first base, though the Upwey hitters were looking to make Cabeza work hard for his outs and he appeared to be battling some control issues with his off-speed pitches. Turner made short work of the Orioles in the bottom of the second, surviving a hard hit ball off the bat of Hayden Dingle that found the glove of skipper D Hendricks in right field before adding a pair of strikeouts to work a 1-2-3 inning. Upwey again put pressure on Cabeza in the top of the third inning as Pete Schroeders led off with a running bunt, but back-to-back fielder’s choices saw Jordan Elliott still at first base with two out. J Hendricks lined a ball to left field that Upwey looked to send Elliott home to score, however a textbook 7-6-2 relay play snuffed out any hopes of Upwey’s second run of the game and meant the end of the inning. Turner rebutted in the bottom half with another 1-2-3 inning, pairing a strikeout with two groundballs, needing only 9 pitches to be in and out.
Upwey came out in the top of the 4th again looking to put pressure on Cabeza, who left a 1-0 fastball to Jack Ratcliffe catch too much of the plate which the teenage sensation tattooed for a missile over the left-center wall for a solo home run, pushing the score to 2-0 in favor of Upwey. To his credit, Cabeza came back and recorded two outs to escape the inning, however Upwey were beginning to hit the ball harder and their outs were becoming louder which appeared to begin to unnerve Blackburn’s star import. Turner again gave the Orioles no chance to get settled, this time needing only seven pitches to record a strikeout, a groundball and a pop-up to McConnon at shortstop for his third consecutive 1-2-3 inning.
The Tigers took their fifth turn at bat still looking to apply pressure to the Oriole defense, and a brilliant play by Blackburn third baseman Ryan Berg was the only thing that prevented Nick Rice from leading off with a bunt single. Schroeders was drilled with a one-out, first pitch fastball to give Upwey yet another baserunner, however two flyballs were not enough to advance Upwey’s veteran leadoff hitter as Cabeza was able to work his way out of danger to end the inning. Looking to give Blackburn no ability to feel comfortable or get settled, Turner continued to pound the strike zone in the bottom of the 5th, quickly recording two ground outs before striking out Nick Rossell to end the frame.
Cabeza would only last one more hitter in his appearance before Andy Jones was called in from the bullpen for Blackburn, ending Cabeza’s day after 5 1/3 innings in which he surrendered 5 hits, 1 walk and 1 hit batter while giving up 2 runs (2 earned). Jones was able to quickly set his tempo, striking out the first two hitters he faced to end the inning. Blackburn looked to have a real chance at breaking onto the scoreboard in the bottom half of the 6th, as 9-hole hitter Taichi Nagano and Tierney worked back-to-back walks to give the Orioles a runner in scoring position for the first time all game, however Turner, as he has been one to do all season, found a way out of the jam, striking out Berg and Leslie to leave the runners stranded and Blackburn again off the scoreboard.
With the change of pitcher from the right handed Cabeza to left handed Jones, Randy Senn was called upon to pinch hit for Chinn and promptly lined the first pitch he saw to right field before giving way to teenage speedster Ryder Wilson in a pinch hitter role. Staci Rogers laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Wilson to second base, and a Rice fly ball behind first base in foul territory that drew Tierney over to make the play allowed Wilson to scamper to third, however Upwey were unable to convert the chance, as Jones was able to force a ground ball back to himself to escape the jam. Turner continued his dominance over Blackburn, again setting the Orioles down in order with a groundball off the bat of Chase Hodgkinson before a pair of strikeouts quickly ended the frame.
Looking to create further chances for themselves, Upwey again threatened in the top of the 8th inning as Elliott drew a one-out walk before D Hendricks reached first after a pass ball on a strikeout, a play which also allowed the fleet footed Elliott to advance to third on the same play, however a deep fly ball from the next hitter did not find grass and Upwey were unfortunately unable to increase their lead. Becoming desperate to generate some offensive pressure, Blackburn were again turned away in turn by Turner, who recorded a pair of strikeouts before getting Nagano to weakly fly out in foul territory to end the frame.
Heading into the top of the 9th, Upwey again looked to give Turner more of a buffer, however Jones continued to apply the screws to the Upwey hitters, recording two more strikeouts before inducing a flyball out to Koetsu Sakamoto in right field for the third out of the inning. Looking to finish what he had started and slam the door shut on Blackburn, Turner took to the mound again, getting Tierney to fly out to Ratcliffe on a play that required latter to cover a lot of ground and take a terrific over the shoulder catch. Turner struck out Berg to record the second out, but a two-out, two-strike, broken bat single into shallow left field off the bat of Leslie not only extended the inning to give Blackburn hope but ended what had been up to that point a no-hitter, an extremely rare feat in baseball, not to mention in a game of so much pressure. Undeterred by the lost chance of making history, Turner got Hodgkinson to roll over on a ball to Rogers at third, who tagged an overly aggressive Leslie who took off on contact to end the game, securing a 2-0 win for Upwey, a 1-0 series lead in the best of three and finishing Turner’s one-hit shutout masterpiece.
Schroeders, Wade McConnon, Elliott, J Hendricks, Ratcliffe and Senn all recorded one hit each for the Tigers, with Ratcliffe picking up 1 RBI with his solo home run and Elliott 1 RBI on his double in the first inning. Turner as mentioned was absolutely brilliant, someone finding another gear in what has already arguably been his best season to date, going the distance and throwing all 9 innings, surrendering just the one hit and three walks to go along with 13 strikeouts.
The Tigers will look to carry their momentum into Game Two on Saturday afternoon which will be played at the Orioles home of Billabong Park, with Game Three at Kings Park in front of the Tigers home crowd if need be, however Upwey will be doing everything in their power to ensure the series does not make it to the Tiger Dome as they look to end the Orioles season and chalk up their first win at Billabong Park this season after two tough losses earlier in the regular season.
