By Sean Talbot
It was another huge weekend of Upwey Ferntree Gully Tigers baseball this past weekend, as the club recorded five wins, one draw and one result pending from seven total games played.
Travelling to Fitzroy to take on the Lions and looking to pick up the points after a hard-fought 3-1 loss to Sunshine in the midweek game, the Firsts got off to a dream start as they scored five times in the first inning, highlighted by the first of two monster home runs on the off the bat off Josh Hendricks, complemented by singles to Pete Schroeders, Harvey Chinn, Jordan Elliott and a double to Jack Ratcliffe. Getting the start for Upwey, Jarrod Turner worked his way around a leadoff single to Cam Deeble to make short work of the Lions, recording a fly ball and a pair of strikeouts to end the first frame with Upwey in charge 5-0.
Looking to recover after the explosive first inning, Fitzroy starter Matthew Holmes steadied over the following two innings, surrendering just a single to Schroeders in the second and a pair of HBP’s to Hendricks and Elliott in the third whilst recording a pair of scoreless innings, holding the visitors at bay while the Lions went about pegging back the Tigers early lead. Taking full advantage of a pair of walks and errors in the second inning, Matthew Burraston cashed in with a sacrifice fly to get the Lions on the board, closing the load to 5-1. The third inning proved to be even more productive, as a pair of singles was followed by a two-out, three-run home run off the bat of Daniel Huryn to make the score 5-4 after three complete.
The scores would not change until the eighth inning, as Turner firmly applied the clamps to the Fitzroy offence over his six innings before giving way to Staci Rogers, while relief pitcher Hokuto Kanai worked a scoreless fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh, surrendering just a hit batter and a single to Chinn along the way.
The Tigers flipped the game on its head in the top of the eighth inning however, as Fitzroy reliever Cam Deeble was met with Hendricks’ second moonshot of the day and promptly taken to task thereafter, as singles to Flynn Morrison and Nick Rice, another double to Jack Ratcliffe, a walk to Schroeders and some sloppy Fitzroy defence led to the Tigers scoring another five runs to blow the game wide open, now sporting a 10-4 lead going into the bottom of the eighth inning. Rogers was fantastic in his three-inning appearance, giving the hosts no chance to mount a comeback as he worked around a two-out single to Deeble in the ninth to slam the door shut, earning the save and sealing the 10-4 win.
The result sees Upwey’s record improve to 15-4-5 for the season keeping them firmly in third place, just a whisker behind Sunshine who sit second with a 17-6 record. The Tigers will now look forward as they travel to Sandringham for the midweek game on Tuesday before hosting Essendon under lights on Saturday during the club’s annual BCNA Pink Round.
Playing the curtain-raiser earlier in the day, the Seconds overcame an early deficit and took full advantage of a score of gifted baserunners to run out eventual 14-6 winners. Despite surrendering a run in the bottom of the first inning to trail 1-0, the Tigers proceeded to score six times over the following three innings, as patient hitting, wayward Fitzroy defence and aggressive baserunning allowed the Tigers to maximise their opportunities to take a 6-5 lead after four innings, as the Tigers patient approach and the Lions power approach was keeping both sides in the game.
Scores remained unchanged through the fifth inning, however, the Tigers exploded for four runs in the sixth and seventh innings to blow the game wide open. Leading off the sixth inning, Kyle Hubbard laced a leadoff triple before three HBP’s, a walk and a pair of errors saw the Tigers lead grow to 10-5. Not looking to rest on his laurels, Hubbard led off the seventh with a double and the Tigers followed with a flurry of hits, pushing the lead to an unassailable 14-5.
Dan Smith took the start for Upwey and worked 5 solid innings, giving up 6 hits and just a lone earned run before Pat Gawith closed the game out with two innings with minimum fuss. On the offensive side, the Tigers were led by Michael Oxworth (two hits, one RBI), Hubbard (two hits), Ash Geary-Smith (one hit, two RBI) and Daniel Williams (one hit, two RBI).
The win sees the Tigers record improve to 11-4, good enough for sole possession of third place on the ladder as they face a test in the seventh place Essendon on Saturday.
Playing in sweltering conditions at Surrey Park on Sunday, the Thirds did enough early before the game was called off due to heat restrictions, running out 9-2 winners.
The Tigers were merciless right from the off, as four straight hits to start the game were followed by a Melbourne defensive error, a hit batter, two more hits and a fielders choice to plate the maximum 7 runs for the inning with the Tigers sporting runners at first and third and two out and leadoff hitter Russell Jeffery recording two hits for the inning.
Not looking to let the pressure ease, Upwey scored their eighth and ninth runs of the game after Will Yon reached on an error, Russell Ferguson doubled and Williams’ Steve and Riley both laced singles before a double play and a strikeout ended the inning.
Despite just two innings being played, sufficient time had passed for the game to be considered legal, handing Upwey the points, though credit must go to players on both sides for giving it their all in conditions better suited to a day at the beach than a day on the ballfield. The win sees Upwey improve to 10-4 for the season as they continue to maintain a death grip on third place, now due to square off with ninth-placed Doncaster on Sunday.
Playing the early game on Sunday, the Fourths were unable to hold off a fast-finishing Melbourne, a 6-6 draw the final score under the blazing Box Hill sun.
The Tigers had their foot to the floor all day as they scored once in the first, once in the second, twice in the third and twice in the fourth to hold a 6-0 lead after four complete innings on the back of seven hits, five walks and 11 stolen bases, however; the Demons, who had been threatening to break through on the scoreboard all day, tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning after a slew of walks and hit batters allowed the home side to push six runners across the place before Richard Ferguson found the third out.
Neither team was able to score in the sixth inning despite both having chances, ending the game with a hard-fought tie, the latest example of the age-old adage “it ain’t over ‘til it’s over”. Offensively, the Tigers were led by Russell Jeffery (two hits, three RBI) and Chris Chalmers (two hits), whilst Dom McGrath was fantastic in his start on the mound, working 4 2/3 innings whilst giving up just two hits and one earned run.
The result sees Upwey’s record improve to 10-3-1, more than good enough for third place on the ladder as they face Doncaster this coming weekend.
The Fifths did not get a game in due to heat restrictions on Sunday at Springvale.
The Sixths managed to overcome player shortages due to injury to post an impressive 9-2 against Springvale in the early game on Sunday at KH Wearne Reserve. Stats for the game are unfortunately unavailable, however, reports from several players relayed that it was a true team effort on the day and that all last-minute replacements did more than enough to contribute to the eventual win. The team is now 3-7-1 and will enjoy a bye this coming weekend.
Hosting Pakenham White on Saturday morning, the Tigresses pulled off one of the most incredible feats ever seen on a baseball field in recent time, as they not only walked away 21-7 winners in a time-shortened game, but they sent 27 hitters to the plate, none of whom recorded an out, an effort unheard of. The Tigresses paired 10 hits with 14 walks, a hit batter and 17 stolen bases to score the maximum seven runs in all innings played.
Caitlin Kiel (two hits, two RBI, two stolen bases), Zienna McCulloch (two hits, one RBI, three stolen bases) and Amanda Dean (two hits, two RBI, stolen base) were the pick of the Upwey hitters. However, this was a certainly a whole team effort on the day from the women in black and yellow who face Pakenham Black this coming Saturday at Kings Park in what promises to be a massive day for the Tigers.
