The 2022 Senior, Junior, and Intermediate League State Championships opened at Geelong Baseball Centre, with Baycats, Eastern Athletics, Southern Mariners, and Twins taking the field for action-packed games.
In Senior League, Eastern Athletics are 2-0, followed by Twins at 1-1 and Baycats and Southern Mariners, both at 0-1.
Southern Mariners are 2-0 in Junior League, while Twins are 1-0, Baycats are 0-2, and Eastern Athletics are 0-1. The Mariners are also off to a 2-0 start in Intermediate League, with Twins at 1-1 and Eastern Athletics 0-2.
Check out results from the first day and visit our LL State Champs hub for schedules and live scoring on GameChanger.
Senior League
Eastern Athletics 9 v Southern Mariners 6
Eastern Athletics defeated Southern Mariners 9-6 despite allowing four runs in the seventh inning.
Max Saggers singled on a 3-2 count to put the Athletics up by three in the first, quickly followed by another two in the second. Saggers singled again in the fourth to help the side add three more runs, with a base hit by Angus Hopkinson making a difference, too.
The Mariners put two on in the fourth but saved their biggest rally for the seventh, when four runs came around thanks to a single by Lachlan Smith and a double by Zachariah Dunkley.
Aiden Patterson led off on the mound for Eastern, covering three and two-thirds innings with just two hits and a run allowed, plus four strikeouts and no walks.
Liam Bald pitched for Southern Mariners. The hurler surrendered five runs on two hits over one and one-third innings, striking out five. Patrick Jones and Jonathan Goldman entered the game from the bullpen, throwing two and a third innings and two and a third innings respectively.
Hopkinson went 2-for-2 to lead the Athletics, while Ryder Wilson recorded four of the team's 16 stolen bases. Dunkley went 3-for-4 at the plate to lead the Mariners in hits.
Eastern Athletics 7 v Twins 6
Twins lost the lead late in a 7-6 defeat to Eastern Athletics on Saturday. Eastern was down 4-3 in the top of the seventh inning when a run scored on a stolen base during Taran Rose's at bat. Rose followed up with an RBI single.
Twins collected seven hits and Eastern Athletics had 12 in the high-scoring affair, with an error opening the scoring for Athletics in the first inning.
Eastern scored one run in the top of the fourth on William Kent's RBI double, which Twins answered with a run of their own on an error.
Jack Ratcliffe led things off on the mound for Eastern Athletics. The hurler allowed two hits and zero runs over three innings, striking out three.
Lachlan Amon was on the mound for Twins, throwing three innings with one run on two hits,, plus a walk and five strikeouts. Alex Liersch and Kelly Pilapil entered the game from the bullpen, throwing three and two-thirds innings and one-third of an inning respectively.
Rhys Southwell led Twins with two hits in two at bats. Twins tore up the base paths, as two players stole at least two bases.
Eastern Athletics tallied 12 hits on the day, with Aiden Patterson going 3-for-4 and Ryder Wilson, Ratcliffe, and Rose all collecting multiple hits, too.
Twins 20 v Baycats 5
Twins won 20-5 after a big start, with a four-run first inning featuring a double by Logan O'Brien, a single by Matthew Butler, and a wild pitch during Will Gaskett's at bat.
Nine more runs scored in the second on RBIs from Addison Bishop-Worn, Liam Sullivan, Kelly Pilapil, Alex Liersch, and O'Brien.
Baycats put up five runs in the third inning. Cooper Tipping, Tyson Sherry, Harvey Elderfield, Oliver Yarnell, and Cade White all moved runners across the plate.
O'Brien led things off on the pitcher's mound for Twins. The fireballer allowed zero hits and zero runs over one inning, walking one.
White was on the pitcher's mound for Baycats. The hurler went one inning, allowing five runs on two hits. Nyah O'Brien, Elderfield, Bradyn Barker, and Will Cavanagh all pitched in relief.
White and Sherry collected one hit each to lead Baycats, Liersch, Pilapil, and Butler had two hits each for Twins.
Junior League
Twins 18 v Baycats 7
Twins took the lead late in the game in an 18-7 victory over Baycats. The game was tied at seven with Twins batting in the bottom of the fifth when Patrick Matthews singled on a 0-2 count, scoring one run.
Twins got their offense started in the opening frame as Matthews singled on a 3-1 count, scoring one run.
Jai DiBlasi had a big game too, stealing four bases and collecting four hits in five at bats to help lead the side to victory.
Twins starter Fletcher Wilson gave up two runs on three hits over two and a third innings, striking out four and walking zero.
Riley Peoples was on the mound for Baycats. The hurler went one inning, allowing three runs on three hits with a pair of strikeouts. Mason Hergstrom, Tylah Laurie, and Toby Arnott all contributed in relief for Baycats.
Twins tallied 14 hits, including multiple from DiBlasi, Liam Coster, and Matthews, while Jordan Ellis went 2-for-3 at the plate to lead Baycats in hits. Peoples stole two of six stolen bases for Baycats.
Southern Mariners 24 v Baycats 3
Baycats watched the game slip away early and couldn't recover in a 24-3 loss to Southern Mariners, who jumped on the board early with RBI singles from Robinson Smith, Cai Batey-Smith, Jesus Camacho, and Brandon Elton.
Southern Mariners scored ten runs in the fourth inning, driven by walks from Smith, Joseph Lewis, and Jake Bertucci, plus a triple by Smith, a groundout by Liam Puncher, and an error on a ball put in play by Brooklyn Riwaka.
Hunter Richardson led things off on the hill for Southern Mariners. The fireballer went one and one-third innings, allowing two runs on zero hits, striking out two and walking zero.
Patrick Johnson, Sid Grimmer, Jake Chapman, Allistaire Lang, and Albie Scott all pitched for Baycats, with Jordan Ellis collecting a hit.
Southern Mariners tallied 12 hits in the game as Batey-Smith, Smith, and Elton got on base multiple times. Southern Mariners stole 13 bases during the game as three players stole more than one. Batey-Smith led the way with three.
Southern Mariners 7 v Eastern Athletics 6
Southern Mariners seized victory in dramatic fashion with a walk-off single from Mitchell Langworthy to win the game 7-6 over Eastern Athletics.
Bats blistered as Eastern Athletics tallied eight hits and Southern Mariners collected nine, including Hunter Richardson's home run in the fourth.
Robinson Smith led things off on the mound for Southern Mariners, throwing two scoreless innings with no hits, just one walk and four strikeouts.
Buster Vos toed the rubber for Eastern Athletics. The bulldog allowed six hits and five runs over five innings, striking out seven and walking one. Kycen Dowling threw one and two-thirds innings in relief out of the bullpen.
Southern Mariners racked up nine hits on the day as Ty Daniels went 3-for-4 and Jake Bertucci and Langworthy had multiple hits, too.
Samuel Walk went 2-for-3 with Eastern Athletics.
Intermediate League
Southern Mariners 11 v Eastern Athletics 1
Southern Mariners collected nine hits and gave up six in an 11-1 win over Eastern Athletics. Mariners scored twice in the first and seven times in the second, with one more run in both the third and the fourth.
Eastern's lone run came off the bat of Noah Traplin, who smashed a line drive double to bring home Thomas King.
Harrison Brodie had three hits and an RBI for Mariners, while Ashley Hill knocked in three runs on a bases-clearing double.
Euan Clarkin, Blake Ochoa, Ishant Dittakavi, Alexander Smith, and Jack Thomas all had hits for the Mariners, while Darcy Squire, Angus Saggers, and Archie Shorland-Hooper got on base for the Athletics.
Thomas struck out four during 2.2 innings for the Mariners, with Smith, Theodore Rutgers, and Lachie Wright also putting in work on the mound.
Saggers struck out two during his inning of work for the Athletics while Nathan Clark, Traplin, and Squire contributed on the hill, too.
Twins 17 v Eastern Athletics 7
Both sides scored four runs in the first, but Twins took a 7-6 lead in the second and didn't look back, collecting 14 hits total while giving up just four in a 17-7 victory over Eastern Athletics.
Eastern Athletics opened up scoring in the first inning when William Ferguson singled on a 1-2 count, scoring one run. Darcy Squire, Nathan Clark, and Angus Friend batted in runs, too.
Twins pulled away for good with three runs in the second inning. Roman Coote doubled on a 2-0 count, scoring two runs and William Cashen grounded out, scoring one run.
Twins scored four more runs in the sixth inning. Tyler Barton, Oliver Bergin, Samuel Land, and Coote each drove in runs during the inning.
Joseph Lotan got the start for Twins, throwing two-thirds of an inning, allowing one hit and four runs while striking out one.
Daniel Williams was on the mound for Eastern Athletics. He allowed five hits and nine runs over three and a third innings, striking out six. Archie Shorland-Hooper, James Govenlock, and Ferguson all pitched in relief.
Twins collected 14 hits, including a 3-for-5 game for Coote and multiple hits from Bailey Stewart, Windsor Breckenridge, Bergin, Land, and Barton. Six players stole at least two bases as Cashen led the way with four.
Ferguson went 2-for-4 at the plate to lead Eastern Athletics in hits, while Thomas King had four of the team's eight stolen bases.
Southern Mariners 8 v Twins 7
Southern Mariners took the lead late in the game in an 8-7 victory over Twins on Saturday afternoon. The Mariners were down 7-6 in the bottom of the sixth inning when Theodore Rutgers singled on a 1-2 count, scoring two runs.
Southern Mariners built a four-run lead in the fourth inning but watched as Twins scored six runs across the fifth and sixth with RBIs from Joseph Lotan, Bailey Stewart, William Cashen, and Cooper Bishop-Worn.
Earlier, Bishop-Worn got Twins on the board in the first with an RBI single on a 1-1 count. Windsor Breckenridge was on the hill for Twins. The pitcher lasted one and one-third innings, allowing two hits and two runs while striking out three. Cashen, Tyler Barton, and Charlie Davenport each contributed in relief.
Blake Ochoa got the start for Southern Mariners. The ace lasted two innings, allowing two hits and one run while striking out three and walking one.
Harrison Brodie, Euan Clarkin, Jax Clarke, Matthew Fielden, Lachie Wright, Rutgers, and Ochoa all had one hit for Southern Mariners as Wright led the side with five stolen bases. The team stole 22 bases total.
Twins racked up nine hits in the game. Samuel Land and Bishop-Worn had multiple hits, with land one of four players to steal at least two bases. The side was sure-handed in the field and didn't commit a single error as Bishop-Worn had the most chances in the field with 14.
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