The opening day of the 2019 Australian Intermediate League Championships saw each of our Victorian teams – Twins, Southern Mariners, Eastern Athletics – compete. Day 1 of the tournament unfortunately proved difficult for the Victorian representatives, with neither finding a win despite showing strong signs throughout the day.
Twins 5, Northern Metros 8 I BOX SCORE
Twins got off to a great start in the opening game of the 2019 AILC, running across home plate twice in their first innings.
Jacob White and Ben Howard were the players who made a quick start in the batting stocks, with the latter able to keep their opponents to zero runs in a three-up three-down pitching display.
Northern Metros batted in the next five runs of the game through the following four innings, leading Twins to catch up.
They were able to cut the deficit by two runs in the top of the sixth through Miller Wortley and Edward Morgan, however Northern Metros rose to the challenge and came back with three more of their own.
Needing five runs to hit the lead in the final inning, Twins only managed one on the last play of the game when Howard scored once again.
Addison Bishop-Worn led the game with three hits from four at bats while a formidable pitching duo of Wortley and Howard combined for nine strikeouts between them.
Eastern Athletics 3, Western Comets 13 I BOX SCORE
Eastern Athletics contested in a close game within the first four innings, where both teams scored two runs in their respective first digs.
Eastern Athletics got their first runs to Ashley Geary-Smith and Declan Weichard courtesy of a Fletcher Powell double.
The next five digs were all three-up, three-down scenarios – save for one catcher’s interference in the Western Comets third inning.
Western Comets hit the lead in the fourth inning, however it was a super 10-run inning from them in the fifth that saw the result look less likely to favour Eastern Athletics.
Eastern Athletics scored a single run in the sixth from Ryder Wilson, however the game was ended shortly after.
Max Saggers stood tall on the mound, pitching 4.0 inning with 12 first pitches being called strikes.
Southern Mariners 6, Ryde Hawks 16 I BOX SCORE
In a game where there were runs galore, Ryde Hawks hit away in the later stages collecting nine runs in two inning.
Southern Mariners got off to a flyer with four runs to Declan Lynch, Ryan Williams, Mitch Denny and Harrison Maddaford but were behind when Ryde Hawks started their climb with six first inning scores of their own.
Southern Mariners evened the ledger in the second; Lynch and Williams again being the ones to come home.
Denny batted three runs in, as well as scoring once himself, while Lynch had a good eye on when he was at the plate, drawing three walks.
Jessica Brown did her part on the mound at the games beginning, grabbing a first-pitch strike nine times and allowing four hits.
Western Suns 24, Eastern Athletics 8 I BOX SCORE
Eastern Athletics were on the backfoot early in their second game of the day, experiencing a masterclass from their opponents.
Western Suns proved dominant for most of the game, including an 11-run sixth inning.
Declan Weichard continued his strong AILC form with three RBIs as Tom Barlow scored three runs.
Fletcher Powell followed up his double in Eastern Athletics first game of the tournament with a triple this time around, highlighting his exceptional hitting power.
In addition to Barlow’s three runs, Max Saggers scored twice and Powell, Jack Barlow, and Angus Hopkinson each score one.
Weichard also enjoyed time on the mound, starting the game in the pitching position. He was responsible for the first Western Suns inning to be done after three batters and had two strikeouts in the next inning.
Follow along with the rest of AILC 2019 here: http://www.littleleague.org.au/Int-League/Australian-Intermediate-League-Championship