The first day at the 2019 Australian Women’s Championships was a thriller, with many exciting matches. With six ball games played today, you can check them all out here!
Game 1: WA v NSW | BOX SCORE
New South Wales recorded their first victory of the day in a thrilling extra innings win over Western Australia.
In a see-sawing affair, the scores were locked at 5-5 at the top of the eighth innings before NSW’s Maddison Tabrett hit an RBI single to score Pheebe Watson.
An error by WA centrefielder Kelsey Brennan let Ticara Geldenhuis score, sealing a 7-5 win for NSW.
Tabrett also provided superb relief on the mound, finishing the game with three hits for no runs and six strikeouts from her four innings.
New South Wales flew out of the blocks early, with Maddison Heath driving in an RBI double for the team to go ahead 2-0. Heath finished with a game high two RBI’s.
Belinda Hay singled at the top of the first allowing Heath to cross the home plate, bringing the score to 3-0. Western Australia were quick to hit back at the bottom of the first to even up the game.
NSW scored two more to go ahead 5-3 at the top of the second, but Western Australia instantly replied to bring the score to 5-5, courtesy of a wild pitch and walk by NSW starting pitcher Brittney Langlais.
Game 2: VICW v VICB | BOX SCORE
Victoria Blue kicked off their championship campaign with a shutout win over their counterparts Victoria White on Diamond 2.
Victoria Blue flew out of the blocks, plating seven runs in their first innings of the tournament.
Morgan Doty got the scoring started for the Victoria Blue team, doubling in the first innings to score Abbey Kelly.
Courtney Foura top scored with four hits for three runs, including two RBI’s.
Victoria Blue starter Allison Bebbere stuck out seven, only allowing two hits for zero runs during her four innings.
With the Victoria Blue team ahead 12-0 at the top of the fourth, they piled on six more runs in the fifth, where the mercy rule finished play.
Famke Gildemacher and Vanessa Clifford each hit three RBI’s, making Vic Blue’s offence one to watch.
Game 3: SA vs QLD | BOX SCORE
A Queensland comeback in the sixth innings saw them do enough to beat South Australia and secure their first win of the AWC tournament on Sunday.
In a game where the lead changed four times, Queensland made a comeback in the bottom of the sixth, plating three to tie the scores at 10-10.
With scores all tied up at the bottom of the seventh, a wild pitch by Bianca Smith saw QLD’s Luisa Gauci slide in for the winning run, 11-10.
SA plated two in the first innings, courtesy of a wild pitch by Olivia Stevens and Jessica Maslin hitting a sacrifice fly to score Belinda Stansfield.
They piled on three more runs in the second to go ahead 5-0.
But Queensland weren’t going down without a fight, plating six runs in the bottom of the second to hit the lead 6-5.
Deadlocked at 6-6 heading into the fifth innings, SA’s Ashleigh George stepped up, driving a double and crossing the plate to put the team ahead 9-6.
The game was on the line at the sixth with SA ahead 10-7, but Queensland staged another comeback as Courtney Humphreys hit an RBI double and then scored off a wild pitch to tie the scores.
Game 4: NSW vs VIC BLUE | BOX SCORE
Victoria Blue recorded their second win of the day with another strong display against defending champions New South Wales on Diamond 2.
Victoria Blue starting pitcher Abbey Kelly had a solid performance on the mound, finishing with six hits for two runs and three strikeouts over the five innings.
NSW started off well, with Maddison Heath opening the scoring with a single to score Jordan Richardson.
But from there it was all Victoria Blue, crossing the plate three times at the end of the second.
They piled on seven more runs at the end of the fourth, with Shae Lillywhite finishing with a game high four RBIs off three at bats.
Another two singles by Courtney Foura and Leslie Anglin put Victoria Blue ahead 12-2 and ended the game early with the mercy rule taking hold.
Victoria Blue will face off against Queensland tomorrow on Diamond One.
Game 5: QLD vs VICW | BOX SCORE
Queensland scored early but it was a fast finishing Victoria White that claimed a three run win on Diamond 2.
Despite being down 3-0 after five innings, Victoria White managed to plate six runs at the bottom of the fifth to seal victory.
Victoria White pitcher Amanda Torrington was solid on the mound, finishing her seven innings with 11 strikeouts, allowing four earned runs off eight hits.
Riordan Bradley started things off for QLD as he singled early to score Kira Kamada (walk). Gauci singled to score two and put QLD 3-0.
But it was a massive fifth innings that won the game for Victoria White. Things were tied up at 3-3 before a vital error by QLD left fielder Courtney Murphy allowed Wright and Kayla Adams to score and go two ahead 5-3. They solidified their lead to 6-3 due to a RBI single to Ally Peake.
Queensland got one run back at the top of the sixth but it wasn’t enough.
Victoria White will take on Western Australia on Diamond Two tomorrow.
Game 6: SA vs WA | BOX SCORE
Western Australia have produced a mighty comeback to defeat South Australia 21-16 on Diamond One.
In what was the game of the day, WA came back from 10-1 down at the bottom of the third to clinch their first win of the championships.
Scores were locked at 12-12 at the bottom of the sixth before WA ran riot, scoring ten runs in the same innings.
Kaila Borgomastro lead the charge with a triple while SA pitcher Jessica Maslin walked three and threw a wild pitch to give WA a 21-12 lead.
WA scored four late runs at the top of the seventh but couldn’t do enough to steal victory.
Earlier, South Australia’s opening four runs were all scored off walks and wild pitches.
SA managed to pile on six more runs at top of the second and third to shoot to a 10-1 lead.
But WA were not going down without a fight, with Meaghan Haggart leading the charge at the bottom of the third to post five runs and cut the lead to 10-6.
South Australia will match up with NSW in the afternoon game on Diamond One tomorrow.