Round 5 of Division 1 action saw more big hitting from Blackburn (they scored 17 runs thanks to a grand slam and two other dingers); Melbourne remain undefeated as they dealt Waverley their first loss of the season; and Springvale got their first win after hurler Freddy Flores threw a complete game and Matthew Hayle hit well against Doncaster, who are still having trouble scoring. Finally, Rudy Jaramillo delivered with the ball and the bat for the second week in a row as the host Baycats scratched out a win against the Royals.
Springvale 6, Doncaster 2
Freddy Flores threw a complete game for the host Lions whilst Matthew Hayle collected three hits for the winners. For a full recap of this game visit our latest installment of Match of the Round.
Geelong 4, Sandringham 1
Rudy Jaramillo started on the hill for Geelong whilst Kyung soo Jeon took the ball for Sandringham. The first play of the day went Sandringham’s way when Anton Cevec reached on a fielding error and ended up scoring courtesy of Jake Sinclair and Declan Ferguson singles. That put the visiting Royals ahead 1-0.
Geelong evened the score in the bottom of the third when Chris Durston walked and then scored after singles by Liam Spence and Kelii Zablan. Jaramillo got his second hit of the day in the fourth; ditto for Durston in the fifth but both were left on base and the game was tied until late in the game.
The Baycats error in the first looked costly in the low scoring affair but Spence, Zablan, Cameron Gibbons and Mark Rigby all singled to secure the final margin, 4-1, in the bottom of the eighth.
Jeon threw four innings for Sandringham and was relieved by Kynan Wilcox (two innings) and Spencer Jack (two). Rudy Jaramillo threw six innings for the Geelong and was relieved by Cameron Forbes (two) and Zablan (one). By all reports this was a very good game of defensive baseball as the six pitchers combined to cede only four walks for the entire contest. Geelong outhit Sandringham 11 to four.
Blackburn 17, Cheltenham 6
David Dicker led the way with the bat for the visiting Orioles with four hits and was well supported by Daniel Mack, with three other players also getting multiple hits for a team total of 18. Blackburn showed their power at the plate when they plated eight of their runs with the long ball, including a grand slam from the white-hot Nick Rossell.
The Rustlers scored two in the bottom of the first when Paul Rutgers (three hits) hit a solo home run, then Ben Leslie doubled and was plated after a wild pitch and a ground out.
Blackburn came to life in the second inning when they scored six runs on five hits. Singles from Jesse Barron, Dicker, David Tierney and Ryan Berg were capped off by the aforementioned grand slam from Rossell. The Orioles also added one in the top of sixth when Dicker hit a solo homer to left.
To their credit, Cheltenham weren’t deterred as they scored three in the bottom of the same inning on a Brett Curnow double and a Cane Davidson ground out. At that point the Rustlers were trailing, 7-6.
But Blackburn also scored three more before the ninth, which was when they really took control of the game. In the top of the final frame two hit batters and two walks were batted in by a Mack single and a three run homer from Steven Bookluck. Ross Hunter also singled in the inning for his second hit of the day. Topping off an impressive day, Mack added to his three hits when he pitched a scoreless last inning for Blackburn.
These two teams meet again on Wednesday night. First pitch is 6 p.m. at the Orioles home ground.
Melbourne 5, Waverley 2
Melbourne started off the scoring when they plated three in the bottom of the third inning. Ollie McMahon singled and Matthew Kent walked before Robert Hondramatis survived after an error and Nathan Aron (3 for 4) singled.
Waverley challenged in the fifth and scored one run when Chase Hodgkinson and Jordan Busch singled and Busch was plated after an error.
The Wildcats looked good again in the eighth when Mitch Hayes, Andrew Hayes and Tyler Dale singled consecutively and another run scored reducing the Wildcat’s deficit to two.
But the Demons responded, striking right back in the bottom of the eighth when Kent singled, Aron hit his second double of the game and Matthew Blackmore singled, providing Melbourne their final margin of victory.
Evan Brisentine had nine strikeouts for Melbourne and Jon Kennedy racked up six over four innings for Waverley. The Demons outhit the Wildcats seven to five.
Sunshine 3, Newport 2
It took more than the standard nine innings, but in the end it was all worth it for the Eagles as a single marker in the tenth frame provided the winning margin over the host Rams. Newport tallied once in the first and another in the fifth to account for their run total. Sunshine, meanwhile, plated single runs in the third, fifth, and tenth to win their second game of the season. With the loss Newport falls to 1-4.
Essendon 8, Preston 3
In a battle of two teams vying for the top spot in their division, Preston and Essendon squared off at the home of the Pirates. Bubby Buzachero started on the mound for the home team while Luke Abels was handed the ball for the Bombers.
Preston got on the board first in the bottom of the second when Buzachero doubled to center, moved up 90 feet, and was then plated by a Dean Marnell sacrifice fly. Essendon didn’t flinch, though, striking back in the third buoyed by a double and run scored by Tom Dicker.
Not long after that the weather—throughout the game both sunny and windy—did a complete turn: the heavens opened up and sent the teams from the ground. Thankfully the game was only held up for 20 minutes before play resumed. Undeterred by the break, the teams both plated multiple runners over the next few innings and the Pirates held a 3 -2 lead through seven.
In the top of the eighth inning, Preston let the game get away when a series of errors saw the Bombers score four unearned runs and take the lead. The eighth was also the inning that saw Buzachero depart from the mound when he swapped places with third baseman Ben Jackson with two outs.
Things did not get any better for the Pirates in the top of the ninth as a further two errors saw the Bombers plate another two unearned runs to run out winners, 8-3. The wet conditions certainly had an effect on the outcome of the game with the Pirates racking up seven errors with five of those coming after the rain delay.
Essendon's Kyle Bedford, following starter Luke Abels, got the win in after he threw the last three innings. Buzachero took the loss for the Pirates.
The sides meet again on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. with Essendon taking its turn as host.
Original report supplied by Gary O’Brien of Essendon Baseball Club.
Springvale 6, Doncaster 2
Freddy Flores threw a complete game for the host Lions whilst Matthew Hayle collected three hits for the winners. For a full recap of this game visit our latest installment of Match of the Round.
Geelong 4, Sandringham 1
Rudy Jaramillo started on the hill for Geelong whilst Kyung soo Jeon took the ball for Sandringham. The first play of the day went Sandringham’s way when Anton Cevec reached on a fielding error and ended up scoring courtesy of Jake Sinclair and Declan Ferguson singles. That put the visiting Royals ahead 1-0.
Geelong evened the score in the bottom of the third when Chris Durston walked and then scored after singles by Liam Spence and Kelii Zablan. Jaramillo got his second hit of the day in the fourth; ditto for Durston in the fifth but both were left on base and the game was tied until late in the game.
The Baycats error in the first looked costly in the low scoring affair but Spence, Zablan, Cameron Gibbons and Mark Rigby all singled to secure the final margin, 4-1, in the bottom of the eighth.
Jeon threw four innings for Sandringham and was relieved by Kynan Wilcox (two innings) and Spencer Jack (two). Rudy Jaramillo threw six innings for the Geelong and was relieved by Cameron Forbes (two) and Zablan (one). By all reports this was a very good game of defensive baseball as the six pitchers combined to cede only four walks for the entire contest. Geelong outhit Sandringham 11 to four.
Blackburn 17, Cheltenham 6
David Dicker led the way with the bat for the visiting Orioles with four hits and was well supported by Daniel Mack, with three other players also getting multiple hits for a team total of 18. Blackburn showed their power at the plate when they plated eight of their runs with the long ball, including a grand slam from the white-hot Nick Rossell.
The Rustlers scored two in the bottom of the first when Paul Rutgers (three hits) hit a solo home run, then Ben Leslie doubled and was plated after a wild pitch and a ground out.
Blackburn came to life in the second inning when they scored six runs on five hits. Singles from Jesse Barron, Dicker, David Tierney and Ryan Berg were capped off by the aforementioned grand slam from Rossell. The Orioles also added one in the top of sixth when Dicker hit a solo homer to left.
To their credit, Cheltenham weren’t deterred as they scored three in the bottom of the same inning on a Brett Curnow double and a Cane Davidson ground out. At that point the Rustlers were trailing, 7-6.
But Blackburn also scored three more before the ninth, which was when they really took control of the game. In the top of the final frame two hit batters and two walks were batted in by a Mack single and a three run homer from Steven Bookluck. Ross Hunter also singled in the inning for his second hit of the day. Topping off an impressive day, Mack added to his three hits when he pitched a scoreless last inning for Blackburn.
These two teams meet again on Wednesday night. First pitch is 6 p.m. at the Orioles home ground.
Melbourne 5, Waverley 2
Melbourne started off the scoring when they plated three in the bottom of the third inning. Ollie McMahon singled and Matthew Kent walked before Robert Hondramatis survived after an error and Nathan Aron (3 for 4) singled.
Waverley challenged in the fifth and scored one run when Chase Hodgkinson and Jordan Busch singled and Busch was plated after an error.
The Wildcats looked good again in the eighth when Mitch Hayes, Andrew Hayes and Tyler Dale singled consecutively and another run scored reducing the Wildcat’s deficit to two.
But the Demons responded, striking right back in the bottom of the eighth when Kent singled, Aron hit his second double of the game and Matthew Blackmore singled, providing Melbourne their final margin of victory.
Evan Brisentine had nine strikeouts for Melbourne and Jon Kennedy racked up six over four innings for Waverley. The Demons outhit the Wildcats seven to five.
Sunshine 3, Newport 2
It took more than the standard nine innings, but in the end it was all worth it for the Eagles as a single marker in the tenth frame provided the winning margin over the host Rams. Newport tallied once in the first and another in the fifth to account for their run total. Sunshine, meanwhile, plated single runs in the third, fifth, and tenth to win their second game of the season. With the loss Newport falls to 1-4.
Essendon 8, Preston 3
In a battle of two teams vying for the top spot in their division, Preston and Essendon squared off at the home of the Pirates. Bubby Buzachero started on the mound for the home team while Luke Abels was handed the ball for the Bombers.
Preston got on the board first in the bottom of the second when Buzachero doubled to center, moved up 90 feet, and was then plated by a Dean Marnell sacrifice fly. Essendon didn’t flinch, though, striking back in the third buoyed by a double and run scored by Tom Dicker.
Not long after that the weather—throughout the game both sunny and windy—did a complete turn: the heavens opened up and sent the teams from the ground. Thankfully the game was only held up for 20 minutes before play resumed. Undeterred by the break, the teams both plated multiple runners over the next few innings and the Pirates held a 3 -2 lead through seven.
In the top of the eighth inning, Preston let the game get away when a series of errors saw the Bombers score four unearned runs and take the lead. The eighth was also the inning that saw Buzachero depart from the mound when he swapped places with third baseman Ben Jackson with two outs.
Things did not get any better for the Pirates in the top of the ninth as a further two errors saw the Bombers plate another two unearned runs to run out winners, 8-3. The wet conditions certainly had an effect on the outcome of the game with the Pirates racking up seven errors with five of those coming after the rain delay.
Essendon's Kyle Bedford, following starter Luke Abels, got the win in after he threw the last three innings. Buzachero took the loss for the Pirates.
The sides meet again on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. with Essendon taking its turn as host.
Original report supplied by Gary O’Brien of Essendon Baseball Club.