Both the A’s and Mariners were undefeated on the weekend in the latest iteration of the Under 12s contingent in the Little League Charter & Junior League Charter Academy.
Southern Mariners (A) 8, Geelong Baycats 5
Resilience, experience and chutzpah: All were on display in equal measure as the host Southern Mariners (A) team rallied from a mid-game 5-0 deficit to score eight runs in the last three innings and record the victory.
The Mariners scored two in the bottom of the third, added a couple more in the fourth before sealing the game with a four-run fifth.
Five pitchers took the hill for Southern, throwing a combined 80 pitches. Across the diamond, just three hurlers (85 pitches) threw for Geelong.
The win boosted the Mariners record to 6-2 on the season. The Baycats, meanwhile, fell to 3-6.
Eastern Athletics (Gold) 13, Northern Diamondbacks (Orange) 9
The A’s (Gold) started fast, blanking the D’Backs (Orange) in the top of the first and then scoring four times in their home half. They ceded two runs in the second but then came right back to score five of their own, taking a 9-2 lead.
Northern kept coming, scoring twice in the third only to see Eastern score four more runs. Resilient though the D’Backs were—they scored four more in the top of the fourth—they could never catch the A’s, falling by four runs.
The A’s were led on the mound by starter Bronson Neave (16 pitches), followed by Austin Neave (57) and James Jones (29).
Sam Skinner (57) and Lachlan Davis (50) handled the pitching duties for the D’Backs.
The Gold’s win put them at 5-3 on the season while the Orange team dropped to 2-5.
Eastern Athletics (Green) 10, Northern Diamondback (Green) 3
This one was over early with the A’s (Green) team putting up five in the first, two in the second, one in the third and two in the fourth to win going away, 10-3.
Nick Parton (61 pitches) was stellar on the mound for the first three innings before he was replaced by Kobi Lyon (18). Austin Thorne and Zac Dawes split the catching duties.
For the D’Backs, Zac Gorman started and threw 62 pitches before leaving the mound for Denzel Pelelometi (19) and Joel Prpic (19). Joshua Dawson caught the entire game.
The win put the A’s in a first way tie with the Southern Mariners (A) team with identical 6-2 records. The Green team fell to 1-6.
Southern Mariners (B) 8. Geelong Baycats 7
Undoubtedly inspired by their brethren in the first game of the doubleheader, the Mariners (B) side put together a scintillating come back of their own, trailing 3-0 early they rallied for four in the second to the take the lead, then lost it in the third (trailed 6-5) and were down 7-5 in the bottom of the last when with two outs they scored three runs on a double and an error by the Baycats’ center fielder.
What made it even sweeter for the Mariners was who hit that winning two-bagger: Tyler Ellis. It’s the same Ellis who started the game but didn’t record an out, giving up three earned runs after loading the bases on a hit and three walks before departing for reliever Josh Tribe.
Ellis (20 pitches), Tribe (29), Joel Poole (23) and Cooper Williamson (37) handled the duties on the mound.
At the plate, Tribe, Ellis, Matt Kaplan, Tahj Russell and Flynn Lhuede all had hits while Joel Poole had two knocks.
Hudson Carter of the Baycats had three hits, Cooper Tipping two and Jordan Baumann, Josh Smith and Maxton Sherry one apiece.
Carter (46 pitches) and Hayden Peoples (53) threw for the Baycats and Harper Rickard caught the entire game.
The loss drops the Baycats to 3-7 and ups the Mariners B side to 5-3.
Eastern Athletics (Gold) 7, Northern Diamondbacks (Green) 6
What a cracker of a game! Down three in the bottom of the last, the A’s (Gold) team scored four to win in a walk-off, 7-6.
The D’Backs started well, scoring one in the first and led 2-1 heading to the bottom of the second.
They let in three runs but responded with five of their own to lead 6-3 after three. That was the three-run deficit when the Gold capped their heroics in the last of the fourth.
Ethan Scalzo (58 pitches) started before giving way to Lachlan O’Connor who entered in the second and only threw 29 pitches.
Connor Sahbeci (64) and Campbell Hutton (14) handled the pitching duties for the D’Backs.
With the two victories, Gold is now in third place with a 6-3 record. Struggling so far this season, Green is now 1-7 on the season.
Eastern Athletics (Green) 13, Northern Diamondbacks (Orange) 9
It wasn’t pretty, but the A’s came away with their fourth victory of the weekend by hitting extremely well all game.
Down 2-0 after a half inning, they scored five in their half of the first. Fully keeping the momentum, the Green team shut down Orange in the second and then scored five more runs to lead 10-2 after two.
Undaunted, the D’Backs tallied four of their own to close the gap but would get no closer. The A’s scored three in the bottom of the third and though they gave up three more in top of the fourth, the result was never really in doubt.
The A’s Charlie O’Connell caught the whole game for Kynan Jones (62 pitches), Tyler Evans (18) and Austin Thorne (16).
Adam Jirik (18), Mace Poole (19) and Jaycob Pascuzzi (52) threw to Jimin Lee for the D’Backs.
The win puts the A’s Green team one-half game ahead of the Southern Mariners (A) team for top-of-the-ladder status. The Northern Diamondbacks (Orange) falls to 2-6 on the season.
Here is how the comp stands after the fifth round: https://sportsdesq.imgstg.com/portal/index.cfm?fuseaction=competition&competitionID=10393&OrgID=16724&clubOrganisationId=0#ladder. Next week the Under 14s are back in action. Check back here for a full report of all six games.
Southern Mariners (A) 8, Geelong Baycats 5
Resilience, experience and chutzpah: All were on display in equal measure as the host Southern Mariners (A) team rallied from a mid-game 5-0 deficit to score eight runs in the last three innings and record the victory.
The Mariners scored two in the bottom of the third, added a couple more in the fourth before sealing the game with a four-run fifth.
Five pitchers took the hill for Southern, throwing a combined 80 pitches. Across the diamond, just three hurlers (85 pitches) threw for Geelong.
The win boosted the Mariners record to 6-2 on the season. The Baycats, meanwhile, fell to 3-6.
Eastern Athletics (Gold) 13, Northern Diamondbacks (Orange) 9
The A’s (Gold) started fast, blanking the D’Backs (Orange) in the top of the first and then scoring four times in their home half. They ceded two runs in the second but then came right back to score five of their own, taking a 9-2 lead.
Northern kept coming, scoring twice in the third only to see Eastern score four more runs. Resilient though the D’Backs were—they scored four more in the top of the fourth—they could never catch the A’s, falling by four runs.
The A’s were led on the mound by starter Bronson Neave (16 pitches), followed by Austin Neave (57) and James Jones (29).
Sam Skinner (57) and Lachlan Davis (50) handled the pitching duties for the D’Backs.
The Gold’s win put them at 5-3 on the season while the Orange team dropped to 2-5.
Eastern Athletics (Green) 10, Northern Diamondback (Green) 3
This one was over early with the A’s (Green) team putting up five in the first, two in the second, one in the third and two in the fourth to win going away, 10-3.
Nick Parton (61 pitches) was stellar on the mound for the first three innings before he was replaced by Kobi Lyon (18). Austin Thorne and Zac Dawes split the catching duties.
For the D’Backs, Zac Gorman started and threw 62 pitches before leaving the mound for Denzel Pelelometi (19) and Joel Prpic (19). Joshua Dawson caught the entire game.
The win put the A’s in a first way tie with the Southern Mariners (A) team with identical 6-2 records. The Green team fell to 1-6.
Southern Mariners (B) 8. Geelong Baycats 7
Undoubtedly inspired by their brethren in the first game of the doubleheader, the Mariners (B) side put together a scintillating come back of their own, trailing 3-0 early they rallied for four in the second to the take the lead, then lost it in the third (trailed 6-5) and were down 7-5 in the bottom of the last when with two outs they scored three runs on a double and an error by the Baycats’ center fielder.
What made it even sweeter for the Mariners was who hit that winning two-bagger: Tyler Ellis. It’s the same Ellis who started the game but didn’t record an out, giving up three earned runs after loading the bases on a hit and three walks before departing for reliever Josh Tribe.
Ellis (20 pitches), Tribe (29), Joel Poole (23) and Cooper Williamson (37) handled the duties on the mound.
At the plate, Tribe, Ellis, Matt Kaplan, Tahj Russell and Flynn Lhuede all had hits while Joel Poole had two knocks.
Hudson Carter of the Baycats had three hits, Cooper Tipping two and Jordan Baumann, Josh Smith and Maxton Sherry one apiece.
Carter (46 pitches) and Hayden Peoples (53) threw for the Baycats and Harper Rickard caught the entire game.
The loss drops the Baycats to 3-7 and ups the Mariners B side to 5-3.
Eastern Athletics (Gold) 7, Northern Diamondbacks (Green) 6
What a cracker of a game! Down three in the bottom of the last, the A’s (Gold) team scored four to win in a walk-off, 7-6.
The D’Backs started well, scoring one in the first and led 2-1 heading to the bottom of the second.
They let in three runs but responded with five of their own to lead 6-3 after three. That was the three-run deficit when the Gold capped their heroics in the last of the fourth.
Ethan Scalzo (58 pitches) started before giving way to Lachlan O’Connor who entered in the second and only threw 29 pitches.
Connor Sahbeci (64) and Campbell Hutton (14) handled the pitching duties for the D’Backs.
With the two victories, Gold is now in third place with a 6-3 record. Struggling so far this season, Green is now 1-7 on the season.
Eastern Athletics (Green) 13, Northern Diamondbacks (Orange) 9
It wasn’t pretty, but the A’s came away with their fourth victory of the weekend by hitting extremely well all game.
Down 2-0 after a half inning, they scored five in their half of the first. Fully keeping the momentum, the Green team shut down Orange in the second and then scored five more runs to lead 10-2 after two.
Undaunted, the D’Backs tallied four of their own to close the gap but would get no closer. The A’s scored three in the bottom of the third and though they gave up three more in top of the fourth, the result was never really in doubt.
The A’s Charlie O’Connell caught the whole game for Kynan Jones (62 pitches), Tyler Evans (18) and Austin Thorne (16).
Adam Jirik (18), Mace Poole (19) and Jaycob Pascuzzi (52) threw to Jimin Lee for the D’Backs.
The win puts the A’s Green team one-half game ahead of the Southern Mariners (A) team for top-of-the-ladder status. The Northern Diamondbacks (Orange) falls to 2-6 on the season.
Here is how the comp stands after the fifth round: https://sportsdesq.imgstg.com/portal/index.cfm?fuseaction=competition&competitionID=10393&OrgID=16724&clubOrganisationId=0#ladder. Next week the Under 14s are back in action. Check back here for a full report of all six games.