Men's Division 1, Williamstown at Newport. Sunday 2nd November 2014.
Score by Innings
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
R
H
Williamstown Wolves
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
3
6
Newport Rams
1
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
1
4
3
The weekend of matches in the Victorian Summer Baseball League was very different to the previous round. After we saw three games decided by a ten run margin can you believe that the same competition served up three extra innings games in the same day? The match of the round is one of the ones that went into ten innings as Williamstown took it up to Newport with a strong and cold wind blowing in.
In the Top of the 1st Griffin Weir was on the hill for the Rams when Aaron Green hit to right to start it. It was to no avail though as Weir steadied and the Newport shortstop Jordan Young showed great arm strength after momentarily losing his feet during a successful double play at 2nd base. The Wolves went back to their dugout without scoring.
Bottom 1 and Jason Lester was on the mound for the Wolves throwing hard with the wind but not afraid to put his off-speed stuff in the mix. He didn’t miss by much but walked Jordan Young. Then Jason McDonald, in the dish for Williamstown, called for a pitch out but Young was too fast and made it easily to 2nd. Liam Vicory-Lovegrove worked the count to 3-1 and then hit a hard grounder to get Young to 3rd with 1 out for Malthouse who got hit by a pitch. Newport then did a delayed steal from 1 and Young scored from 3 during the run down play. After 1 Newport leading 1-0.
Top 2nd and Ryan Camov hit up the middle to provide Willy with their 2nd base runner of the game. Nathan Rogers provided a good cover swing for Camov as both teams were making stealing 2nd look easy with the catchers throwing into the wind. Weir was on target though and induced a ground ball to leave the runner on base.
Bottom 2nd and Jeremy Young squeezed the ball down the line at 3rd base when he singled to 7. Williamstown then sorted out their defence and caught him stealing 2nd. Mike Pollock reached for a high bouncer at 3rd base and stole a hit off Heath Black to end the innings.
Top 3 and Jason McDonald grounded to the infield and pressured the defence with experienced base running to get on safely. But again, Weir was throwing spots and after a strikeout and a 6-3 groundball the runner was stranded.
Bottom of the 3rd and the wind was holding up the ball giving the outfielders plenty of time to get under it. Lester was starting to hone in on the strike zone, still throwing hard with great variation and got 3 contact outs.
Top 4 and Weir was continuing on target as he got three more contact outs to sit the batters down in order.
Bottom 4 and Lester was using the wind as the Newport batters hit hard only to see the ball hold up for the shallow positioned outfielders. A spectacular catch by Camov in left, another to centre and an out at 2nd base and it was Lester’s turn to sit the batters down in order.
Top 5 and Jordan Young was making it look easy at short when he made the 1st two groundball outs. Then another flyball to centre that looked like it hovered for a while and the Rams went back into the dugout.
Bottom of the 5th and Jordan Young got a free pass then Liam Vicory-Lovegrove worked hard for a walk after 9 pitches. Tyson Foreman also worked his at bat to a full count. Lester tried to challenge him high and he fouled it off, then the next pitch missed low for the walk. Lester vacated the mound for Chircop but Newport scored two runs after 4 walks and a HPB.
Top 6 and and Griffin Weir was still in control on the hill with Newport leading 3-0. Liam Vickery-Lovegrove made a great sliding catch in centre right to end the dig.
Bottom 6 and Eric Kline lead off. Chircop was inducing contact with plenty of time for his outfielders, he settled, got 2 flyballs and ended it with a high fastball for a strikeout.
Top 7 and Andrew Russell lead off for the Wolves but Jordan Young stole a hit off him when he snagged a line drive deep in the hole at short. Mike Pollock came to bat and proved it wasn’t the day to be hitting the ball in the air when he popped up to deep shortstop, then Chris Mason worked the count to 3 balls but also flied out to centre. That ended the day for Griffin who threw 7 shutout innings for 3 hits with 2 strikeouts.
Bottom 7 and Heath Black drew a walk then Stephen Pengelly did the same, however the Wolves steadied after Black got caught in a run down play when he tried to steal 2nd. Chircop got two contact outs and the score didn't change.
Top 8 and recent Aces signing Jeremy Young came in to pitch. Young got the count to full and struck out the first batter with an offspeed pitch straight down the middle and then jammed the 2nd hitter with a hard 2 and 2 curve that fell off the table beautifully. After Darren Pollock walked, Young relied on a ground ball to 2nd and Willy went back in without scoring. Newport leading 3-0.
Top 9 and what looked like a foregone conclusion didn’t pan out. The ability and determination of the Williamstown team came to the fore in this innings. The crowd stopped packing up their chairs and starting paying attention when Aaron Green battled out a six-pitch walk with new pitcher Eric Kline. Then the intensity really lifted when Marnell hit an infield single and Andrew Russell came to bat. It looked like Kline pitched around him without going for the intentional walk, but that didn't matter to the Wolves as Mike Pollock singled to right and scored Green. Mason rolled into a 6-4-3 double play but that was enough to score another and make it a one run game. Then, in came Ryan Camov with a clutch hit to right to score another and even it up at the last gasp. Kline was good enough and steadied to leave Camov on base, with a strike out. Newport went into bat to see if they could break the deadlock.
In the bottom of the 9th Chircop got two outs and handed the ball to David Asp after Heath Black singled to left. Jack Van Wyngarden battled out a 7 pitch at bat but flied out to left for the final out and to send the game to 10th.
In the top of the 10th Kline had settled and sat the Williamstown batters down in order.
In the bottom of the 10th Jordan Young singled to centre and stole 2nd showing his skill on the bases. Then the speedy Liam Vicory- Lovegrove caused a commotion on a groundball to first pressuring Williamstown into an error. Young too, was just as fast on the other side of the diamond and scored on the play and the ended the game. It was fitting that Jordan Young was the one to score the run after he had such a good day in the field.
Williamstown will go away ruing the fact that they threw 8 walks to lose a game where they outhit the opposition 6 to 3. These teams meet again on Wednesday night at Williamstown. This will be a much different game as both teams will have to change their pitching plans after the extra innings affair. Additionally the wind is likely to be blowing out at the harbourside ground so we will see how much difference the home hill advantage has, but this time in reverse.
Match report by Cam Gleeson
@valiantcam
#vsbl