Match Report October 12th 2014. Moorabbin vs Port Melbourne. Div 2.
Interview with Ben Loux, Moorabbin Baseball Club. Direct Link.
Interview with Kile Rogers Port Melbourne Baseball Club. Direct Link.
Port Melbourne went into their home opener, after a 1st round win last week against St.Kilda. Meanwhile, Moorabbin who had added a few players to their finals team of last year were coming off a 1st game loss to Berwick City.
In the Top of the 1st Geoff Holland was hitting his spots on the mound for the Mariners. Laux got on with an error and Musson drew a 7 pitch walk but they were left on base as Port steadied.
Into the bottom of the 1st Josh Mulherin started on the hill and was on target for the Panthers. However, that didn’t stop Geoff Holland of the Mariners as he beat out an infield hit showing great leadership in both defence and offence. Kile Rogers hit a hard line drive single to centre and Desmeott forced an error to the infield, to push Holland across the plate and get safely to 1 himself. Mulherin then took his turn to steady and closed the frame with 2 runners on base.
In the top of the 2nd the pitchers took control for both teams. Holland threw his 2nd strike out of the day then Jeremy Katz got on after an error but left Nick O’Shea at the plate when Kile Rogers, in the dish, caught him well short, trying to steal 2nd.
In the bottom of the 2nd Stuart Holland of Port wasn’t going to be outdone and singled but Mulherin was dealing and left him stranded.
In the Top of the 3rd O’Shea of Moorabbin got on after catcher’s interference, but was put out on a fielder’s choice at 2nd. Then an errant pick off at 1st put a runner in scoring position and Ben Laux got a free pass. Holland lost his control slightly and Moorabbin were looking to make the most of it. Will Musson and Wheeler showed patience and walked after lengthy at bats and the middle order were due up. Port got 2 out to put the pressure back on the Panthers with bases loaded. Andrew Katz was at bat when 2 wild pitches scored Mulherin and Laux as Moorabbin took the lead 2-1.
In the bottom of the 3rd Port Melbourne looked set to equalise when Geoff Holland got his 2nd hit for the day and Desmeott looked ready to hit with 1 out but was deceived brilliantly with an inside pitch by Mulherin. The Mariners went back to the dugout with no change to the score.
In the top of the 4th Staci Rogers took the mound for Port. Grant Karlson batting in the 6 hole opened his account with a single to left but Rogers was on target and looked like he might shut the Panthers down. However, Moorabbin worked the short ball and with 2 fielder’s choice plays Jansen stayed ahead of things and scored a run. Moorabbin leading 3-1.
In the bottom of the 4th Ashley Meyers of the Mariners singled to centre but Mulherin was dealing on the mound and left him stranded.
In the Top of the 5th Mulherin added to his stellar outing when he hit a long double to lead off. Nothing came of it though as Staci Rogers had settled in on the mound and was ready for the Panther’s middle order and left him on base. In the Top of the 6th Moorabbin teamed well for a delayed steal; with 1st and 3rd occupied they sacrificed an out in a run-down between 1st and 2nd to let the runner in from 3rd. The Panthers went into the bottom of the frame leading 4-1.
In the bottom of the 6th Desmeott walked then Niddrie, Ross and Meyers all hit but Mulherin kept control and his cool to leave them stranded again.
In the top of the 7th Desmeott came in to pitch for the home team after Staci Rogers had held the visitors well. Then the batters started to get some control of the game. Musson scored Laux after the Panther’s captain lead off with a double, then Musson came in on a wild pitch. Moorabbin were then leading 6-1.
Port Melbourne showed great determination after some surgical pitching from Mulherin and they lead off the bottom of the 7th with 3 hits. This created some action in the Panther's pen with 1 out and the middle order up. Tyson Niddrie put the ball in play with 2 out, forced an error on the infield and 2 runs came home. The Mariners felt buoyed but were running out of time, still trailing 6-3 when they went back into the field.
In the top of the 8th it looked like Port might be back in it when Desmeott found his zone and struck out the side looking, in order.
Brad Adams pitched the 8th for Moorabbin and Geoff Holland flew the flag again with a hit to right, but Moorabbin were too strong and they fought off a good hitting and determined Port side. Musson closed out the last innings showing class and velocity that looks like it will be used more often on the mound as the season goes on.
This was a great contest to watch between two clubs who are on their way up. Geoff Holland was a stand out, pitching the first half and getting 4 hits for the Mariners. His effort was matched by Josh Mulherin of Moorabbin, who threw 123 pitches for 3 runs with 9 strike outs and got 1 hit with the bat.
Hits Moorabbin 6- Mulherin, Laux 2, Musson, Karlson and O’Shea.
Hits Port Melbourne 11- Staci Rogers 1, Geoff Holland 4, Kile Rogers 2, Niddrie, Meyers 2, Stuart Holland.
In other Div 2 games. Berwick won their 2nd game over Bonbeah St. Chads 10-3. Springvale jumped Malvern early with 5 runs in the 1st innings and won 8-5. Werribee opened their account with a 5-2 win over St.Kilda and Sunshine came from behind to defeat Fitzroy 7-3.
Division 1 saw Geelong vent their loss to Willy in the 1st round with a 13-0 drubbing of Newport. Williamstown looked like they might be in for the same treatment from Essendon when they were losing 6-0, but held the Bombers and lost 7-3. Upwey won their 2nd in a row when they downed Cheltenham 7-4. Blackburn opened their account to leave Melbourne at 1-1 when they beat the Demons 7-4. Preston scored their 24th run in 2 games with a 9-0 win over Sandringham and Doncaster scored a win over Waverley to go to 1-1 when their starting pitcher threw 11 strike outs in 5 innings.
In Women's Division 1 Footscray lost to Doncaster 3-1 whilst Malvern and Essendon hacked out a slug fest with the Bombers winning 14-13. Finally, Springvale went about their business to shut Werribee out 14-0.
Report by Cam Gleeson
@valiantcam
#bvsl
Image supplied generously by Michael Adams of Moorabbin Baseball Club.