Division 1 and 2 Preview for the Week 5th November.
Top of the table clashes will test bullpens.
This week in Division 1 the midweek games kick off with teams playing the 2nd leg of matches from the weekend. All games are at alternate venues except for Waverley who return to Melbourne and Sandringham who take on Geelong at MBP at 8.50pm.
In the mid-week match of the day Cheltenham takes on Blackburn, tonight 6pm at Blackburn after the Rustlers won in 11 on Sunday. Dylan Trevorah of Cheltenham singled to centre in the bottom of the last frame and Paul Rutgers did the same for his 3rd hit of the game and the walk off. Blackburn will be looking for ways to contain Rutgers after the number 2 hitter has had weeks of multiple hit games. The Orioles will also be looking for more ways to score as they were outhit 13-7 at the farm. Kane Davidson also got three hits batting at 8 for Cheltenham so he might be higher in the batting order tonight. Blake Cunningham only threw 49 pitches for the winners so he may pitch again in the two-hour game at Blackburn.
Upwey travel to Doncaster for their return bout after the Tigers were held to one run by Dragons ace Luke Westphal and long relief pitcher Andrew Reeves. It wasn’t the most economical of outings for the lefty Westphal though, as he threw 110 pitches in five innings. Reeves threw four innings of relief for Doncaster so maybe the Dragons will start one of their young pitchers in d’Voine or perhaps Findlay will come out of the dish for tonight’s timed game. Upwey will need to come up with ways to contain a reinvigorated Doncaster offence as Ben Utting got three hits with the same number of RBIs on Sunday batting in the three hole and he was well supported by Nicolas Unland who chipped in with two hits, from the lead off position. Upwey will also be looking to bust out of the box as they were outhit eight to three in the loss. Luke Howell pitched eight innings going deep into a game again and saving the bullpen arms for tonight. The Tigers might look to their reliable starter Nick Rice to take the hill at Deep Creek at 6pm. Go to this link to see the match report written by Lachlan Craven of Doncaster.
Waverley travel to Melbourne for their return leg of the tight contest which they lost 3-2 on Sunday. Waverley shared the pitching in that game between Papanicolau (3.2 innings), Darcy (2.1) and Matthew Wilson (2.0) so any one of those may take the mound tonight at Surrey Park. Although they amassed ten hits to outhit the Demons who got eight, Waverley suffered the loss. Hayes batting two got a couple of hits as did Edwards batting clean up for the Wildcats. Tommy Maxfield followed them batting five with a triple and an RBI. Form like that in the middle order gives Waverley a good chance to get their second win of the season tonight. Meanwhile, Melbourne has also had results from their middle order with Kent batting three, Ayres in the clean-up spot and Scott Moore batting six all getting a hit each. The Demon's Liam Davine pitched 7.1 innings on Sunday for nine hits and seven strikeouts before handing the ball to regular closer Blackmore. The Demons have a few pitching options in reserve but are likely go to the reliable Ratcliffe tonight.
Newport who won 3-4 were outhit six to three by Williamstown on Sunday in last weekend’s match of the round. Go to this link to see all the information on their ten innings game.
Preston travel to Essendon after the Pirates ran out winners at La Trobe in the top of the table 13 innings game on Sunday. The undefeated Preston have been going from strength to strength using their various pitchers. The Pirates have Travis Bass, Godbould and Andrew Smiley (who threw a no-hitter against Williamstown) who are all able to start or close games. These same guys bat right through their middle order so will be looking to give more run support to their own pitching. Meanwhile Essendon can take a lot of confidence after a good start from Formisano, but are heading into a very busy November as the mid-week games kick in. The Dons will also be looking for more from their middle order as they only scored one run in the pitcher’s duel on Sunday.
Geelong travel to Melbourne Ball Park for the 8.50pm game against Sandringham after the Baycats won 14-2 on Sunday.
In Division 2 Malvern travel to Bonbeach tonight for the 6pm start after the Braves beat the Blue Jays 6-0 in the first leg.
Port Melbourne are the away team to Fitzroy although the game will be played at Port Melbourne’s ground tonight at the same time. Fitzroy will be looking to do something with their bats after the Mariners ace Cedric Desmedt threw a tight zone in the first leg of the two games when the Mariners won 6-1.
St.Kilda travels to MBP to meet Berwick for a 6.30pm start after the Cougar’s JJ O’Connor lead his team to an 8-1 victory on Saturday at the lakeside ground. The score didn’t really reflect most of the game though, as St.Kilda were in it for most of the day. It was only in the late innings that Berwick ran away with the contest on the back of an O’Connor three run bomb. That changed the whole tone of the game as Jake Tuck had previously pitched well for the Saints.
Werribee travel to MBP to meet Springvale at 6.30pm tomorrow night after the Giant’s Tayler Rowe threw a complete game for 5 hits and 15 strikeouts when they won the Sunday frame 3-2. Werribee also outhit Springvale seven to five so the Lions will be looking to improve a bit on their batting. The Springvale hits all came from the middle order with Wearne and Poole getting one each whilst Mascol got two in the low scoring affair. Evan McPherson got three hits for Werribee and the ever-reliable John Curnow chipped in with two RBIs to trouble the Springvale pitching.
Lion’s starter Stenhouse went two innings on Sunday before he passed the ball Brown who threw seven innings allowing only four hits and striking out seven. Stenhouse wasn’t economical throwing four walks in his two innings but could his lack of work mean that he gets a go on the mound tomorrow? Werribee have a few pitchers in reserve after Rowe’s complete game so they might go to Wes DeJohn. The Giants have been pitching very accurately to work opposition teams out of games, but can their pitchers get them over the line against Springvale who are looking to tie with them on the ladder?
The late Thursday game at MBP (8.50pm) sees two top teams in Sunshine and Moorabbin going at it. Josh Mulherin threw 8 shut out innings and batted in the only run of the day into the wind during the top of the 9th on Sunday. This is shaping up as a very good season for the Panthers starter. Will Musson might take the hill for the Panthers tomorrow but his three hits against the Eagles could make him more valuable in the batting line-up. O’Shea and Wheeler also got two hits apiece for Moorabbin so the Eagles will be looking for ways to shut those two down. The Eagles were stiff to lose a tight game so late as Rory Meddick threw 5 shutout innings before he passed the ball to Adam Irons. Lane Koski presents the most danger against Moorabbin as he collected multiple hits in the lead off spot for Sunshine.
There are no mid-week games in the Women’s Division 1 this week. Saturday sees third place Doncaster travel to Werribee, Springvale take on Essendon in a top of the table clash and Malvern go to Footscray in what on paper looks to be an interesting contest.
Click here for a link to an interview with Nathan Holmes on SEN Radio.
See you round the grounds
Cam Gleeson
@valiantcam