24 March 2007 (4:00 pm): Grand Final vs. Brandon Park

Players this week: Sarah Tutchener, Amy Borbiro, Cal Ziada, Tayla Supple, Ilsa Wakeling, Keryn Ralph, Chloe Fagan, AJ, Shannon Campbell, Dale Stocker, Emira Sadikay (DR) Bench: Amy Dillon, Sarah Cerchi, Mel Lindsay, Erin Dunstan, Ashleigh Otter.

Well we won!!! In a fantastic team and club effort our A grade team finished the season in fine style. We hit the ball well all game for little reward and our defence was rock solid. The team bounced back in the field in the best possible way after making 5 errors last week, with NO ERRORS.

The pitchers dominated this game. Ilsa only gave up 2 hits for the game and Hayley Punter for BP 4. A highlight would have to be Ilsa's 8 K2s for the game to shut Brandon Park down.

Our batting had been our strength all season and we opened our account in the 2nd inning forcing 2 errors from BP. Tayla was aggressive on the bases and made it count.

In the 4th we really got it going with Ilsa getting on and Ralphy smashing a double to score her. Emira came on to run and Chloe backed it up with a hit to score her as well.

We kept it tight in the field for the remainder of the game, making some terrific plays. The A grade premiership was ours!!! Brandon Park fought it out all the way and made us work for it.

In summary, by line-up:
Tutchener (7) >>>> great running low down catch to save a two base hit.
Borbiro (8) >>>> great running low down on the knees catch to save a two base hit.
Ziada (5) >>>> high fly catch, and solid sacrifice bunt play.
Supple (3) >>>> seven put-outs. Did her job. Took advantage of errors to score a run.
Wakeling (DP>1) >>>> a super game pitching and batting. On top. And never challenged.
Ralph (4) >>>> two assists and one put-out, and a great double for an RBI.
Fagan (6) >>>> four assists, including a low-down clean-up, and a great hit for an RBI.
Junor (9) >>>> a good catch to close down the first inning.
Campbell (2) >>>> a solid job behind the plate, calling eight K2s.
Stocker (1>TDP) >>>> available all game.
Sadikay (DR) >>>> came in as the DR and made a hard run from second base to get in safe.

Bench: Amy Dillon, Sarah Cerchi, Melissa Lindsay, Erin Dunstan, Ashleigh Otter (all were great support to the team) I am grateful to all the girls that played in the A grade this season. We used 19 players to get us there. It certainly has been a club effort!!

Finally I want to thank my right hand man in FRANK BORBIRO. He has been a great support to the team and me all season. He has kept me up to date with the game situations and been a great source of fun with his sense of humour. Thanks Frankie!

 Plays of the day: Team Effort; Ilsa's 8 Strike outs; Ralphy's double

21 November 2006 (8:45 pm): Rnd 19 vs. Syndal

Players this week: Amy Borbiro, Keryn Ralph, Sarah Tutchener, Tayla Supple, AJ, Mel Lindsay, Emira Sadikay, Shannon Campbell, Tatiana Johns, Ashleigh Otter..

Well, we just managed to pull together enough players to play Syndal BUT it was sure worth the effort. Many of the players played with Ares before our game. I am just so pleased with the efforts of our young up and coming Falcons players. We even had a couple of first time A graders in Tatiana Johns and Ashleigh Otter. Ashleigh took two terrific catches playing second in very tricky wind conditions.

Our senior players in Amy B, Tutchy and Ralphy all played well and guided the young team to a good win. Amy pitched the whole game giving up only 2 hits and striking out one.

Our team batting returned this week, putting the Syndal's field under pressure and scoring our runners. Tayla and Tutchy picked up doubles, Amy B had 2 hits and Emira, Ralphy, Mel and AJ collected safe hits. Mel's HUGE smile after her hit and scoring a run for the team was worth a million dollars.

Tayla, Emira and Ralphy had 2 RBIs each and Tutchy, Amy B, Mel and AJ had one RBI each. Mel took a great catch in windy conditions in Left field to end the game.

A fantastic Falcons Team effort.

 Amy (pitcher) to Tutchy (SS) to Shannon (1B) for a hot double play in the bottom of the third inning. All class!

11 November 2006 (4:00 pm): Rnd 6 vs. Glen Waverley

Players this week: Sarah Tutchener, Amy Borbiro, Cal Ziada, Shannon Campbell, Chloe Fagan, Keryn Ralph, AJ, Sarah Cerchi, Dale Stocker, Erin Dunstan, Mel Lindsay.

Certainly not our best game of the year. The bats just did not fire for us today. We still got 7 runners on but just could not convert our chances. Dale did a solid job on the mound keeping us in the game and Amy B came in to relieve her in the 7th. We were still in this game right up to the last inning. We got 2 runners on base and had the top of the order coming through but again we could not convert the runners into runs.

Chloe, Amy D and AJ all picked up hits during the game and Cal Ziada continued her good form with a sterling performance in the hot corner at third. She made 4 great plays.

Whilst the result is disappointing, the team still showed great determination and we gave ourselves every opportunity to still win it. Our defence was solid all game. Better game next time.

 Cal Ziada with a very hot chance at third. She gloved it well and threw the runner out with ease.

4 November 2006 (4:00 pm): Rnd 5 vs. Glen Eira

Players this week: Dale Stocker, Cal Ziada, Tayla Supple, Erin Dunstan, Chloe Fagan, Amy Dillon, Sarah Tutchener, Amy Borbiro, Alexandra Junor, Melissa Lindsay.

Extract from the A Reserve match report - round 1 2006.

"Well done ladies. I now retire with a perfect 1-0 record for 2006-07". So much for retirement… oh well, at least I am 2-0 now!

Paula McGovern was absent for the A Grade game and asked Sharon and I to fill in for her and here is the story of the game. Falcons jumped out to a very strong start after setting Glen Eira down in the top half of the 1st inning. I will start with the offensive stats to point out what really good run-production looks like.

Amy Borbiro led the offence with 4 hits (including a triple, scored twice and knocked in 2 RBI's). Tutchy did the main damage in scoring runs picking up 3 hits (including a triple, scoring twice and picking up 6 RBI's). Amy Dillon picked up two hits (scored once and one RBI) as did Erin Dunstan (scored twice and 2 RBI's). Erin has been excellent in her first games in A Grade, continually doing what is required. Tayla (scored twice and 1 RBI) and Dale (scored once) rounded out the hitting with a single each. It is worth mentioning that Cal smashed a shot to force the error and knock in 2 runs.

To round out the offence, AJ dropped down a fantastic sacrifice bunt to advance runners that subsequently scored.

While Falcons hit very deep in to the order with everyone doing their job, the performance of Tutchy and Amy showed outstanding leadership. It is wonderful to have two such talented players at the top of the order and they certainly showed the way every time they stepped in to the batters box. First class, ladies.

Defensively we battled for most of the day, with a couple of dandy plays (see "Plays of the Day"). Dale was taking the pitchers plate after almost two weeks of exam study and not even picking up a ball. The defence helped by making the routine plays and we were never really troubled. Across 6 completed innings, Dale threw 4 strike outs, allowed 6 hits and gave up 4 walks.

Overall, very player contributed to the score line in this game. Perhaps a good example of this is Mel Lindsay's 6th inning pinch hitting to force a small mistake and beat the throw to put two runners on base with Tutchy and Amy coming up to bat. Of course, Tutchy and Amy did their job and knocked in the runs to extend our lead to over 7 runs and end the game early.

Jesse Stocker

 1. Low down line-drive snapped up by Erin Dunstan who promptly turned and doubled the leading runner off at 1st. Good pick up by Tayla on the play 2. Amy Dillon, again taking a solid line-drive catch and smartly tagging the leading runner as she dived back to 2nd base. Both very smart plays and helped the defence significantly.

1 November 2006 (8:45 pm): Rnd 16 vs. Glen Waverley

Players this week: Sarah Tutchener, Amy Borbiro, Cal Ziada, Shannon Campbell, Chloe Fagan, Alexandra Junor, Erin Dunstan, Mel Lindsay, Ilsa Wakeling.

Our first night game of the season and we started off very well. Ilsa took a break from the Police Academy to roll her arm over for us. Only a lazy 9 K2s to Ilsa so imagine what she could do with a bit more practice??!!! Shannon kept her on the ball, calling a great game. The battery only gave up 1 hit for the entire game.

VCE exams have made it difficult the past couple of weeks but it has provided opportunities for our up and coming younger players to have a go. I have been so pleased with their efforts. Erin Dunstan has improved each week at second base and showed some real fight in the batting box picking up a hit. Mel Lindsay also showed great determination in the batter's box, fouling off many pitches as well as taking a good catch in the outfield. Not bad for a couple of 14 year olds!!

Our experienced players in Amy, Tutchy, Chloe and Cal lead the way with the hitting. Cal belted in 3 RBIs, Tutchy 2 RBIs and both Chloe and Amy with 1 RBI each. Tutchy and Amy have been doing a terrific job batting 1 and 2 in the order starting things off for the team.

Once again a good solid team effort with many players doing the "1%ers" and working for each other.

 Welcome back Ilsa with 9K2s. A top effort!

28 October 2006 (4:00 pm): Rnd 4 vs. Syndal

Players this week: Sarah Tutchener, Amy Borbiro, Cal Ziada, Tayla Supple, Shannon Campbell, AJ, Amy Dillon, Sarah Cerchi, Raelene Jeffery, Erin Dunstan, Melissa Lindsay.

A good solid team effort. The Falcons batted very well picking up 10 hits, including a first inning home run by cal Ziada. Cal had an exceptional day on Saturday, not only did she collect the full house (a single, double, triple and a home run) in the A reserve game she picked up 3 hits in total for the A grade; that's 7 from 7 for the day! I don't know what she ate for breakfast but I think we all want some!

Raelene pitched a good solid game with 6 K2s. There was a very good passage of team batting in the 4th inning where Sarah Cerchi bunted safely to get on; Raelene sacrificed to push her to second, Tutchy then slammed a ball back at the pitcher for a safe single advancing Sarah to third; Amy Borbiro then hit the ball hard on the right side towards the second base player, without hesitation Sarah at third took her on and ran home to score. Amy was out but scored the run for the team and advanced Tutchy to third. There were not errors on the play just good solid team softball.

We back up for a night game this Wednesday.

A big THANKS to Deb Supple who scored for us this week. Hope you are feeling better Frankie!!!

 Cal Ziada's 3 run Home run in the first inning!

21 October 2006 (4:00 pm): Rnd 3 vs. Brandon Park

Players this week: Sarah Tutchener, Amy Borbiro, Cal Ziada, Tayla Supple, Alexandra Junor, Amy Dillon, Chloe Fagan, Dale Stocker, Erin Dunstan.

Lots of action in this game - some good, some bad. We got on the board early with 2 runs in the first inning. Tutchy and Amy doing damage and Tayla ripping a sacrifice fly way out to centrefield. We continued to put the ball in play and force errors from Brandon Park. In the fifth, Cal Ziada had a great, patient turn at bat fouling off 3 times before roping a triple to right field and scoring Tutchy. Whist we made errors as well, the team demonstrated a capacity to fight their way out of it. Dale Stocker produced another solid performance on the mound with 7 K2s and 3 walks. In the fifth Dale had the BP batters mesmerised with 3 K2s in a row.

There were some good efforts in the field: Cal turned a double play from an Infield fly on a runner that thought she could take her on - Wrong!!!!; Tutchy playing right field rolled a 9-3 play on the runner. Both Amy's in the outfield taking great catches to shut out BP.

Overall a good team effort. With several players missing again this week, the A reserve and Div 1 players really came to play and perform. Big thanks to AJ for catching in her second game of the day. Even bigger thanks to John Fagan for scoring this week. Happy 18th Birthday to Chloe Fagan.

Play of the day: Dale Stocker's pitching performance and as an added bonus, she picked up a safe hit and scored!

 Dale Stocker's pitching performance and as an added bonus, she picked up a safe hit and scored!

14 October 2006 (4:00 pm): Rnd 2 vs. Eastern Raiders

Players this week: Sarah Tutchener, Chloe Fagan, Amy Borbiro, Shannon Campbell, Tayla Supple, AJ, Sarah Cerchi, Amy Dillon, Melissa Lindsay, Raelene Jeffery, Bench: Dale Stocker, Cal Ziada.

Well the Falcons were up against a good team in Raiders with Australian Pitcher Mel Roche on the mound. Roche recently returned from the World Championships where Australia finished 3rd and qualified for the Olympics.

It was always going to be a tough day in the batters box against one of the World's best pitchers but our girls toughed it out. It is not often you get the opportunity to challenge yourself against a world-class pitcher. The only way to improve is to play against a better standard of pitching.

Sarah Tutchener had a great game picking up our only 2 hits. The first was a chopper into the infield and the second was a solid rip up the middle. Tayla Supple continues to impress with 2 good solid pieces of the ball - not bad for a 14 year old! AJ got a running bunt down but the dry and dusting hard diamond had it bounce up and land on her helmet - unfortunately AJ was out of the batting box. It was a good idea to try something different.

In the field we had a couple of exciting plays: Amy and Shannon combined for a terrific play at second to retire the runner; AJ took a great catch at centrefield; Amy and Raelene combined well to roll a double play out of an infield fly and Chloe stopped a hot shot at third base to tur it into a routine out at first.

Raelene Jeffery made her first appearance for Falcons and got better as the game went on. She will be a welcome acquisition to the pitching stocks (excuse the pun).

Whilst it was disappointing to lose 7-0, the main task I set the group was to improve with each turn at bat and above all enjoy the experience. It is important to make adjustments in the batter's box and try something different if you are not having much success. I hope that we get an opportunity to face Mel Roche again so we can measure our improvement throughout the season.

This was the first time we had all the A grade team on deck. We will get better as we all learn to play together!

 Tutchy's 2 safe hits. Not many hitters in the world get 2 hits off Mel Roche.

7 October 2006 (4:00 pm): Rnd 1 vs. Glen Waverley

Players this week: Sarah Tutchener (6); Chloe Fagan (5); Cal Ziada (2); Tayla Supple (3); Emira Sadikay (7); Alexandra Junor (8); Erin Dunstan (4); Paige Farrell (9); Dale Stocker (1); Amy Dillon; Melissa Lindsay.

This was a great Falcons Club Team effort. The team today comprised some of our up and coming junior players from A reserve and Div 1. There were many highlights: Sarah Tutchener lead the way with 2 triples and was very tidy at short stop; Cal Ziada also had 2 hits including a triple and was very tidy behind the plate and featured in our "Play of the Day".

Other highlights included Dale Stocker's solid game on the mound in 6 innings; young Tayla Supple who picked up 2 hits and an even younger Erin Dunstan who made a great pick up and play at first base on her debut in A grade and excellent base running by AJ in the 1st and 3rd play that allowed us to score.

Many thanks to Jesse Stocker for helping out with both A res and A grade and to all the girls that filled in.

A positive way to start the season!

 Amy Dillon went into Left field late in the game. GW had a runner on 2B who went home on their safe hit to LF. Amy came up throwing a bullet to Home where Cal Ziada put on a ripper tag to keep GW scoreless. A very classy play.