Div 1: Round 15 vs Eastern raiders
Round
15| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Falcons (home) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
| (away) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
Bring on the finals!! For anyone who missed this Saturday's game, you missed an absolute ripper! This was the best game I have seen this team play all season! The win also meant that we clinched top spot on the ladder - what a time to hit peak form!!
We played against Raiders, who were top of the ladder before this weekend. Raiders have been in first place for most of the season, but it seems that we have the wood on them, as they are 0 for 3 against us so far (always a nice feeling!).
We started off well and continued on the whole game in the same fashion. Sarah lead us off with a hit to rightfield. Reimi then put down a great bunt, which saw early errors from the opposition. Reimi's hustling up the line enabled her to get on base and advanced Sarah to 3rd. Sarah then scored on some good running on a wild pitch, and Reimi also advanced home when Anita put the ball in play to force another error from their 1st baseman. 2 runs from the first dig - not a bad way to start!
Sarah then headed out to the mound to throw one of the best games I've seen from her. In her 3 innings that she pitched, she allowed only once person on base through an excellent bunt that the runner beat out. A fantastic performance! Sarah was backed up by some excellent fielding from her teammates. In the first inning, Reimi made a very tough catch at her ankles as she charged in for the ball.
Our second turn at bat saw some tough turns at bat, although we were unfortunately unable to get a runner on. This included a great piece of the ball from Kate being caught at rightfield.
Back in the field again, Maddy took a sensational catch at centrefield, and then nailed the throw in to Kate at 3rd base to go close to getting a double play, and consequently prevented that runner from scoring. (This was the only runner to make it to base in the first 4 innings!)
Batting again in the 3rd started in the same way as the 1st inning, with Sarah having a good hit to rightfield, and being advanced to 3rd when Reimi dropped another good bunt. Ashley then layed down an amazing squeeze bunt to score Sarah who was sprinting in from 3rd. That gets my vote for play of the day!! Then Cal "CalZone" strode to the plate and smacked a huge hit out past centrefield to score Ashley. This was a stand up triple, but unfortunately the coach got a little overly ambitious in sending her home, and Cal was out out at home.
Out in the field for the 3rd dig, Kate plucked a brilliant catch on the first pitch that was hit hard and low. Great reflexes, Kate! Kate and Cal then combined to retire the next two batters.
We were then unable to score again in the next inning.
Dale came on to pitch in the 4th inning, and the pitching dominance from our team continued, with Dale striking out the first 3 batters she faced (which happened to be 2, 3 & 4 in their lineup!)
In our final batting dig, we brought in another 3 runs. Cal drew a walk, then Anita put down another great bunt, and her hard running forced the error up at 1st, which enabled both herself and Cal to get extra bases. A wild pitch brought Cal home, and then Maddy smacked a hard hit ball to leftfield to bring in Anita. Once again the coach unfortunately got too ambitious and called Maddy onto 3rd where she was put out. Emily was our 3rd run to cross the plate in this inning. After drawing a walk from the pitcher, she was advanced by a solid shot from Kate which was fumbled by the shortstop. Emily was then brought home by yet another hit, this time to leftfield, by Sarah.
Our final turn in the field was again pretty solid. Dale started off in the same fashion, striking out the first batter. Just before the last two tidy outs could be made, Raiders managed to get a run on the board through our only error spot of the game. Not bad playing 5 innings with only one play that didn't go according to plan!
As I said to the girls at the end, it was wonderful to see that every single player on the team made very positive and valuable contributions to the team's win. Keep up that same pressure girls for the next couple of weeks. Only 2 more wins, girls, let's stretch this winning streak to 8!!
