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Match Reports 11 September 2011 - Preliminary Finals A2 Frankston 4 lost to Dandenong 5 Frankston 220 000 0 = 4 Dandenong 000 130 1 = 5 For the sixth week in a row we faced up to another must win game, this time a Grand Final berth on offer for the winner. Just like the last 5 games, we turned up ready to play and put in our best efforts. Huss moved into the lead off spot and got us the start we wanted getting on base, stealing 2nd then scoring on a Lovey (Snr) hit. Tim then knocked Lovey in making it 2-0. Potto was called on as D/H and got the 2nd inning started with a lead off double and scored when Huss smacked a hit thru the 3rd baseman. Tom scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-0. The solid defence we have played over the last couple of months helped get us this far and it continued to keep a determined Dandenong at bay until consecutive hits saw them score 1 in the 4th inning. The weather turned a bit nasty in the 5th and the Angels made the most of a couple of walks and racked up some clutch hits to tie it up 4-4. We had a few scoring chances in our next few innings but some crafty pitching and good defensive plays kept us scoreless. We left 8 on base for the day, Dandy left on 7. The Dandy lead off got on base and then a bunt that the tired old pitcher threw away, gave them runners on 2nd and 3rd with no out in the last inning. The next 2 batters were retired tamely and it looked like we were a chance to send it into extra innings again. Then an errant pitch made it to the backnet, a miserable way to finish the season but an outstanding effort by a team that was as good as gone 2 months ago. Many thanks to the 20 players that played in this team during the season and also to Emma our scorer, who was just as disappointed as all the players to miss a GF berth - Dirty. Hits: 2 - John Hussey, Chris Love. 1 - Tim Hanson, Mitch Barr, Peter Conell (dbl). Pitching: Daryl Dicker 6.2IP 9H 2K 4BB 5RS 4ER A4 Frankston 8 lost to Berwick 13 Berwick 020 460 10 - 13R 16H 3E Frankston 200 212 01 - 8R 14H 5E Well it's all over for another year, as the A4 Tomatoes season came to a screeching halt with a 13 to 8 loss against the Berwick Dodgers. Suffice to say all involved were deeply disappointed with the final result as a chance for the ultimate prize seemingly slipped through our fingers. We knew that any tussle against the Dodgers was going to be a close hard fought affair, as they have been over the last several years, but we all felt that we could get over the line. We were behind the eight ball from the start however with two of our better outfielders/players resigned to the bench, one through injury, the other through association bylaw rubbish. With one man's pain, in this case make that two, come opportunities for others to step up and contribute. Case in point, one Gareth Hardy. 'G' had come to the club at the start of the year as a 'rookie' to the game of baseball, but it soon became apparent that this New Zealand native had a flair for the game. During the coarse of the season he became my go to guy. If we needed a fill in for in infield position, he did it, for outfield, he did it, hit in the lead off spot he did that too. But he didn't just fill in, he performed well and got better. On this day, 'G' would show his worth. Scoop started on the hill and true to form, set the Dodgers down in order. This was a good start that would get better as Stevie led off our half of the first with a line drive single. 'G' stepped up to the plate and promptly despatched a 3 and 2 offering over the leftfield fence. SeanO followed with a huge double but was left stranded on base. Berwick put runners on in the second and scored two, the blustery conditions making it tough for the outfielders to get a good read on the ball as a couple of big hits, in between some outs, found gaps. Both teams failed to worry the scoreboard for the next couple of innings, but in the fourth, Scoop pitched himself into a jam by walking 2 of the first three Berwick hitters. A couple of hits later and Berwick had given themselves a mini break taking a 6 to 2 lead. The boys responded with 2 runs of our own on the back of Scoop's leadoff single, but there were some disturbing signs as some of our decision making on the basepaths were beginning to cost us the chance of inflicting some more damage on the scoreboard. With the score now at 6 to 4, we were looking for a good fielding inning to keep the pressure on, we didn't get it. For the next 20 minutes we played poorly, committing several errors and trying to make some plays that we shouldn't have. The Dodgers capitalized and plating 6 runs, all unearned, to put a sizable gap between us and them. Hors finally got his bat going with yet another double leading off the fifth, scoring later in the inning, but that's all we would score as we squandered several more runners on base. We made a change bringing in Beno, dodgy shoulder and all and his impact in the field was immediate with a catch em out, throw em out play in left. This got everyone up and our defense was good for remaining couple of innings, only giving up the one run. Gibbo started our half of the sixth by lining one into right. Sensing that we might be mounting a challenge, Berwick made a change on the hill bringing in their 'other guy' who was promptly greated by 'G' with a basehit. Hors followed with a single of his own and SeanO drew a walk bringing Gibbo home in the easiest of fashions. We had the Berwick hurler rattled as he uncorked a wild pitch that moved everyone around, including our second run of the inning. But we let the Dodgers off the hook, failing to move our runners any further. The seventh yielded pretty much the same, minus the runs, as we again put runners on and again we couldn't bring them in. The eighth would be the final inning as time had expired, we needed 6 to tie and send it into extras or an unlikely 7 to take the chocolates. 'G' led off and cracked a booming double, his fourth hit of the day. After two quick outs, Snowy got a hold of one, shooting the ball up the right field line, scoring Gareth, keeping the dream alive. I liked to tell you all about a great fairy tale ending, but it was not to be, the Dodgers getting the final out and moving into the grand final. For us, utter disappointment, knowing the we didn't capitalize on a lot of opportunities, 10 runners left on base highlighting that fact. Writing this report several days after the fact, I've had a chance to reflect on what was a great season for us. We finished the regular season in second place, which was a fantastic result for us and a pretty accurate appraisal of our season in general. We had some fantastic individual performances, from Scoop's 11 -3 record to Hors's .589 batting average. We unearthed several 'Rookies' this season in Beno, Evo, James and the aforementioned 'G' and young Tom Snowden, who in his first season playing senior ball, handled himself extremely well and is someone to keep an eye on in the future. Allright, we didn't play the way we know we can in the finals, but that's baseball, you need to play at your best, if your off, by even a bit, the game will bite you on the arse. The Brooklyn Dodgers had a saying; 'Wait till next year'. I can't wait - SeanO. Hits: 4 - Gareth (HR, 2B). 2 - Hors (2B), SeanO (2B), Rhys. 1 - Steve, Snowy (2B), Scoop, Gibbo. RBI's: Gareth (3), Steve (1), SeanO (1), Scoop (1) Pitching: Scoop 8IP 16H 1K 2BB 1HPB 13RS 6ER  3/4 September 2011 - Finals A2 Frankston 6 defeated Berwick 5 Berwick 001 120 100 - 5 Frankston 003 200 001 - 6 The 1st Semi Final was played with a strong breeze in from left field making it tough for hitters all day. It turned out to be a great game played in good spirit from two worthy opponents. The first 2 innings were scoreless with solid defence by both teams. The 3rd innings onwards both pitchers 'suddenly' struggled to find the strike zone, we were lucky to get out of the 3rd, giving up 1 run and leaving the bases loaded. With some patient at-bats we had 3 runs walked over the plate to take the lead. From then on it was solid defensive play that kept us in front. Berwick threatened to rally each inning but crucial plays by Finns and Tom Schneider and some diving grabs by the evergreen Lovey at 3b saved several runs. Adam also picked several tough throws at 1b, while Tim, Mitch and Jim all made good running catches in the outfield to keep the scoreboard damage to a minimum. With time making the 7th inning the last we held a 5-4 lead with 2 out and no one on base but Berwick rallied with a couple of hits to tie it up and kept us scoreless to send it into extra innings. Our veteran battery toiled on for the complete 9 innings, Willo needed a good recovery session after catching 142 pitches for the game. In the bottom of the 9th Mitch smacked a 1 out stand-up triple to rf and with the infield in, James Armstrong delivered the season ending blow to the Dodgers with a line drive hit up the middle for a memorable and hard earned win. Obviously reaching the 2nd week of finals looked out of reach for this team 6 weeks ago ... as our catcher seems to have booked holidays for the next 2 weeks! Thanks for a great season Willo, maybe if you bring the coach back a bottle of SangSom all will be forgiven. Rusty, Potto and Tom Davis might expect some game time this week. We will be boosted by the return of our regular centre fielder for this weeks Preliminary Final clash with Dandenong at Dingley, 11.00am, Sunday - Dirty. Hits: 2 - Tim Hanson, Chris Wilson. 1 - Mitch Barr, James Armstrong. Pitching: Daryl Dicker 9IP 5H 2K 8BB 5RS 3ER Editors note: It was a mighty effort on the hill by Dirty, he will be in pain for most of the week - ha! Also, great composure shown from the young Berwick pitcher, who also threw a great game. A4 Frankston 4 lost to Dandenong 29 Well, where do I begin. It was a good old fashioned buttwhip. We were outhit, outpitched and outplayed. I'll be short, cause quite frankly, there is not a real lot to say. Two runs apiece in the first was the closest we got all day, in fact I thought this was going to be our day the way the first inning panned out, boy was I wrong! After that, Dandenong went on an offensive frenzy, hitting anything and everything. Scoop struggled for his three innings on the hill, a combination of Dandenong's strong offense and just not throwing enough good pitches, getting behind the hitters often. SeanO came on for the final 3 digs, but fared no better as the Angels bats continued to feast on Tomatoes pitching. Our hitting, after the first, didn't really fire a shot, our bottom 5 hitters in the lineup, collectively, returning a 1 for 15 day. Clearly we are going to need everyone in the team to contribute. In the caldron of finals baseball, we wanted to give a good account of ourselves and in the cold light of day that just didn't happen. We'll need to play better, a whole lot better if we are to even think of challenging the champs. If there is any positives all, it's that by working hard throughout the season and finishing second, we are still alive and have the opportunity to atone for ourselves. However it won't be easy, going into a do or die preliminary final against a pumped up Dodger team, fresh off a semi final win. I'll guarantee one thing though, it won't be boring. See you there - SeanO. Hits: 2 - Steve (2B), Hors (2B), SeanO. 1 - Beno, Kurt. Pitching: Scoop 3IP 13H 1K 4BB 17RS 16ER SeanO 3IP 13H 3K 2BB 12RS 8ER 27 August 2011 A1 Frankston 12 defeated Berwick 6 With a finals spot on the line we had to win against Berwick who had already qualified for finals and to keep those Angels from swooping in and claiming our spot. It started off in great fashion with Pitta knocking one over for our first 3 runs and we added another 2 to round out the first innings. With Pitta wanting the ball thinking that he would keep it as a momento for being the last home run at The Patch, we reloaded with the bases full and Disco went one better with a Grand Slam, which ended up being the last home run at The Patch. So bad luck Pitta, at least you got the win you wanted. In the end we scraped out a win and off to the finals we go. Well done to all involved to get us this far, now we reload and go again at Berwick next week - Jonesy. Hits: 3 - Disco (inc the Slam). 2 - Jonesy. 1 - Pitta (just a HR), Ando, Blaux. Pitching: Pitta 5IP & Huss 4IP A2 Frankston 2 defeated Berwick 1 Berwick 000 100 000 - 1 Frankston 010 000 10x - 2 With a trip to the playoffs on the line, both teams stood up to the finals-like pressure to make for a very high standard game. A great pitching display by Matty kept Berwick's scoring chances to a minimum and some great plays in the field stopped those chances from converting. Finns, Tom, Lovey and Timmy all made run saving plays and Willo was solid as always behind the dish. We battled with the bats all day, picking up just 3 safe hits. Matty knocked in both our runs with balls that didn't leave the infield. John Hussey scored from 2nd base in the 7th on a ball that didn't get past shortstop, a blistering display of base running that gave us the match winning lead. The win has given us 3rd spot on the final ladder, a great result for this team after a slow start to the season. We play Berwick again in this week's knockout semi final at home 2.00pm - Dirty. Hits: 1 - Chris Wilson, Gareth Finney, John Hussey. Pitching: Matthew O'Brien 9IP 6H 11K 1BB 1RS 0ER A4 Frankston 12 defeated Berwick 11 Round 18 and the final game of the regular season and what a cracker it turned out to be. With second spot up for grabs, both teams were pretty much at full strength, the weather was fantastic as winter turned on a glorious day for its final weekend before spring and the field was in terrific condition, the best I've seen it in quite a while, so there would be no excuses from either team. We hit the ground running in the first with 6 runs on 7 hits but Berwick responded with 3 runs of their own and we knew that we were in for a real fight. Both teams scored a solitary run in the second as Scoop started to spin his magic on the hill, but our defense was doing a bit of a Jeckle and Hyde act, one minute making some great defensive plays then some shockers the next. Gibbo threw two runners out early with some great throws to discourage Berwick's running game, which was important later in the contest. Our bats fell silent thru the middle innings, whilst the Dodgers put on a run here and a run there and had put their heads in front. By the time we reached the 6th inning we were behind 10 to 7, but we were still pretty confident of launching an assault. Two innings earlier, Berwick had made a pitching change and whilst we didn't do much offensively in those two innings, we felt some offense was not to far away. You see this particular Berwick pitcher held no fears for us as we had smashed him in two previous encounters. As if on cue, both Hors and SeanO lead off the inning with base hits. This rattled the Berwick team as an error, 2 walks and a HPB followed. Stevie plunged a dagger in their hearts as he cracked a double to give us a two run buffer. Berwick pulled one back but Scoop induced a fly ball to a perfectly placed leftfielder in 'G' for the third and final out to capture the win. A great result for the guys and despite some aspects of the game that we could have done a lot better, this was a great precursor for finals. To perform under pressure, to get a lead, then give it up and then find something and take it back and then hold it was great and puts us in good stead for next weeks semi final. Third time's a charm I say. Congrats go out to the firsts and seconds for also making finals in dramatic style both leaving it to the final round to clinch a spot in the four and commiserations to the thirds boys, all those draws and 1 run losses, the season that could have been, well played to all involved. So it's onto next week and hopefully a Tomatoes onslaught - SeanO. Hits: 3 - Steve (2B), Hors (2B). 2 - Snowy (2B), Scoop (2B). 1 - Gareth, SeanO, Evo, Gibbo. Pitching: Scoop 6Inn 12H 3K 2BB 11RS 6ER 20 August 2011 A3 Frankston 19 defeated Dingley Blue 8 It was our last ever game at The Patch on Saturday so we were desperate to make it a win. There was a couple of good plays early with our young gun Josh Conell taking two unbelievable catches at right field & Tom Davis also making some good plays at 2nd. We skipped out to an 8-2 lead only to see Dingley creeping closer each inning until they tied the game up in the top of the 8th. We had fallen asleep on such an important day & needed a spark. What happened next was truly incredible. Rusty led off the bottom of the 8th with a crushing home run & the boys were fired up, with another runner on base & 1 out Ando came up & was the 2nd out, then someone mentioned that the last person out at The Patch had to buy a slab, so Potto came up & got a hit, then Ant Richo got a hit & it kept up until we were 6 runs up with bases loaded, then Ando came up & smashed a game ending walk off grand slam! Our last ever game at The Patch was ended in the best possible way & the smile on Ando's face couldn't be wiped off ... that is until Greaser mentioned that he was also the 2nd & final out from his previous at bat! Such a memorable occasion - grand salami & buy a slab for your trouble. Anyway we won. Thanks to Chris Ando for helping out this week - it was a pleasure & a special thanks to Emma for scoring - you're a gun. Hits: I think most guys got at least 1 & Rusty had 2 hits in the 8th inc HR and I'm not sure if I mentioned that Ando not only pitched the whole game & hit a game ending walk off GRAND SLAM, but more importantly had to buy a slab - YUM YUM! A4 Frankston 12 defeated Berwick Grey 6 The A4 Tomatoes continued on their winning ways, this time accounting for the Berwick Grey's in the penultimate round of 2011 and our final game at 'The Patch'. It was a closely fought tussel, but with a chance of second spot on the line for us, we were able to knuckle down and win the contest pulling away in the end. Scoop continued his good form on the hill, running into a couple of jams but was able to get some key outs when we needed them and in the long run was not really that troubled on the day. The defence did a great job in support, at one point we even pulled the David Ortiz shift and bagged the out! 'G' had a great day at shortstop, filling in for the injured Steve Schnieder (apparently he is human after all). We started slowly in the box, as is our way in recent times, but a 6 run 3rd inning which included a splash down shot from Hors started our bats going. From there we scored in the remaining 4 innings and despite the Grey's putting a few runs over the plate, I never felt we were in danger of coughing up the lead or indeed the game. Our 11th win of the season now sees us back in second spot on the ladder. Next week we take on the other Berwick team, currently sitting behind us in third position, in the final game of the regular season. Our equation is quite simple if we want to secure another shot at Dandenong. Just win. And that's just what we intend to go out and do - SeanO. Hits: 2 - Hors (HR), Gareth (2B), Snowy. 1 - Scoop, Evo, Rhys, James. Pitching: Scoop 7IP 9H 7K 3BB 6RS 6ER 13 August 2011 A2 Frankston 16 defeated Bonbeach 5 With our able leader away on what is fast becoming an annual jaunt to the US, the A Reserve race to the finals and a spot in the four was left to me to keep on track. So I asked Jonesy and Lovey to help! Playing Bonbeach at home certainly gave us a home ground advantage, but with a young up and coming junior on the hill throwing against us, it was never going to be a walk in the park. We hit early and confidently and scored five runs in the first innings and didn't look back for the rest of the game. Jonesy threw the full game and performed well, holding Bonbeach to five runs for the game, all of those coming late in the game. In what is becoming our regular defensive game we supported Jonesy well and James behind the dish gave the team another option to Willo. Gareth and Denty up the middle turned the clock back 20 years, until Denty tore his hammy and couldn't move in any direction! We scored 16 runs in all and everyone claimed one or more hits, congrat's to Adam Love with four shots for the day and to Huss who cleared the fence for the second time this year. All in all a good team effort at the right time of the year, a bye interrupts our momentum this week before the all important final game of the year against Berwick at the Patch. See you then - Timmy. A4 Frankston 9 defeated Bonbeach 6 A beautiful winter's day greeted us as we took the drive up the freeway to take on Bonbeach. We needed to tick several boxes by the end of the day after last weeks loss to the Angels. Get back into winning form. Tick. Complete a 3 game sweep over the Bluejays. Tick. Retain the coverted 'Mung' award. Tick. It wasn't our best performance this season, Bonbeach put up a real fight, but we managed to get it right when it mattered and came away with the victory. We scored in every inning (the 3 in the last not counting due to incomplete innings), which was the most pleasing part of our game today and Scoop was again very good on the hill, keeping the Bonny bats quiet enough until our own bats found some form. Snowy, behind the plate, kept the Bluejay baserunners honest after gunning down a would be base stealer at third. Hors was huge today in the box with 4 hits and 4 RBI's. Second baseman Gareth Hardy chipped in with 3 hits of his own as well as contributions from everyone else, whether it was a timely BB or a well placed groundball advancing and/or scoring the runner/s. Special mention to Beno, who was having a torrid afternoon with 3 K's in as many at-bats, avoiding the 'Golden Sombrero' in the best possible way by dumping a RBI's base hit into the outfield. A well played game by both teams and a good win for us. A favorable result from one of the other games that day has given us the oppertunity, if we are good enough, to finish the season in 2nd spot. I'm sure we are. Either way it's going to be a fun couple of weeks. Next week is our last game at 'The Patch' against the Grey's from Berwick. Let's send the 'ol girl' off with a memorable performance. See you all there - SeanO. Hits: 4 - Hors (2B). 3 - Gareth. 2 - SeanO. 1 - Beno, Tom. Pitching: Scoop 6IP 10H 4K 2BB 6RS 2ER U16 Frankston 8 defeated Bonbeach/Berwick 1 In a game that will most likely go down in history as the last junior game ever to be held at Samual Sherlock Reserve, aka 'The Patch', before the move next year, I am pleased to announce that the young Tomatoes did not disappoint the occasion. In a game that could have meant nothing, the boys brought some serious tomato spirit to what was going to be their last game together regardless of the outcome. Immediately the boys responded to the coaches wishes in the first inning hitting the ball well against Bonbeach's starting DBA All Star pitcher to get on the board early. Tom Davis hit the ball well throughout the game combining with David Bonell who both got the ball rolling with a hit each in the first which resulted in rbi's. The lead was in safe hands as the mound was taken by Ken for what was to be his last game in a Tomatoes uniform before his move away at the end of the year. With a couple of hard to lay off balls in the dirt that the opposition chased, Ken showed great control rarely, if at all throwing the ball high all through the game and got the result he deserved, with Tom Davis giving another solid finish as he has all year on the mound. It was amazing to see the boys in full flight defensively with both James Baptist and Josh Conell tracking down crucial fly balls, and young Jack continuing his much improved ground ball work in the infield at second base. In all it's hard to pull specific highlights out of a game that provided so many and was a genuine team win as all players contributed. Well done boys. In a season I enjoyed thoroughly I am certainly happy to hang my hat on this game for a finish. Best of luck to all players in the off season for whatever they do and hope they can come back for another go at it next year. Although Ken will be moving away I'm sure he knows he is welcome down at The Patch any time he visits, as along with the rest of the team he's got Tomato blood running through his veins and there's no escaping it. Congratulations to the boys on a fantastic season and a big thank you to all the parents who helped out. Special mention to Julie Snowden from the team mascot Boston who gives her thanks for looking after her, woof woof! I would also like to pay special thanks to our scorer Sally Cox (enjoy the sleep ins) who rocked up in unkind conditions to continually suffer through the previous nights indulgences, and also the team manager/umpire Rob Davis who made things very easy for me as a coach by looking after everything I didn't want to do ... which was a lot. Thanks - Disco. 6 August 2011 A1 Frankston 9 defeated Dandenong 2 With Dandenong only half a game behind us and a finals spot up for grabs we travelled down to Clow St to put some distance between us on the ladder. Job done. With a dominant performance from the outset led by Matty O and Snitz on the hill and Barfo and Disco in the batters box we enjoyed an 8-1 led after 4 innings. Hats off to Rusty who opened his mouth and went behind the dish in the absence of a sick Spice and did a cracking job. Defence was great, led by Barfo at third, who after weeks of something else on his mind finally had his mind cleared last weekend with the birth of his first child, a baby girl, congrats to you and Emma. Next week is Bonbeach at home and with any luck a finals place g'ted with a win - Jonesy. Hits: 3 - Barfo. 2 - Disco, Jonsey. 1 - Pitta, Rusty, Humphrey. Pitching: Humphrey 5IP 6H 6K 68 pitches Snitz 3IP 3K 1BB 43 pitches A2 Frankston 4 defeated Dandenong 3 We travelled to Dandenong in cold and wet conditions to take on the ladder leaders. They jumped out swinging the bat, luckily we kept the damage to 2 runs. A tough walk by Snowy from an 0-2 count in the 2nd sparked a rally, with veterans - Dirty, Tim, Lovey and Willo hitting safely to pile on 4 runs. Dandy scored 1 straight back and it looked like a high score would be needed to win but some controlled pitching, Tim and Tom grabbing everything up the middle and Huss covering a lot of ground to snag some long balls, kept them scoreless for the next 3 frames. We challenged to score all day and finally got an insurance run in the 6th and needing 3 outs for the win, the rain came to make time a factor. We gave up 1 run when play resumed and with 2 out time was called and the score reverted back. A great game from our side, coming up with key plays in the field, all day we looked a lot like finals contenders. In fact if we can win our last 2 games we should see some playoff action - Dirty. Hits: 1 - Tim Hanson, Adam Love, Chris Love, Chris Wilson, Daryl Dicker. Pitching: Daryl Dicker 5.2IP 6H 1K 2BB 4R 3ER A4 Frankston 2 lost to Dandenong 16 With last week's win over Mornington, coupled with Dingley's loss, the A4 Tomatoes secured a finals berth for a fourth straight year. Congratulations to all involved. Any euphoria we might have been still feeling was quickly extinguished when this week Dandenong gave us a bit of a hiding. The big 1st v 2nd tussle never eventuated as the Angels jumped out early to a 10 to 1 lead and the game fizzled out from there. Our offense, which has been so potent in recent weeks, could only manage 6 hits for the day, although if there is an upside, it would be that 4 of those hits were doubles, hitting the ball hard wasn't necessarily the problem, we just need to hit much more often. Scoop battled with his control for his four innings and we didn't do him any favours with some untidy fielding at times. With the game gone, we gave Stevie a run on the hill to roll his arm over. Entertainment factor was provided by Hors who 'pitched' the top of the seventh, although because the inning wasn't complete, he officially didn't pitch at all. Unofficially Hors's line was; five hits, one HPB, one BB, 5 runs, and unbelievably, a swinging strikeout. Well done mate, you provided a small happy bright spot in an otherwise gloomy day. Time now to refocus and get back on the winners list and do what we know we can. As for Dandenong, we'll put that in the memory bank for now and hit back when the chance next presents itself, hopefully in about 6 weeks - SeanO. Hits: 2 - Steve. 1 - Hors (2B), SeanO (2B), Evo (2B), Scoop (2B). Pitching: Scoop 4IP 8H 3K 5BB 10RS 5ER Steve 2IP 8H 0K 2BB 6RS 6ER 30 July 2011 A2 Frankston 10 defeated Mornington 2 A must win game to stay in the playoff race and we capitalized on some early opportunities to jump out to 5 runs in 2 innings. From there we held off any challenge playing perfect defence. Lovey was a ball magnet, turning back the clock making no fewer than 6 plays in the hot corner. Adam showed some range in the other corner and Willo copped more bruises behind the dish, saving several bases for the day. We kept on pushing with productive at bats all day, RBI's to Tim and Lovey and 2 for Willo. Huss seems to be getting his swing back, he lined out, smacked one thru 1b and got 2 hits, including one into the splash zone and knocked in 4 for the day. We propably had several more highlights but Saturday night's Palooza might have wiped out a few memory cells. Well done to Ant and co. for putting on such a great event. The Patch was pumping on the weekend - Dirty. Hits: 2 - Tim Hanson, Chris Love, John Hussey (inc HR), Daryl Dicker. 1 - Adam Love. Pitching: Daryl Dicker 7IP 7H 4K 0BB 2RS 1ER A4 Frankston 14 defeated Mornington 4 Under overcast skies the A4 Tommies had a good solid win, taking the trip down the peninsula to tackle the Pirates. Scoop was dominant on the hill not letting Mornington into the game and was ably supported by Gibbo, his partner in crime, behind the dish, cutting down two would-be Pirate base stealers. SeanO relieved for the final two innings, to get some much needed work into his arm as well as giving Scoop a rest as we push to secure a top 2 spot. The defence, which can sometimes crack at in-opportune times, was rock solid today, Gareth having a field day at shortstop. Hors continued his hot hitting with 3 hits including his team leading 9th double and had it not been for a spectacular catch from a diving centre fielder, he would of had his 10th, whilst multi hit games to Rhys, SeanO and Scoop helped kept the scoreboard ticking over. It wasn't a flashy performance, rather a overall good team effort with everyone making a contribution in order to get the result. The last two weeks have seen our offense get back on track after a mid season slump and we are all looking forward to taking on league leaders Dandenong next week in a classic 1st vs 2nd clash at 'The Patch'. Catch you all there - SeanO. Hits: 3 - Hors (2B). 2 - Scoop, SeanO, Rhys. 1 - Gareth, Beno, Kurt, Gibbo. Pitching: Scoop 4IP 5H 2K 3BB 1RS 1ER SeanO 2IP 1H 0K 3BB 3RS 2ER 23 July 2011 A2 Frankston 1 lost to Dingley 19 As the score would suggest it was mostly one way traffic, we had a couple of chances to score early, but then coughed up 11 runs in the 2nd inning. Everything seemed to go Dingley's way, balls dropped in all day for them and a few errors didn't help but mostly good strong hitting factored in the huge scoreline. We kept at it all day, 2 hits for Tim, and Snowy picked up another hit, but most of our good hitting went unrewarded. The young brigade highlighted our defence, Sam made a couple of good plays at 3b and took a scorcher off the wrist (seam marks), Adam picked up all sorts of throws at 1b and Tom Snowden had his first chance to catch in this team. Another outfield assist for Hussey, who threw a wormburner to Snowy, who picked it up out of the dirt at about the same time the runner steamrolled him. A courageous effort, I am happy to report no serious injury other than pretty sore and bruised for most of the week, but he got play of the day - Dirty. Game statistics not fit for public viewing! A3 Frankston 10 lost to Dingley Gold 11 We were at home against Dingley this week and after a combination of errors, home runs and just plain old bad luck we found ourselves 6-0 down going into the bottom of the 3rd. We hit back with good team baseball scoring 5 in this inning. Dingley scored another in the 4th so our fightback continued and we scored 3 to take the lead 8-7 after 4 inns. We knew it was gonna be another tight one. The second home run to their power hitting coach tied it at 8 and another run in the 6th gave them back the lead until Ando hit his second home run in as many weeks to tie it back up. With 2 out in the 7th young Tom Davis stepped up to the plate with runners on and came through with a clutch hit to give us a one run lead - well done Tom. Our glory was short lived as with 2 out they hit back to back home runs including their coaches 3rd for the game (it was a great hitting performance) and stole the lead before shutting us out in the bottom of the 8th. We kept them scoreless in the 9th and with 5 o'clock coming fast, we had bases loaded and 2 out with Robbie coming up ... and the clock beat us. Another heart breaker - Denty. Hits: 3 - Ando (inc dbl & HR), Denty. 1 - Greaser, Tom, Robbie (dbl), Ant, Potto, Luke. Pitching: Ando - 9 innings without a walk again - what a gun. A4 Frankston 13 defeated Dingley 10 They say the the measure of a good team is one that can find a way to win despite not playing collectively at one's best. Never a truer word was spoken, as the A4 Tomatoes took on the young Dingley team at 'The Patch' on a very chilly July Saturday. The young Dingoes had put a couple of W's on the board recently, so we knew that we would need to play well and jolt their confidence early. We started the game well, hitting the ball hard and put up a 5 to 0 lead after two. Dingley responded with 2 in the third, 5 in the fourth and another 2 in the fifth and had shot out to a handy 9 to 5 lead and were looking pretty good to take the win and another top four scalp. We, on the other hand, really could not get anything going in the box after our initial flurry, but in the bottom half of the fifth Hors got a leadoff basehit. After a stolen base, Scoop then moved him to third on a ground out. It was now that coach SeanO started making some moves. Move 1. Pinch hitter, basehit, run scored. Rhys followed up with a basehit of his own, as well as Gibbo. James reached on a fielders choice, run scored. Move 2. Pinch runner. Both Gareth and Steve drew walks scoring us another couple of runs followed by a Beno single which plated two and a RBI double from Hors. Buy the time the dust had finally settled on the fifth inning we had scored 8, had gotten command of the game back and had broken Dingley's heart. Scoop, who had not had a best stuff today, knuckled down and made sure that there would be no late inning comeback from the Dingoes throwing his best inning since the second, securing his 7 win of the season. Everyone hit well and more importantly when we needed it. I would, however, like to see if we can do it a bit earlier in the game rather than when we're 4 runs down with time running out. Having said that at this point of the season, getting wins on the board is the ultimate objective, which we achieved. So it's onto next week and another opportunity for another W - SeanO. Hits: 4 - Gareth. 3 - Hors (2 x 2B). 2 - Evo. 1 - Scoop, Rhys, Gibbo, SeanO, Beno, Steve. Pitching: Scoop 6IP 7H 4K 6BB 13RS 7ER 16 July 2011 A1 Frankston 1 lost to Cheltenham 8 Another disappointing game against Cheatenham resulted in a 8-1 loss. Facing ace pitcher Matthew Blackmore we got our hits but all spaced out so didn't get any momentum in the game. Pitta backed up from last week for 4 solid innings but couldn't hold the strong Chelt bats at bay with 4 runs in the 3rd. Errors in the field later in the game cost another 4 runs. Hope the bats get more consistant this weekend against the top side Dingley - Jonesy. A2 Frankston 7 lost to Berwick 10 Frankston 201 220 - 7 Berwick 210 034 - 10 A disappointing loss after leading 7-3 in the 5th from some timely hitting and faultless defence. Willo and Huss batted in 2 runs each, James and Tom Schneider 1RBI each. Gareth Finney was called up to fill in and hit a stand up triple. Tim, Adam, Huss and Tom Schneider all had multiple hits. Berwick got back in the game with a big 3-run HR in the bottom of the 5th. Adam was robbed of a game winning hit in the last with 2 on and 2 out when his line drive was caught? by a diving rf. Berwick then stepped up and hit well with the game in the balance in the last inning to steal the game from our grasp. Well done to Tom Snowden who picked up his first hit with this team - Dirty. Hits: 2 - Tim Hanson, Adam Love, John Hussey, Tom Schneider. 1 - Gareth Finney (3B) Chris Love, Tom Snowden. Pitching: Chris Love 5IP 9H 1K 1BB 6R 6ER Tim Hanson 1IP 3H 0K 1BB 4R 3ER Frankston 6 defeated Cheltenham 3 Cheltenham 010 200 00 - 3 Frankston 000 600 0x - 6 Another strong performance despite missing several regulars and some late comers. We fell behind early but stepped up with a 6 spot in the 4th, sparked by Willo's lead off hit, he then scored from first on Finney's double, Tom Schneider hit a run in and Mitch knocked in 2 more. The blank was the only easy out for the inning. We squandered several other chances to score but a clean slate in the field kept Chelt scoreless for the rest of the game. Finney was a magnet at 2b, Tom Schneider had another solid game at ss, Sam had a couple of hot plays at 3rd and Willo was amongst the best with a great game behind the dish. The blank hit a line drive that got caught at rf to go 0-3 for the day - Dirty. Hits: 2 - Sam Alter, Gareth Finney. 1 - Mitch Barr, Chris Wilson, James Armstrong. Pitching: Daryl Dicker 8IP 8H 8K 1BB 3RS 3ER Congratulations to our members of the Champion Under16 DBA team. Tom Snowden, Adam Love (All Star 1b) and Chris Love (EO). A3 Frankston 9 defeated Cheltenham 7 This week we made the trip to the reigning premiers home ground- Cheltenham. After parking about 4 streets away due to a junior carnival, we found ourselves with 6 players including Geoff Millikin at 2 o'clock - by game time we had 7 and able to start and when Potto and Robbie basically walked in to their batting positions (in the bottom of the 2nd) we had 9. We were lucky enough to score a run in the first and led 1-nil until Chelt scored 2 in the 3rd. With a thud, Ando (Mark) smashed a ball that went out of the park and we were back in front as Rusty was on first at the time. Robbie Anderton couldn't bare to be outdone by his much older uncle so he hit a 3 run bomb that went further and higher and had one extra run than his uncles in the same inning - it was great to see the uncle/nephew combination in full flight. We played errorless baseball for the entire game and there was at least one major league play by our short stop (not sure of his name but damn he's good lookin'). We ran out winners on the day 9-7 and I'd like to thank a rock solid outfield led by Mr 'magnet' Geoff Millikin and a special thanks to Benson and Rhys for helping us out. Ando pitched like a gun again - Denty. Hits: 2 - Denty, Ando (inc HR), Benson, Potto (inc 2B), Robbie (inc HR). 1 - Rhys, Rusty, Matt. Potto & Robbie struck out to a 14 yr old ... Yum Yum! A4 Frankston 6 lost to Cheltenham 11 Not quite the result we were looking for as we travelled to Cheltenham to tackle the Rustlers. Playing on the outer ground, despite being the only early game in the park (thanks kids), a few changes were in the air. Scoop, after a long tough outing last week was given a well deserved break as SeanO got the start, his first in 2 years. Beno was up in the threes and Steve was out, giving 'G' a look at short. The first inning was largely uneventful for both sides but in the second, Chelt gave us a couple of baserunners and we pounced scoring 5 for the inning, Hors with a big 2 out double. SeanO was being surprisingly effective on the hill but run into a bit of trouble in the third, the Rustlers scoring 3 times, cutting our lead to one. Our scoring opportunities had dried up, struggling to put runners on base let alone score some runs. Cheltenam, again applied the pressure and had another multi run inning, this time plating 5. Back to back doubles to Hors and SeanO put us one run closer at 9 to 6, but Cheltenham would score another 2, this time the Rustlers capitalizing on one of our mistakes. Scoop relieved SeanO on the hill and shut the door on the next two innings, not allowing anything out of the infield. A slight chance of an upset in the top of the seventh with a lead off base hit, but it amounted to nothing as we then went in order meekly. Great efforts in the field from Evan in centrefield, Hors at third and the aforementioned 'G' at shortstop, but our inability to pressure the Rustlers on the scoreboard cost us dearly. Cheltenham scored their runs in bunches in several innings, whereas, we couldn't do the same. Something we will need to work on in the coming weeks. Thus far, this team has managed to rise to the occasion when required. I see no reason to think that trend won't continue. See you on the diamond. - SeanO. Hits: 2 - Hors (2x2B), SeanO (2B). 1 - Gareth, Rhys, James. Pitching: SeanO 4.2IP 8H 2K 7BB 11RS 6ER Scoop 1.1IP 1H 0K 0BB 0RS 0ER 9 July 2011 A1 Frankston 6 defeated Berwick 1 With a top four spot on the line the guys come through with a 6 - 1 win over Berwick. In an outstanding day Pitta was in control on the mound all day and kept the strong Berwick bats quiet, throwing a complete game. Ando was the standout batter on the day with 3 hits and every one else solid contributors with 1 hit apiece. The score line didn't really reflect a dominate performance by us as we left 13 runners on base - Jonesy. U16 Frankston 8 drew Cheltenham Blue 8 After a rough start to the game in the first dig where Chelt scored 4 runs, mostly from errors the boys showed perseverance and bounced back really well in the game. With yet another impressive start from Tom Snowden on the hill, who seems to improve with each start and he continued to do so throwing 3 innings for 7K's. The boys bounced out after the early set back and scored 6 of their runs in one inning with young James Bonell picking up his first hit and the boys setting the scene for a close game. With the Tomatoes behind by one, Ken stepped to the plate to sort the problem out and sent one into the bushes at right field for a 2 run bomb and touched all three (was concentrating on the hi-5's maybe a bit too much and not on home plate, lucky the ump didn't see), to put the Tomatoes one run up. After then giving up a run with costly defensive errors in the top of the last inning the scores were tied with the tomatoes given the chance in our last to win it. With the bottom part of the line up to come, I called on Caiden Rolfe to bunt Snowy across to third, which he did to precision. Unfortunately the boys couldn't squeeze one more run out and the game was left at a tie. Great game to watch boys! - Dayle. Hits: 2- Tom Davis, David Bonell. 1- James Bonell, Ken Pellosis (HR), Tom Snowden, Josh Conell. Pitching: Tom Snowden 3IP 5H 3BB 7K 5RS Tom Davis 1IP 4H 0BB 1K 2RS Ken Pellosis 1IP 1H 0BB 0K 1RS There is a bye this week so no junior training. However feel free to come down Thursday night and train with the seniors for an hour starting at 7pm. Junior Tuesday and Thursday trainings will re-commence on Tuesday 19th of July at 5pm onwards. Best of luck to Tom Snowden for the DBA carnival in Mildura as our representative in the Under 16 team. 2 July 2011 A3 Frankston 7 drew Dingley Blue 7 On a blustery day, we went to Dingley with high expectations after our recent good form. We even had a scorer this week - thanks Emma, and we had a rookie pitcher on the mound (Scoop!) who held them scoreless for 2 quick innings - problem was we hadn't scored either! In the 3rd we made a number of basic mistakes and as a result their bats woke up and all of a sudden it was 5 nil. Ando went on the hill and gave us time to get back into the match as we scored 2 in the 4th and 2 in the 5th with some terrific hitting, then we tied the game up in the top of the 7th only to let in a run in the bottom part of the inning, although the momentum was with us. In the 8th Robbie Anderton got his second hit and Matt Schneider hit him in to tie it up again. Six-all going into the 9th and we were set for our third thriller in as many weeks and when Ando reached third safely, Robbie Ando stepped up with a 3rd hit to give us a one run lead. A couple of lucky hits to Dingley and a ball that was almost caught in left field and the scores were tied at seven all and remained that way when time was called. Another fantastic fight back by our boys. Special mention to Gareth who turned 40 during the week and of course Robbie who we welcomed back after the birth of his first child - Denty. Hits: 3 - Robbie. 2 - Gareth, Denty (inc dbl), Ando (inc dbl). 1 - Sam Alter, Potto, Matt Schneider. Pitching: Scoop 3IP 5H 3BB 1HPB 1K 4ER Ando 6IP 5H 0BB 3K 2ER 25 June 2011 A2 Frankston 9 defeated Bonbeach 6 We scored in the 1st, then both teams played tight in the field until Bonbeach piled on 5 runs with balls landing in everywhere. We bounced straight back with consecutive hits to Lovey snr, Matty and Tim. Adam's 2 out hit scored 2 runs to tie it 5-5. Tom Snowden was amongst it picking a clutch walk and scoring via good baserunning. Lovey snr regained control on the mound amassing 8 Ks for the game. Still tied going into the last full inning for the game we came out swinging. Willow cleared the loaded bases to break it open. It was one of our best hitting games for the season against some good pitching. We had several multi hit gamers led by Adam Love going 2-2 , 2 walks, 2 RBI and took a running foul fly ball in RF - Dirty. Hits: 3 - Tim Hanson, Matt O'Brien. 2 - Adam Love, Chris Wilson. 1 - Chris Love, Mitch Barr. Pitching: Chris Love 6IP 8H 8K 2BB 6ER 6RS A3 Frankston 3 lost to Bonbeach 5 We had a terrific contest against our old foe Bonbeach on the weekend. They scored 5 in the first 5 innings and we scored 4 in the first 3 innings and that was it for the day although were able to reach 3rd in the 9th with Tom Davis hitting the ball hard to move Matt Schneider across for the first out, then Luke was unable to penetrate the field to become the second out, and when Sam Alter smacked the ball well to short stop who made a nice play to end an exciting game. Gareth Finney had 12 plays without an error at short stop and was well supported by Peter Conell (Potto) who helped out at first. Ando pitched like a gun for all 9 innings again, and one of these days we'll win one of these tight ones for him - Denty. Hits: 2 - Denty, Gareth. 1 - Sam (2B), Ando, Potto, Luke. A4 Frankston 9 defeated Bonbeach 6 Having not played for near on 3 weeks, thanks to the Queen's Birthday weekend and last week's washout debacle, the boys were extremely keen to get the rust off and continue our great start to the season. A wonderful sunny morning at 'The Patch' greeted us with Bonbeach being our opponent for the day, the Bluejays fresh off their first win of the year and confident of wrestling the covereted 'mong' off our hands. We had a slightly different looking team, with several forced changes due to some unavailables in Steve and Sandy (who later turned up unexpectantly) and young Tom, who earned himself a well earned call up to the two's. The opportunity presented itself for us to analyse our depth and play some of our guys out of their comfort zone. Of course the more things change, the more they stay the same as we rolled Scoop out onto the hill . . . again. The first inning showed signs of recent form as Scoop set the Bluejays lineup down in order and we plated 3, Evan, down from the thirds to help us out, with a big 2 out 2 RBI base hit. The second dig was a different story as Bonny put the pressure on us and for the first time since opening day, we cracked under it. A few hits and some, let's just say, very untidy fielding saw Bonbeach take a 6 to 3 lead. The rust was seemingly turning out to be difficult to shake off. By the end of the third we had managed to cut the lead by a run, but we were looking terrible at the plate, the Bonny pitcher keeping us in the game with 7 walks and 2 HPB's to this stage. On a positive note, Scoop was pitching really well and the defence had decided to turn up, shutting down Bonbeach's scoring opportunities. Something needed to happen to turn the momentum our way. The bottom of the 4th started with hits to Hors and SeanO, who were hit less between them. Then both Beno and Gibbo drew walks from the wayward Bonny hurler. A little bit of luck finally fell our way as Evan's 'ground ball with eyes' sqibbed just beyond the 2nd baseman's reach and Rhys, fresh into the game, repaid the managers faith with a great team at bat, knocking in a run with a ground ball putout to the right side, pretty much exactly what we wanted him to do. James then smashed a ball into rightfield for a double to put our 5th run of the inning over the plate. We had finally put our head slightly in front with a 9 to 6 lead. It would be a tight tussle for the remaining 3 innings as neither team would trouble the scorers again, the Tomatoes taking the win albeit unconvincingly. Positives: Scoop was fantastic on the hill, despite having not pitched for several weeks and defensivly we were able to switch on and work our way out of trouble and then defend a slim lead. Negatives: Hitting was atrocious today, we left 11 on base, were 4 for 17 with Risp and if Bonbeach's pitching had not allowed 12 free passes (10 walks and 2 HPB's) the result would almost have definitely been different. A giant wake up call to everyone involved from the manager down. Bonbeach came to play today and we very very lucky to get over the line. In the next few weeks we play several teams well in contention and our efforts will need to be much better than the one we showed on this day - SeanO. Hits: 2 - SeanO, Evan. 1 - Gareth (2B), Scoop, Hors, Gibbo, James (2B). Pitching: Scoop 7Inn 9H 5K 3BB 6RS 0ER 18 June 2011 A1 Frankston 8 defeated Dandenong 6 Disco once again did the job on the mound and kept us in the game until the bats got going. 6-nil down in the 5th we managed to tie it up then draw ahead in the next inning. Barfo's bomb was a highlight and Smithy's face a lowlight - hope all goes well this week at the quacks Ben. Should be another good game at the Bonny Dome next week and a win will put some distance between us and them for a finals birth - Jonesy. A2 Frankston 1 lost to Dandenong 4 In cold and wet conditions we were always a chance to win thanks to solid pitching and defensive play. Lovey got bashed a bit but kept on challenging and we also put on a fielding display. Another runner tried to take on Hussey's arm. Ha ha. We had several chances to score. Spice, Tim and Foxy all hit line drives with RISP but were shut down by some fine defensive plays. Mitch knocked in our only run for the day. In all it was a very good performance but were beaten by a team that played better - Dirty. Hits: 2 - Tim Hanson. 1 - Chris Love, Leigh Spicer, John Hussey. Pitching: Chris Love 6IP 11H 3K 0BB 1HPB 4R 4ER Tim Hanson 1IP 1H 0K 2BB 0R 0ER A3 Frankston 11 drew Dandenong 11 On a wet and windy day we took on Dandy and found out it was tough work on the slippery field giving up 2 runs, though we responded with 3. Ando battled on for us and after a few basic mistakes we gave up 8 runs in the 4th and we were down 11-3. For the first time this year we bonded as a team and with great team batting and a spectacular outfield catch by Corey Sullivan we tied the game up 11-all going into the last. With the weather howling like a tornado and hail smashing into his face, Denty tried bravely to catch a screaming line drive that saw him horizontal for 5 metres, only to see the ball spill out as he hit the ground and the go ahead run cross the plate (ok, it was hit straight to me and I stuffed it up), luckily for me time ran to 5 o'clock so the scores reverted back to an 11-all draw. Also, Ando's pitching must be slipping as he threw 2 walks in 7 innings - twice the amount for the whole year! Thanks to Marko, Rod, Gibbo, Dan, Shaun and Dirty's car for making the ground fit to play - Denty. Hits: 2 - Denty, Greaser, Ando, Dan (inc 2B). 1 - Matty, Potto. 14 runners left on base to Dandenong's 4 U16 Frankston 9 defeated Bonbeach/Berwick 1 With the boys pulling off their first win - the coach couldn't be happier for them. Personally I thought the entire team brought something to the game and was a fantastic team effort with a seriously positive attitude and a well deserved win. With hi-5's given left, right and centre and team mates picking each other up after strike outs or errors, I couldn't have been happier with the attitude the boys brought to another frosty Saturday morning game. Without a doubt Kens effort on the hill was a highlight as he had the ball dancing around the oppositions bats all day with his best performance to date. The game was also our first game with a bench player as we had 10 which was certainly a different problem to normal. With the opposition needing a ninth I sent James Baptist over to give them a hand for the first half which saw him get to have an at-bat against our own Ken. The showdown would have to be called a draw with James getting a good piece of one and sending it deep to left field, only to be tracked down by Jack to take a spectacular catch early on in the game, which could have effected the end result. With a tough game ahead at Chelt next week I look forward to seeing the ever improving Tomatoes train down the house this week after their inspiring first win for the year. The monkey's off the back! - Dayle. Hits: 2 - Josh Connel, Tom Davis, David Bonnel, Kenny Pellosis. 1 - Jack Graham (while filling in for opposition). Pitching: Kenny Pellosis 5IP 8H 6K 0BB 1RS 1ER 4 June 2011 A1 Frankston 15 defeated Mornington 2 With the forecast of an ordinary day, that's how we came out and played up until the 5th inning. The young fella on the mound did enough to keep the bats quiet then with Spice on first base and a hit & run put on, he was caught in a run down from a pick off, with a lucky break Spice was safe on first - then things started to turn our way. A pitching change with 1st and 2nd occupied put their gun Mulhurien on the mound much to our hitters liking and 18 hits and 15 runs later the game was over. Disco with a 3 run bomb and 6 solid innings on the mound was a standout again. 8 out of 10 batters had multiple hits, so a good day all round. Good luck to all our representitives for the upcoming tournament in Geelong, then we start over again with all teams at home against Dandenong the week after - Jonesy. Hits: 3 - Ben Laux, Ben Smith. 2 - Neil Barfuss (2B), Russell Anderton, Will Keys, Dayle Selleck (HR), Nick Veale. 1 - Mark Jones, Ben Pittaway (2B). . Pitching: Dayle Selleck 6IP 2RS 1ER Nick Veale 1IP 0RS 0ER A4 Frankston 17 defeated Mornington 10 Another fantastic effort by the boys, this time over the Pirates, played at The Patch in wonderful conditions. Offensively we killed the ball all day, racking up 22 hits, seeing off 4 Pirate pitchers with all players in the lineup recording at least one hit and most with multi-hit games. Scoop was very good on the mound and coupled with 3 hits and 4 RBI's, was again the standout. Steve and Hors were vacuums at SS and 3B and whilst we gave up some runs late as a result of some untidy fielding, the defense was pretty solid for much of the game. Special mentions to Rhys for some great team play, taking a couple of HPB's and knocking in a run with a SAC fly, and to Gibbo, with his health deteriorating by the minute, for his work behind the plate and at second, not wanting to come out of the game and give Mornington any chance by having a blank in the lineup. A great effort by all and a terrific result going into the Queens Birthday break. We have now played everyone in the division and sit in second spot with a 5 and 2 record. Second time round begins in two weeks with a first vs second clash against Dandenong at the Robbo Rd baseball-fest, the boys eager to turn around the result of our last meeting, where it's fair to say on that day, we didn't give a very good account of ourselves. See you on the diamond/s - SeanO. Hits: 4 - SeanO (2B). 3 - Steve, Hors, Beno, Snowy, Scoop (2B). 1 - Sandy, Gibbo, Rhys. Pitching: Scoop 7IP 11H 2K 2BB 10RS 3ER 28 May 2011 A4 Frankston 16 defeated Dingley Gold 6 After a disappointing loss last week the boys were all keen to right the ship against a young, but keen Dingley unit. With issues over Dingley's main ground still active, we found ourselves out at Sandringham on a glorious May Saturday. Gareth started the game positively drawing a leadoff walk. From there our bats were on fire, starting with a booming double from Steve (would have been out at The Patch Stevie) followed by singles to Hors, SeanO, Gibbo, Scoop and later on in the inning, another double for Steve. 8 runs in the first, chasing the Dingley pitcher off the hill, clearly our best start to a game this season. Another 5 runs in the third, largely on the back of hits to Hors, SeanO, Rhys and great RBI base hit to James and the game was effectively over. Scoop, with 3 innings of no hit baseball was in total control. To Dingley's credit, they knuckled down and got some hits, stole some bases and put 5 runs over the plate and remained enthusiastic throughout the game, proving the old adage of 'always keep fighting no matter what the score'. We finished off the game with a couple more runs, ending a good game for us and one we had to win if we want to be serious about what we want to achieve this season. Great hitting by everyone, great pitching by Scoop and solid defence, especially in the first half of the game, where the win was set up. With Cheltenham's loss, we find ourselves back in second spot with a match against Mornington looming ahead, winners of their last three contests. Should be a great game. See you on the diamond - SeanO. Hits: 3 - Steve (2x2B), Hors. 2 - SeanO (2B), Gibbo, Scoop, Rhys. 1 - Gareth, James. Pitching: Scoop 5IP 5H 2K 2BB 5RS 4ER 21 May 2011 A1 Frankston 0 lost to Cheltenham 10 With a few players out we once again came up short against the top side Cheltenham. Not a lot went right on the day with a lot of hits going straight to the field. Snitz was the best with the bat with 3 hits and 2 solid innings on the mound, and Disco fought valiantly to the end. With a big game coming up against Dingley, hopefully we can turn around a disappointing game - Jonesy. A4 Frankston 3 lost to Cheltenham 7 Another home game at The Patch, this time against the Rustlers of Cheltenhamtown. With Gibbo sidelined with sickness and Steve assigned to umpiring duties, we took to the field with Scoop on the hill. A pretty solid game thru 5 innings, the Rustlers capitalizing on some opportunities plating 4 runs. We also had several moments in which to score, but unlike the Chelt hitters, we just weren't able to come up with that clutch hit or 2 to put some runs on the board. Chelt scored another three to take a seven to zero lead. Our big chance came in the bottom of the sixth when we rallied for three and the opportunity to steal the game was there. Scoop smashed one back up the middle and in an act of self preservation, the Chelt pitcher snagged the line drive, denying us another run and after Rhys' little flare over the back of first base was run down and spectacularly caught, the opportunity was gone. One can only imagine the possible outcome if we were able to exert this same pressure earlier in the game. A great day with the bat to Beno, who collected 3 hits and a couple of big doubles to Snowy and Rhys. Both teams played a very similar games, both pitchers recording similar lines, both lineups recording similar hits. The difference in the game came down to capitalizing on the opportunities when they presented themselves, both offensively and defensivly in perticular. They did and we didn't. A wise man once said, 'in this division you have to score 10+ to have a chance to win' (you know who you are). To not score any thru 6 innings and spot a good team a 7 run head start, isn't going to get it done. But we'll pop that in the memory bank for next time and come out swinging next week and show what we are capable of. See you on the diamond - SeanO. Hits: 3 - Beno. 2 - Snowy (2B). 1 - SeanO, Gareth, Rhys (2B), Scoop. Pitching: Scoop 6IP 10H 5K 3BB 7RS 5ER SeanO 2IP 2H 0K 1BB 0RS U16 Frankston 6 lost to Carrum/Mornington 12 With the late replacement of Josh Connell who left us for the sunny coast I thought we would be one man short for the day until the arrival of David's little brother James saved the day. Obviously there were some initial doubts and worry about James's ability as he is a fair bit younger, but they were soon dissolved when he showed an impressive first outing for the side with some strong defensive work in right field. With a good sense for the game and a strong arm he proved to be great and has agreed to help the guys out for the rest of the year. With that problem out the way I am annoyed to report that I felt the team did not play close to the best of their ability this week, with some basic errors being made on bases and in the field. That being said I felt as though there had been continual improvement each week until this game. Perhaps with more opportunities this week than previous weeks the team was somewhat exposed with more opportunities on base showed more opportunities to stuff up. There were some positives to take out of the game with a clutch hit from James Baptist late in the game scoring two runs for the team, it certainly showed he has got some ability with the bat. Then there was the fantastic flyball taken by an ever improving Jack Graham at centre left. The only downside to the fantastic fly ball he took was it was while he was filling in for the other side as they were two men down, which ripped a sure double from Tom Davis had there been three outfielders instead of two. Oh well! That's baseball - Dayle. Hits: 2 - Tom Snowden, James Baptist, Jack Graham. Pitching: Ken Pellosis 4IP 17H 0BB 2K 11ER Tom Davis 0.1IP 2H 2BB 0K 0ER A1 Frankston 14 defeated Berwick 6 Talk about pushing shit up hill in a hurry, with key injuries with Matty O going down at the start of the 2nd and then Smithy in the 5th the team did themselves proud and pulled off a very impressive win against the previously undefeated top side. Disco was pulled from left field onto the hill and shut down the powerful Berwick bats then Snitz finished off with 2 solid innings. Against some very good pitching the bats fired and the runs started to flow, with 8 runs in the 6th and 3 in the 7th, the game was ours. Such an even effort from all the boys but the stand out was Disco with highlight to Spice with his first hit in 2011 and Pitta's bomb. Hits: 2 - Ben Smith, Ben Pittaway (inc HR), Nick Veale. 1 - Ben Laux, William Keys, Neil Barfuss, Russell Anderton, Dayle Selleck, Leigh Spicer. Pitching: MattyO 1IP 2H 0K 0BB 1ER Disco 5IP 6H 3K 2BB 2ER Snitz 2IP 1H 4K 1BB 0ER A2 Frankston 7 lost to Berwick 11 Good pitching featured in the first half of this game. Jonesy came into the line up for 'Smithy's return to A Grade' and mixed it up very well on the hill until tiring in the 4th, which left us trailing 5-1. We were only able to plate 1 in our first 3 innings, Jonesy and Willo were both caught out on line drives with 2 out and RISP. In the bottom of the 4th we rallied with RBI hits to Tim, Adam, Jamie and 2 scored on Mitch's 2 out hit, Jamie showed of his speed to give us the lead 6-5. Then the Dodger bats came to life a bit. Our only highlight after that was Adam Love's senior pitching debut - came close to giving up a HR on his first pitch but managed to get an out before time was called. Berwick 020 360 - 11 Frankston 100 51 - 7 Hits: 3 - Mitch Barr, Tim Hanson. 2 - Jamie Tkalcevic. 1 - Adam Love. Pitching: Mark Jones 4IP 6H 4K 2BB 4ER 5RS Tim and Lovey Snr - Not too good! Adam Love 0.1IP 1H 1BB 0RS A3 Frankston 25 lost to Berwick 2 We made the trek down to a soggy Berwick and most of us were wet through before the first pitch! We showed good signs scoring 3 in the first with 2 outs. A few innings and a few errors later the score was 7-21 and looked like being a whitewash. The final score was 14-22 which would have been much closer without costly mistakes. Some impressive hitting by Sam Alter (3 hits inc double & a walk) & Corey Sullivan (2 hits inc triple & a walk), also Tom Davis turning a double play. We've got Chelt this week and expect a 9 innings effort. Hits: 3 - Sam (inc 2B), Denty (inc 2x2B). 2 - Corey (inc 2B), Potto (first of the year), Ando, Red (inc 2B). 1 - Matt, R. Ando. Pitching: Ando 4IP, Matt Schneider 1IP, Denty 2IP 0H 1K 0ER - pitching's easy! A4 Frankston 25 defeated Berwick 2 A road trip to Berwick always provides us with many challenges and this week would be no different as winter turned up a couple of weeks early, turning the Berwick field into something resembling a boggy marsh. After a brief discussion by both managers and umpire about the state of the ground, we got underway. We needn't have worried, we won, by a lot. Everything went right for us today, with good play and some luck finally falling our way. Everyone hit the ball very hard all day culminating in a 14 run 3rd inning. Defense was perfect behind Scoop who seemed to have a ball on a string in the wet conditions. Tom Schnieder finished out the last inning on the hill and continued where scoop left off, keeping the Berwick hitters quiet. A totally dominant performance against a quality opposition, despite the lopsided scoreline. The challenges keep coming at us as we take on the always difficult Cheltenham this week at 'The Patch'. See you on the diamond. Hits: 5 - SeanO. 4 - Hors (inc 2x2B). 3 - Steve (inc 2B), Beno (inc 2B). 2 - Tom (inc 2B), Snowy, Scoop, Kurt. 1 - Gibbo. Pitching: Scoop 5IP 7H 4K 3BB 2RS 1ER Tom 1IP 0H 0K 1BB 0RS 0ER U16 Frankston 3 lost to Cheltenham White 9 The trip down to Cheltenham proved to be a tough one. The team had been spoilt the previous two weeks with them both played in fantastic summer like conditions, it was only a matter of time before we got a true game of winter junior baseball. With icy conditions down at the Rustler Dome it was fantastic to get a full side down there with all players jumping out and warming up without hesitation. This week the team showed a great defensive game against a strong hitting Chelt side with ground balls well handled and regulation fly balls caught - in particular a late one taken by James Baptist deep on the run in right field really stood out to me. With Ken again showing some impressive discipline on the hill throwing the full game without giving up a walk, not much more could have been asked of him. Without a doubt a stand out performance in my mind was had by David Bonnell. At third base David showed off his range and strong arm taking text book ground balls and making it look easy from a position that traditionally can be tough to play for juniors. He then continued the form in his last at-bat against a strong throwing Chelt pitcher who troubled us as soon as he took to the hill, but after walking Ken at the top of the last, David destroyed one to centre field to score him. After the game David then apologised to me for his previous at-bats in the game where he believed he struggled/failed, although in my mind he did not at all. Chin up boys. Like I've said before, we can't afford to drop our heads after errors and missed opportunities in the batters box. Major League baseballers can have a successful career if they have a .333 ave (1 hit from every 3 at bats). This means they actually fail on average 2 out of 3 times. The difference is they get paid millions of dollars to do it. Good game boys. Training every Tuesday and Thursday 5pm til 6:30pm at The Patch. Get into it!! Hits: 1 - Tom Snowden, David Bonnell. Pitching: Ken Pellosis 4.2IP 14H 2K 0BB 9R 9ER
7 May 2011 A3 Frankston 6 lost to Dingley 8 It was our first opportunity to return to 'The Patch' this week and our first opportunity to really honour the passing of our great mate Brent. After a minute's silence, our team of 14 eager players set about getting 3 straight victories. It was a tough game all day, with Dingley taking a 2 run advantage in the first innings. We slowly pegged the gap back and the lead swapped a couple of times, but unfortunately we were not able to complete the fairytale finish. Some good pitching from Dingley, a few minor errors, runners left on base and basically not enough hits cost us in the end. Old man Ando again was a stand out on the hill going the distance with no one able to relieve. Denty hit well and a few of the new players racked up their first for the season. Great to also see Hallsy and Jonesy return! Denty and I will be sharing the reigns this year and a huge thanks from us to all players as it is a logistical nightmare trying to get all players equal game time and at the same time try to win a game. We make the trek to Berwick this week. Lets get that winning feeling back! Don't forget to get your tickets to the 'Back to the Future/Tomatopaloosa' - 30th July. See flyer or Ant Richards. A4 Frankston 9 defeated Berwick Grey 3 Round 3 saw us with our first home game at 'The Patch' against the newly formed Berwick Grey, a truly unknown quantity having been put into the league several days earlier. We welcomed Murray back into the team and after observing a minutes silence for our teammate and friend Brent, we got underway. Offensivly we aquitted ourselves well, scoring 9 runs on 13 hits, although we did go quiet in the middle innings of the game. Our hitting standouts for the day included Gareth, Steve and James, whilst this old boy managed to put a good swing on one which went the distance. Wonder if it was a blue moon that night. Tom had a hugh AB in the sixth knocking in two with a timely double after Berwick cut our lead in half. Scoop also had a good day with the bat, coupled with another outstanding effort on the hill going 8 innings for the second week in a row and was our MVP on the day. The defense was near perfect, with the left side of the infield snaffling everything that came there way. Another highlight for the day was the performance of young Tom Snowden who was given the task of catching Scoop, his first senior experience behind the dish. The crafty cartankerous old veteran can be a handful for the best of catchers, but Tom aquitted himself like he'd been working with Scoop for years. A great team performance all round and I now feel that the guys are really starting to work well together, which can only mean great things are to come. See you on the diamond. Hits: 2 - Gareth, Steve (2B), SeanO (HR), Scoop, James (2B). 1 - Muz, Hors, Tom. Pitching: Scoop 8IP 6H 11K 1BB 3R 2ER U16 Frankston 3 lost to Dingley 11 With the boys hitting the road for their first away game it started with Tom Davis and David Bonnell combining to score the sides first run in the top of the first dig to kick off the game. Our pitching continued to impress me with the debut appearance on the mound for Tom Snowden showing some impressive stuff by inducing plenty of groundballs. Unfortunately a few costly defensive errors that allowed the innings to stretch out past where they should have, cost us dearly on the score board. After a couple of walks in the later innings i went to the 'funky lefty' Ken Pellosis who got us out of the inning with another solid performance. Undoubtedly some good signs were shown by the team with a few different arrangements this week in the field showing as much depth as a team can with the bare 9 players. Both weeks so far showing multiple pitchers on the mound. Jack Graham showed the hidden power in his swing this week getting all of one and sending it deep to left field only to be ripped off a double by the left fielder fielding closer to the Westall Rd exit than home plate! Although the scoreline indicates a one sided affair I believe this a game that can be won the next time we meet. The team next week travels to Cheltenham for another away game after a tough week that will be had on the track with the team commencing the first Tuesday night 5 o'clock training session to join the regular Thursday nights down at 'The Patch'. If the boys continue to bring the attitude I'm seeing, there will be a massive improvement by seasons end. No pain no gain. Hits: 1 - Josh Conell, Tom Davis, James Baptist, Tom Snowden Pitching: Tom 2IP 5H 2K 7BB 10RS 8ER Ken 2IP 1H 1K 1BB 1R 0ER
30 April 2011 A1 Frankston 1 lost to Bonbeach 2 On a perfect day for baseball we did everything else but play baseball - I should say in the batters box anyway. With Humphrey on the hill, again he did an outsatnding job, only giving up 1 earned run in 9 inns for a 2-1 loss. A very disappointing result considering our last game, which goes to show if we are slightly off in any game this year we will end up with this sort of result. Only 4 hits for the game and not many others left on base ... a lot needs to be worked on. Hits: 1 - Jonsey, Will, Barfo, Pitta. A2 Frankston 8 defeated Bonbeach 0 Solid pitching, faultless defence and timely hitting resulted in a comfortable 8 - 0 win. Just 1 walk conceded, no errors and 11 safe hits. A couple of baserunning blunders was our only negative for the day. Tim started on the hill and somehow kept Bonbeach scoreless leaving 6 on base over 3 innings and chipped in with the bat, helping us creep to a 2 - 0 lead. Some swift base running by Jamie and timely hits by Lovey, Mitch, Smithy and Rusty broke the game open with 5 runs in the 4th. Lovey Snr closed out the game on the mound, capping a near perfect day on the hill by the Love family. Adam having pitched 5 innings for 0 hits and 0 runs in U/16, Chris had 3 innings of the same in our game. Well done to Adam getting his first hit in senior baseball for the Tomatoes. Bonbeach 000 000 - 0 Frankston 011 501 - 8 Hits: 2 - Mitch Barr, Ben Smith, Russell Clarke. 1 - Ben Tkalcevic, Chris Love, Tim Hanson, James Armstrong, Adam Love. Pitching: Tim Hanson 3IP 6H 1K 0BB 0RS 0ER Chris Love 3IP 0H 2K 1BB 0RS 0ER A4 Frankston 12 defeated Bonbeach 4 With the Easter/Anzac day holidays behind us we now can get into the season good and proper. A Round 2 clash with Bonbeach was today's challenge, battling again for the much sort after 'Mong' trophy. The game started in glorious sunny conditions, which must have been appreciated by all as we hit the ground running scoring three in the first and that trend continued throughout the game, with every player in the lineup getting at least one hit, Beno and James recording their first ever hits in baseball. Well done fellas. Hors returned to the lineup for his first game of 2011 and crushed the ball, whilst Gareth, SeanO and Gibbo also racked up 3 hits apiece. Young Tom Snowden, fresh from playing in the morning came on at the halfway point and joined the party with a couple of well placed shots himself. With hits and runs aplenty it would easy to overlook the other side to our game on this day. Scoop, just for something different, took to the hill and instantly found his rhythm, snuffing out any chance for the Bluejay's to get into the game, going 8 innings, striking out 10. He was extremely well supported by a defense that was rock solid, not flashy but workman-like, which is exactly what we need to be. With a confidence building win in the bag, the 'Mong' safely back on the shelf, we head to 'The Patch' for our home opener and a date with Dingley Blue (make that Berwick Grey) See you on the diamond. Hits: 3 - Gareth, Hors (2x2B), Gibbo (2B), Beno (2B), SeanO (2x2B). 2 - Scoop, Snowy (2B), James. 1 - Steve (2B), Kurt. Pitching: Scoop - 8Inn 9H 10K 3BB 4R 4ER
A1 Frankston 17 defeated Dandenong 5 Solid 'd', team hitting and great pitching was just the start to a new season we needed after a disappointing finish to last season. Will, Barfo and Rando were the standouts in the batters box. Humprey was well and truly in control on the mound conceding just 1 hit in 5.2 innings and Pitta finished off the day. With 5 runs in the first we were off to a flyer and just kept on going until the 7th when we were 17 nil up. Nearly the perfect game from start to finish. In the end a well deserved TEAM effort 17-5 win and the George Dicker Cup was still in our hands. Hits: 4 - Will Keys. 3 - Russell Anderton. 2 - Neil Barfuss (HR, 2B), Mark Jones. 1 - Ben Laux, Ben Pittaway.  Last modified 16 September 2011 |