Showcase Series

Game #02 v Victoria

Wednesday 3rd December 2008

GAME REPORTS

The Victorian Aces dealt the Queensland Rams a severe blow this afternoon at Blacktown Olympic Park, belting their northern rivals in a 10-run rout on day two of the Diamond Anniversary Claxton Shield

All nine Victorian starters managed at least one safe hit on route to a 13-run outpouring - sending a clear message to the opposing teams in this year's competition

In a game that featured three players on current Major League Rosters, including the Phillies Brad Harman, Drew Naylor and Joel Naughton, it was a host of lesser known stars who stole the limelight and put the game out of reach early on

Rams ace Drew Naylor was chased from the game after just two-innings, which then saw the floodgates open as the Vics continued to pound out runs at a frenetic pace
38-year-old Claxton Shield rookie Brett Montgomery was given a rude introduction by the Aces' Daniel Berg who blasted a homer deep over the left-field wall, one of two hits the Australian representative had on the afternoon

Meanwhile, Victorian Adam Blackley was able to effectively navigate five innings of work, allowing just two runs on his way to earning a first up win for his state

But the story of the day was without doubt the Victorian hitters, who among them had seven players record at least two hits a piece

The Aces will be back in action against the Perth Heat tomorrow afternoon at 3.00pm while the Rams will use a rest day Thursday to help themselves regroup before locking horns with South Australia

Don’t try to touch any Victorian hitters today, because they were running so hot in this game that you would be sure to end up with third degree burns!

Even against some talented Queensland pitchers the Aces' batters dined out with a massive sixteen hits from seven innings to inflict a 13-3 'Mercy Rule' defeat
Not in their worst of nightmares could the Queenslanders have imagined the typhoon of batting that would await them after their opening game victory the previous night

All nine Victorian players would enjoy at least one hit for the game and no less than SEVEN of them would enjoy two hits for the game

Rising Minnesota Twins ‘AA’ professional Danny Berg probably snatched the headlines with his 2-3 that included a booming leadoff home run in the third inning, two RBIs, a hit-by-pitch and a walk … not a bad afternoon’s work!
Not far behind him would be a couple of other former Twins’ pros Brett Tamburrino and Paul Rutgers who each had two hits plus a sacrifice fly each for two and three RBIs respectively
Tamburrino also swiped a couple of bags to put some icing on a terrific game
McDonald, Dingle, McIntyre and Wearne were the other multi-hit gamers for the Aces and on any other day they would have earned more print here
Australia’s most recent new major leaguer Brad Harman may have managed only one hit amid the mayhem, but his RBI double was complimented by two walks as a very handy contribution

Taking the brunt of the Victorian barrage was the man we have nicknamed ‘Drew-K’ Drew Naylor who has been mowing down pro hitters with the Philadelphia Phillies in the US minor leagues, but he ran into a stumbling block in this game and was chased from the hill after throwing 60 pitches over just two innings
It may have taken Brett Montgomery until the ripe young age of 38yo to reach the pinnacle of Australian baseball competition, however, any joy he derived from this was short lived
There is no way to sugar coat his pitching line of seven hits, two walks and six runs from just 1.1 innings … it can only get better for him!
Former Minnesota professional and 2008 Independent League hurler Nathan Crawford did stop the rot in middle relief, but the dam walls crashed open again when the seasoned John Veitch took a rare hammering
Young Atlanta Braves' professional Matt Timms put a swift and merciful end to the Victorian batting with two strike outs in the seventh frame

Until today Queensland’s Wade Dutton probably carried the unfortunate handle of “Brad Dutton’s brother” but in this game he stood alone for the Rams with two hits, including a double, plus a walk
His brother Brad and Luke White delivered the only RBIs for the Maroons

Keeping the Queensland bats subdued on this occasion was former Boston Red Sox and Independent League left-hander Adam Blackley who is a maturing star
Blackley has developed the very useful habit of being able to pitch in and out of trouble as he did in this game when he allowed just one earned run from a dangerous average of one hit and one walk per inning

One thing that really helped him BIG TIME was twice getting Queensland star Brett Roneberg to ground into double-plays … he wouldn’t want to count on that happening every time, or maybe ever again!

It was still a terrific win for Adam Blackley

After a solid debut with the Australian Provincial team in Claxton 2008, Kable Hogben did a decent job with his first inning of relief work for the Aces
Even as a diehard Victorian baseball fan I am embarrassed to say that I know nothing whatever about the teenager Blake Cunningham who polished off this game for the Aces with two strike outs in the final frame … but I guess I’ll soon find out!

Queensland fell quickly back to earth after their strong opening night victory, while the Victorian Aces served an early warning of their capabilities

The fact that the game was concluded in seven innings might just benefit the pitching reserves of both teams as the Showcase Round progresses this week

In my first at-bat, the runner at first base took off and I popped out to shortstop
That's how one of the double plays happened!

Coming off a morale-boosting win over Perth on Tuesday, Queensland was still no match for the Aces, who wrapped it up 13-3 in seven

Victoria played errorless defence while the Rams made three fielding blunders – which, it should be said, made little difference such was the dominance of the Aces

The Rams tried five pitchers but conceded sixteen hits, including a solo home run to Daniel Berg

While it was indeed a “black” day for the Rams at Blacktown, the Victorian offence made an emphatic statement in blasting sixteen hits, with all one to nine hitters looking strong

With Adam Blackley strangling the Rams’ offence and Major Leaguer Brad Harman displaying his silky skills at short stop, the Vics exploded with two runs in the first, three in the third, three in the fifth and four in the seventh for a massive first-up win

The standouts were Scott Wearne (two hits), Brett Tamburrino (two, with two RBIs), Hayden Dingle (two, with an RBI), Berg (two, with two RBIs), Scott McIntyre (two, with an RBI) and Paul Rutgers (two, with three RBIs)

While Blackley was superb in going five for two runs on five hits, astute Victorian Manager Phil Dale took advantage of the opportunity, with the Aces in an unassailable position, to give each of his rookies some mound time to settle a few understandable nerves
Cheltenham’s Kable Hogben and Blake Cunningham both threw an innings at the end to nail the result down for Victoria