Home and Away Series

Games #05 and #06 v Victoria

Saturday 13th December 2008

GAME REPORTS

x

x SPECIAL NOTE x

?? What Happened In The Sixth Innings ??

as has been the case for a number of years, comments about Brett are highlighted in yellow
but as you read the reports below, you will see parts that are underlined and in red

!! make sure you then scroll towards the bottom of the page !!
x

A massive low-pressure system and consistent rain has forced the postponement of both Claxton Shield series scheduled to start Friday December 12

A rematch of last year's final, The Barbagallo Perth Heat and the New South Wales Patriots will hold off a day in Canberra
Queensland and Victoria will shift locations as the Rams and the Aces move north from Melbourne to Mildura to attempt the completion of their three game set

Not that I need any reason to further aggravate the repetitive strain injury (remember RSI?) that I get at this time of the year because of my untrained four-finger keyboard skills, but the tragic rain-outs that caused the postponement of the opening Home and Away games does give me chance to vent some frustrations!

Well Melbourne baseball fans, if you just blinked you have already missed the 2009 Claxton Shield carnival coming to town!
That's right, as Porky Pig would say ... "that's all folks!"

Of course for those of us baseball devotees in Australia's "sports capital" it was always going to be thus
Call it "baseball gods", "Murphy's Law" or whatever you like, but there were those yet undiscovered tribes hiding in the Amazon rain forests that knew this might happen
Melbourne's often unfairly maligned weather has been quite superb for most of this summer and, as some might be aware, we are in drought conditions and suffering stage four water supply restrictions ... so, you might gather, it hasn't been too wet here for many moons!
However, from the moment that those well-meaning and fine people at Baseball Australia saw fit to schedule just ONE, yes ONE, Claxton Shield game in our fair city this was a seemingly inevitable result

We had time to get used to the unpalatable idea because the weather bureau, god love them, finally predicted something correctly by telling us that it was going to rain, rain and rain from early Friday and well into the weekend
By mid-Friday, the day of our ONE game, Noah had started ordering the timber for his new boat and the animals had started to gather two-by-two
Living more on hope that expectation, there was a very brief period at around 6:30pm that the rains cleared momentarily and, according to those closer to our Altona stadium that us, there was a genuine hope of starting the game at 8:00pm
Once again, more in blind hope than expectation, we set off for the long journey across town only to hear by mobile phone (what did we do before them?) that things had turned bleak again ... not long after the fixture was officially abandoned

I have nothing against the people of Mildura who, after all, are fellow Victorian kindred, but they'll have to excuse me for not appreciating their good fortune in adding another game to their already bulging schedule of two games between Victoria and Queensland
Oh yes, we are aware of some encouraging financial arrangement that brought the "novelty" game of baseball to Victoria's far north, and those highly questionable "philosophical reasons" why the game needs to be promoted in regional centres
Trouble is, the way we are feeling today, we just don't want to hear it!

As I sit here writing this garbled nonsense, I am starting to understand the cravings that might be experienced by a drug addict whose dealer has just left town, depriving him of a much needed fix ... and just starting to realise that he would not be getting another one for a very long time

I'm not sure what Melbourne did to deserve the short end of the stick when the fixtures were finalised, but I can tell you that it has done NOTHING to promote the game here and that is a sad tragedy just, as we keep being told, one year out from a new National League

Oh, and just by the way, if you are wondering why I have not mentioned the same rain-out situation in Canberra for the opening of the NSW versus WA series, well, that is because they will not be missing any games unless weather intervenes again
They had already enjoyed the luxury of a full three-game schedule and the Friday night game will simply be rolled-over into a weekend double header
What jolly good luck for you folks in the ACT ... we'd love to know how you feel

Weather Shield
Baseball organisers Nick Carroll and Graeme Witte take shelter from the rain during last-minute preparations yesterday

The 2009 Diamond Anniversary Claxton Shield will go ahead in Mildura despite yesterday’s rain
Organisers spent yesterday readying the field at the Aerodrome Sport complex for today and tomorrow’s free entry matches between the Victoria Aces and Queensland Rams

Nick Carroll, from Sunraysia Baseball, said the rain had only caused a minor inconvenience
“It’s been a little bit tricky with the rain, but with the drought we can't knock it back” Mr Carroll said
“We’ll just keep working through and hopefully it won’t affect us too much
The field will be fine, there’ll be no problem with the drainage
The ground is well looked after by the council so we’ll have no problems there”

By 3.00pm yesterday almost 25mm of rain had fallen in Mildura and more showers are predicted today

After inclement weather turned Friday's games on their heads, baseball fans in Mildura and Canberra are set for a bonus today as both cities play host to Claxton Shield Double-Header action

With the Diamond Anniversary Claxton Shield taking the game to members and fans across regional Australia, it's a unique opportunity for baseball pundits to experience our home grown talent at their absolute best

Game One at Mildura's Aerodrome Sporting Complex is set for 2.00pm local time; with Game Two to follow immediately after
While in Canberra, things will get underway at Narrabundah with a 3.45pm start time for Game One and Game Two gets underway at the originally scheduled time of 7.00pm

The Victorian offence took the Queensland Rams pitchers apart in the first baseball game of a Claxton Shield double-header played at the Mildura Old Aerodrome Ovals Complex on Saturday

In a whitewash Victoria beat Queensland 15-0 in the first game but then held on to just win Game Two as the Queensland offence came alive to mount a late challenge
With the third game to be played Sunday at 11.00am, Aces Manager Phil Dale is aiming for a sweep of the series and gaining a break at the top of the table
“We’ll likely start with Dean Barker since he did the job for us last time” he said
“But it’s going to be a tough game
Queensland is always a threat and if the breeze is anything like Saturday, that is always going to favour the hitters”

With Claxton Shield games going regional, support and playing surfaces were potentially going to be an issue but Dale was happy with the Mildura experience thus far
“The surface was fine for a regional facility” he said “And there was a half decent crowd”
“I’m very pleased with how it’s going up here”

In Game Two Victoria won 10 to 9 as the Aces continued on from where they had left off earlier in the day by jumping all over the Rams’ pitching to establish an early break
This set themselves up for the narrow win that takes them clearly to the top of the standings after the Patriots downed Perth Heat in the first of their double-header at Narrabundah

Victoria sent classy southpaw Donavon Hendricks to the hill for this clash, with the young man no doubt determined to emulate the performance of his Waverley team mate in Game One
And that he did – for the first five, anyway – despite a solo shot to Rams first baseman David Sutherland
But the game is never over until it’s over
Despite the Aces holding a 9-1 lead in this case
“It maybe should have been 9-4 going into the last” said Dale “But that’s baseball”

In the end, the Rams picked up fourteen hits to twelve, with Lamb-Hunt, Baker and Roneberg the standouts in offence

For the Aces, Daniel Berg capped a stunning Saturday with another five RBI's (making ten for the day), while Andrew Russell and James Beresford were both terrific with the stick

Going into Sunday’s game, the Aces have spent very little in the pitching department and should still be favoured to sweep the series

Earlier in the day in the rescheduled Game One was over – as a contest – in the second innings
In front of a supportive and parochial Mildura crowd, the Rams simply couldn’t take a trick as Victoria dominated in all facets of a terribly one-sided game
The final result was a 15-0 win by Victoria

Adam Blackley

Today it was raining hits - and plenty of runs - as the Victorian offence took the Rams pitchers apart in the first game of their double-header at the Mildura Aerodrome Complex before holding on in Game Two as the Queensland offence came alive to mount a late challenge

Game One - Victoria 15 defeated Queensland 0

The rescheduled Game One was over – as a contest – in the second innings

In front of a supportive and parochial Mildura crowd, the Rams simply couldn’t take a trick as Victoria dominated in all facets of a terribly one-sided game
Such was the Victorian dominance that they started Major Leaguer Brad Harman at second base, with James Beresford at short stop – a vote of great confidence in the young man and indicative of the Aces’ defensive strength for this Claxton campaign
Harman has expressed interest in playing a number of positions, presenting Victorian management with great options in the middle infield

Adam Blackley took the start for Victoria and went the complete game
If anything, he was even more impressive than in his Sydney outing, consistently hitting the spots and holding the Rams’ offence to four hits over the seven innings

His counterpart in seasoned Chris Mowday struggled for control and was given the hook after his one and a bit innings yielded seven runs on five hits and four passes
Matthew Bates fared little better in relief, conceding seven hits on six hits and four passes
Matthew Studeman finished off in marginally more effective fashion, but only after the game was well gone

While the Aces pitching and defence were of the highest quality, their hitters rained blow after telling blow upon the hapless Rams, with the score standing at a stunning fourteen zip after four innings

While four hits was a meagre return for the Rams offence, the Aces posted fifteen in an imperious hitting display

All up, the Aces blasted five home runs to the left and centre side, on what was a regulation-sized field and with the strong breeze favouring rightfield

The tone of the game was set in the bottom of the first, when two hitter Paul Rutgers cleared the yard after lead-off Beresford had walked
A HPB to Andrew Russell pushed a further score across, and the home side was away
The Aces exploded in the second, with moonshots to Brad Harman (for three runs), Dingle and Andrew Russell - between them posting another five runs
Daniel Berg’s third innings blast scored three and he followed this up with another single that plated two more in the fourth

The Rams loaded the bases to give themselves a scoring chance in the sixth, but the Aces snuffed it out with a double play through Blackley

Game Two - Victoria 10 defeated Queensland 9

The Aces continued on from where they had left off earlier in the day by jumping all over the Rams’ pitching to establish an early break and set themselves up for a narrow win that takes them clearly to the top of the standings after the Patriots downed Perth Heat in the first of their double-header at Narrabundah

Victoria sent classy southpaw Donavon Hendricks to the hill for this clash, with the young man no doubt determined to emulate the performance of his Waverley team mate in Game One
And that he did – for the first five, anyway – despite a solo shot to Rams first baseman David Sutherland

But the game is never over until it’s over
Despite the Aces holding a 9-1 lead in this case

As has become their pattern this series, Victoria exploded early as Beresford singled, Rutgers walked, Harman walked and Berg delivered with a grand slam, his second round tripper for the day
This was followed up by an Andrew Russell homer over centrefield, also his second, and a further four runs in the fourth as the Aces drove Justin Erasmus from the hill, with the game seeming to be meandering along to another premature finish and an easy win for the Victorian outfit

But Queensland – who have copped two fearful beltings in eleven days - had other ideas
And they were clearly assisted by some adjudication that may easily have gone another way
With Hendricks starting to tire into the sixth, the Rams mounted a challenge and took advantage of an outfield error to score three before the pitching change
In relief, Matt Blackmore loaded the bases with a HPB and Brett Roneberg delivered with a grand slam over rightfield to score the Rams’ seventh for the innings and to draw within a run and at least give Victoria something to think about

In the top of seven, the Rams continued the assault by hitting safely three times to plate the tying run

Under real pressure for the first time since the Perth Heat game last Thursday, the Aces did the clinical stuff required of them as Russell singled, McIntyre singled and pinch-hitter Tristen McDonald delivered with a clutch hit to rightfield to ice the game

Considering that the Aces committed some uncharacteristic errors and were marginally out-hit by a side that stranded seven runners on base to four, this was one that they would have been happy to get away with after looking home for all money
“It maybe should have been 9-4 going into the last” said Dale “But that’s baseball”
“I was really pleased with Donovan Hendricks" he said “He and Blackley were both outstanding for us today”
“And Tristen McDonald did exactly what we asked him to do in the last”

In the end, the Rams picked up fourteen hits to twelve, with Lamb-Hunt, Baker and Roneberg the standouts in offence

For the Aces, Daniel Berg capped a stunning Saturday with another five RBI's (making ten for the day), while Andrew Russell and James Beresford were both terrific with the stick

Going into tomorrow’s game, the Aces have spent very little in the pitching department and should still be favoured to sweep the series

For anyone who might have read my diatribe on Melbourne’s rain out of the opening game last night, then you would realise that a Victorian win like this would only be rubbing salt into those gaping wounds (Peter Flintoff's "diatribe" is near the top of this page!! - and he makes good points!!)

No self respecting Melbournian would complain about such a resounding result, but there is always a hint of disappointment for those who didn’t get the opportunity to witness it
With no disrespect intended to the friendly folk in Mildura, country Victoria, it was a pity that this game was held at their “Old Aerodrome” diamond rather than somewhere in Melbourne’s baseball heartland

I guess it must be said that the rain-out and the extra leg of travel could not have worked in the favour of the visiting Queenslanders, but then it would need to be a pretty heavy factor to explain the Grand Canyon like chasm between the performances of the Rams and the Aces in this instance

A 15-0 “Mercy Rule” massacre with 13 hits versus 4 and nine walks to three is more than enough to explain how this game panned out, but the FIVE Victorian home runs would only add a thundering insult to injury for the visitors

It is hard to know where to start in a game like this where Adam Blackley’s superb pitching for Victoria may have been outshone by the explosiveness of the Aces offence that has only been briefly subdued by WA so far in Claxton Shield 2009

It might be simpler to get the Queensland details out of the way quickly and painlessly for them on this occasion, so here goes

Former journeyman minor league professional and seasoned campaigner Chris Mowday has enjoyed a pretty good time in AMLB for the most part, but he would want to erase this nightmare losing start from his memory bank as soon as possible
Read “ditto” for Matthew Bates, who struggled during Claxton 2007 in Perth, and again here with seemingly not enough stuff to baffle hitters of this standard
To cut a miserable story short, this duo had the combined pitching line of … sit down first … 4.0ip 11h 12er 8bb 2k … OUCH!

By comparison Matt Studeman, who has hit but not pitched for Queensland, but was originally seen as a pitcher with the 1999 Gold Coast Cougars in the ABL, did pretty darned well to allow just one extra run from his two innings

It won’t take long to outline the almost non-existent Rams offence with only stalwarts Brett Roneberg, Brad Dutton, Wade Dutton and Matt Studeman recording singles in this game
Wade Dutton, who has emerged from brother Brad’s considerable shadow during Claxton 2009 so far, added a walk as he continues to find a way to get on base for his team
Let’s give most of this credit to Victoria's Adam Blackley for making life almost unbearably difficult for the Rams in Mildura

OK, so let’s start with Blackley who collected his second win for Claxton 2009 to date and who is clearly coming into his own as a front-line pitcher at AMLB level this year
With a few years of pro ball at Boston and lately with the El Paso Diablos in the American Association Independent League behind him, 23yo Blackley is just starting to convince himself that he belongs on this type of stage
His seven inning complete game, four-hit shutout today is probably his finest hour in Australian Major League Baseball
To emphasise how good he was, he struck out six but, more significantly, he induced ten ground ball outs; two of which were inning ending double plays
It is a game of brilliance that he will find hard to top!

The famous Waverley Baseball Club in Melbourne will be a little stretched for personnel this weekend given their top-heavy contribution to the Victorian Aces
Pitcher Adam Blackley is one, plus his lefty bullpen mate Donavon Hendricks
Scott Wearne is unfortunately still injured from the Showcase Round, but coming into the squad to join Danny Berg and catcher Grant Karlsen are James Beresford and Andrew Russell … and, Hayden Dingle is a recent Waverley Club Champion before moving on to Blackburn!
You have heard about Blackley, now you can hear for yourself how his Wildcats’ team mates fared

Minnesota Twins duo Daniel Berg and Jimmy Beresford were terrific … Beresford leading off with 2-4 plus a walk, scored three times while Berg provided the clean-up duties with a mighty 3-5 with a home run and five RBIs to continue his outstanding competition thus far
Unassuming slugger Andrew Russell, who wasn’t going to play Claxton Shield until after Christmas, is probably glad that he was called up to join the Aces when he smacked 2-3 with a home run, two RBIs and he scored twice
Grant Karlsen, once again, was terrific behind the dish for Victoria and, while he didn’t hit this time, he scored twice after being walked once and then hit by a pitch
Dingle continued his “breakthrough” AMLB campaign via a huge 2-3 with a home run, two RBIs plus two walks
Recent major leaguer Brad Harman stamped his undoubted class again with 2-5, a home run and three RBIs but he didn’t overshadow Independent League pro Paul Rutgers who couldn’t do any more than bat 1-1 with a home run, three RBIs, three runs scored and three walks … not a bad day at the diamond ‘Paulie’!

Just in case the onslaught of pitching and batting might have failed to excite the Victorian fans in Mildura, we are told that the Aces middle infield duo of pro guys Beresford and Harman, who are both OUTSTANDING short stops, put on a bit of a clinic for an audience that might not have quite appreciated just what they were seeing
I am assured that one hard-hit deflected ball that Beresford somehow managed to field and relay to Harman to start a sparkling double play was a thing of rare beauty!
My friends in Melbourne can only imagine what it might have looked like!

Daniel Berg drove in nine runs and hit two home runs for Victoria as the Aces swept the double header with Queensland, winning the first game 15-0, before coming back with a seventh-inning rally to win the finale 10-9

"He did outstanding for us in the No. 4 hole, just coming to us five days ago" said Victoria Manager Phil Dale
"Its always great to get two against a tough Queensland team, even if it didn't look that way to start"

In the nightcap, pinch-hitter Tristian McDonalds two-run single in the final inning, the seventh, gave the Aces a comeback after the Rams scored seven times in the sixth and another in the seventh to tie it at 9-9
Trent Baker tied the game off eventual winner Matthew Blackmore (1-1) with a two-out RBI single in the seventh
Blackmore and starter Donovan Hendricks surrendered the seven runs in the sixth inning, capped by a grand slam to Brett Roneberg

In the opener, Berg drove in five runs and hit one of the teams five home runs en route to the 15-0 win for Victoria

Andrew Russell also homered twice in the doubleheader for the Aces

Adam Blackley (2-0) pitched a complete game four-hit shutout, striking out six and walking three to win his second of the season

"Blackley and Hendricks really did a good job mixing their changeups" said Dale of his two lefthanders

Chris Mowday (1-1) was roughed up for seven runs over 1.1 innings for the Rams, as Victoria scored three runs in the first and added another eight runs over the first three innings, hitting all five home runs over the first three innings, including three in the second inning

The finale of the three game series will be played on Sunday at 11.00am continuing the 2009 Diamond Anniversary Claxton Shield

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x The Sixth Innings x

Below are a few comments from the Game Reports

And they were clearly assisted by some adjudication that may easily have gone another way
With Hendricks starting to tire into the sixth, the Rams mounted a challenge
and took advantage of an outfield error to score three before the pitching change
In relief, Matt Blackmore loaded the bases with a HPB and Brett Roneberg delivered with a grand slam
over rightfield to score the Rams’ seventh for the innings and to draw within a run
and at least give Victoria something to think about

“It maybe should have been 9-4 going into the last” said Phil Dale “But that’s baseball"

?? What Does It Mean ??

Following Brett's grand slam, the score going into the last innings was 9 runs to 8 with Victoria leading
So, if he had not had the chance to bat or if he had got out, the score would have been 9 runs to 4 instead
and this is what Phil Dale says it "maybe should have been"

Then there is the comment about the umpiring decisions ... and that these "clearly assisted" Queensland

?? So It Makes You Wonder ??

was one of the earlier hitters out somewhere on the basepaths but the call went Queensland's way

was the hitter before Brett, Brad Dutton, actually hit by the pitch

was Brett out ... that is, according to the Victorian coaches and players
was there a 'called strike three' that was missed by the plate umpire
was there a 'check swing' in which Brett went around on that wasn't called
was his home run hit down the line foul but was called a fair ball

or is this all just 'sour grapes whinging and moaning' by the Victorian team

?? The Result ??

It doesn't really matter
In the scorebook book and official statistics it says that
Queensland player Brett Roneberg hit a grand slam in the top of the sixth innings
And that is all that matters !!

!!! UPDATE !!!

Number One - spoke to Brett and he hit his grand slam on a '2-0' pitch
so this had nothing to do with his at bat
Number Two - it was the First Base Umpire !!!
and have a look at the section underlined and in red in the game report below
x

It kind of reminds us of one of those pathetic British pantomimes when everyone is sure who the villain is, but no matter how hard you yell, the victim just can’t heed the warning, or doesn’t see it coming

Baseball, like the very best mystery novel, is not something that you should ever try to predict before it is concluded and, the more certain that you might be about the outcome, be careful, it doesn’t always turn out that way

So it was in this Game Two of the Victoria versus Queensland double-header in Mildura

The Aces had already applied a world of hurt on the Rams in the first game of the double-bill with an almost soul-destroying 15-0 victory in the opener and, not long after, they would find themselves cruising once again 9-1 after six innings in the second game
The home standing Victorian Aces could hardly have been more comfortable with Donnie Hendricks dominating on the mound and their hitters bashing a massive 24-1 advantage for the day so far

If you happened to be a “conspiracy theorist”, or just a normal baseball follower, it would be about this time that you would start to smell a rat … surely it would not be possible for this level of almost embarrassing domination to continue against such a fine opponent?

Rest assured baseball fans, the answer is NO!
Just when you might think that you have this game figured out, guess again, you haven’t!

Former Atlanta and Independent League pro Donavon Hendricks seemed to be rolling to another brilliant win when, in the seventh inning, he allowed a couple of hits and a walk; which is very rare for him this year
Before any of the miniscule contingent at Mildura had blinked, Hendricks found himself in a degree of trouble and, according to our most reliable sources, a repetition of horrible umpiring calls at first base would see an otherwise scoreless inning compound into a big one for the Rams
Word has it, from more than one source, that the Victorian “blue” in question, somewhat typically, decided to exaggerate his own errors by extrapolating three successive incorrect SAFE calls at first base

Waiting gleefully and over-qualified to cash in this opportunity would be our magnificent Hall-Of-Famer Brett Roneberg who needed only a modicum of think music to go KABOOM … for a GRAND SLAM home run over right field!!

Victoria’s low-profile relief ace Matthew Blackmore was the unfortunate man to cash in these runs for Hendricks and himself via Roneberg’s long ball
But, let’s not pass around the hat for him because, at the end of the contest, he would find himself the WINNING pitcher of record

Umm, YES, a possible umpiring controversy was avoided, only by virtue of the fact that Andrew Russell lashed a single into left field and he scored the winning run on Tristan McDonald’s RBI single
I don’t want to even try to imagine the fall-out that may have followed if the game had gone pear-shaped for the Aces but, I do know one thing, it would not have in any way affected the official involved… sad isn’t it!

In summary eight hits and six earned runs would always be too many for young Boston Red Sox pro Justin Erasmus, while the Crawford boys were pretty effective in minimising the damage after that

While we would never discount Roneberg’s long ball in Mildura, it is impossible to down-play Daniel Lamb-Hunt’s 3-5 with a RBI, or Trent Baker’s 2-3, with two RBIs plus a walk
Brad Dutton batted 2-3 and the prolific David Sutherland went 1-3 plus a walk, a home run and two run scored

Offensively, it is easier to start with the obvious Victorian guys like Andrew ‘Rusty’ Russell
This bloke needs no introduction to any VBA baseball follower who has known for a long time what kind of batting force he is
So, it would surprise none of us that ‘Rusty’ came through again with a “lazy” 3-3 plus another home run and two runs scored
His Waverley club and Texarkana University team mate Daniel Berg also mashed a home run and his FIVE RBIs were, by far, the biggest scoreboard accumulator
Infield duo James Beresford 2-4 and Brad Harman 1-2 with two walks and a RBI were also big contributors to the Victorian cause
Scott McIntyre was very good again with his 2-4, while Paul Rutgers walked and scored a run a run for his team

No matter how many times I have been wrong, I still fall for the badger-trap of thinking that games might be easy to predict, like today, when Victoria was leading 9-1 … think again!
Do we need any more evidence to convince anyone why baseball is the most intriguing game on earth … not for me!