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Western
Australia turns up the heat 6-3 over the Rams
Six versus three might sound
like an average baseball score for a game where the bat and the
ball were relatively evenly matched but, let us assure you, that
this was by most measures a genuine pitcher’s duel
Just the pure statistics will inform us that there were only
ten hits for the game, only six of the runs scored were earned
and a total of 17 batters were struck out, 15 by the home town
Heat!
It might well have been reassuring to see 2008 Claxton Shield
“wrecking ball” Mark Kelly performing only moderately
well last time out, however, he flicked the switch back to 2008
again in this game with yet another virtuoso eight inning, four
hit winning start that featured no less than 13 KKKKKKKKKKKKKs!
We should have known that he would be in for one of those nights
when he opened proceedings by whiffing Queensland’s red-hot
Dutton brothers
Then, among his eleven other “electric fans”, he struck
out the side in both the second and fifth innings … and
most of his victims went down swinging at the Perth air!
After Kelly struck out the first two batters to start the eighth,
he showed some tiredness by walking those aforementioned Dutton
brothers, only to see them both cashed in by Joel Naughton’s
two RBI double
This would be enough to prevent his bid for another complete
game as he was lifted for the ninth
Adding further insult to injury for the Rams would be the arrival
of Western Australia's ace professional reliever Brendan Wise
who is looking as sharp as a cut-throat razor lately
As if Kelly had not shell-shocked the Queensland batters enough,
Wise kept the revolving door of strike outs spinning with two
of his minimum three batters faced also going down with the call
of “strike three” echoing in their ears
Experienced former pro Chris Mowday was almost as effective as
his brilliant Western Australia counterpart on this occasion,
but he went about it in a very different manner
Chris struck out only one, but he registered no less than 19
outs via fly balls and his tally of only two earned runs from
7.2 innings certainly reflects a high quality start
He may have even earned the chance to snatch the win away from
Kelly had his bullpen helper Matt Timms not witnessed one of
his first few pitches to Tim Kennelly hug the left field line
for a three run jack over the left field corner
Timms finished with a strikeout of Matt Kennelly but his brother’s
big blow took all of the wind out of the sails that were billowing
for Queensland after they had just tied the game in the away
half of the eighth inning
No doubt that Philadelphia’s pro utility Tim Kennelly had
the biggest blow for the game with his deciding long ball in
the bottom of the eighth, while Lachlan Dale’s clutch two
RBI single in the fourth was a major contribution in a game that
was tough for the hitters
Young catching star Chris House drove in Western Australia's
other run with his fielder’s choice RBI in that same fourth
inning when the Heat, for the first time, struck back immediately
after the Rams had opened the scoring
Amid the mayhem of their FIFTEEN strike out victims another Philadelphia
Philly pro, Joel Naughton, made the most offensive impact for
the maroons with his two RBI double in the eighth
The other RBI man for
Queensland was, you’ll never guess, Brett Roneberg who smashed
a RBI double in the fourth, just to maintain his unbroken career
sequence of doing something positive for his team on almost every
occasion … what a star he is, even when the going gets toughest!
In a mirror image of their 2008 Claxton Shield campaign, Western
Australia is again riding the crest of some truly outstanding
pitching … this time from Messrs. Kelly (Mark) and Wise
It is a genuine luxury for their offence that might not be as
strong as others in this competition, but then it often doesn’t
need to be!
The Heat are already consolidating their chances to defend their
title in 2009
The hierarchy of the Queensland Rams may be feeling some furrowing
of their brows as they sit uncomfortably behind the top three
teams on the current table
What should be giving them some reason to expect their situation
to improve is the fact that they are now close to concluding
their second road series and they will still have a good chance
of putting things right when they return to the Sunshine State
in the New Year |
