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Rams
gain ground with gutsy win
The Queensland Rams placed
themselves within striking distance of third place in the 75th
Anniversary Claxton Shield standings with a narrow 3-2 victory
over the New South Wales Patriots in Lismore on Saturday night
The Rams' big play came with one out and two runners aboard in
the bottom half of the first inning when 2007 World Cup representative
Michael Collins blasted a three run home run to centre field
and gave the Queenslanders what would ultimately prove to be
the winning lead
Collins' heroics only held up thanks to another combined pitching
gem from the Rams' hurlers, who allowed just one earned run and
overwhelmed the Patriots' offence for the second time in as many
days
18-year-old Justin Erasmus turned in the finest start of his
young Claxton Shield career, allowing just three hits and one
run in his 4.1 innings of work, before handing over to a bullpen
corps of Tristan Crawford, Simon Morriss and Ryan Searle who
held their nerve despite a spirited late inning fight back from
the Patriots
After plating their second run in the top half of the eighth
inning courtesy of a Trent D'Antonio RBI single, New South Wales
then went on load the bases with two-outs, before Queensland
flame-thrower Ryan Searle struck out the Patriots' Tim Atherton
to extinguish the threat before going on to earn his second save
in less than twenty-four hours
The win brings the Rams within half a game of the Patriots, meaning
a win in Sunday's final game of the series will see them leap-frog
their southern opponents into third place
Patriots
2 - Rams 3
For the second game in a row
Rams pitching ensured that "3 is Enough"
A first inning three run homer by Michael Collins scoring also
Brett Roneberg and Brad Dutton proved to be enough
as the Rams pitching staff proved to be at the top of their game
once again
Starting Pitcher Justin Erasmus started off well going 4.1 innings
giving up only the one unearned run
Tristan Crawford relieved for the second night in a row for a
hefty stint of 3.1 innings also giving up only one earned run
A brief appearance by Simon Morriss followed by Ryan Searle as
ace closer mopped up the late innings
Rams
happy to be home with 3-2 win over Patriots
It is quite remarkable how
regularly these great rugby league rivals happen to battle such
tight sporting contests over the years
No matter what the sport, the comparable talent and the fierce
rivalry always seems to produce a nail-biting contest, and so
it was again in this second game of Queensland’s 2009 Claxton
Shield home series at Lismore
In this case the Rams sprinted out of the blocks with three runs
in the first, but they were unable to add on as the Patriots
tried in vain to narrow the gap
It was good, exciting stuff!
While he found himself on the losing end of this arm-wrestle,
former Red Sox and Cardinals professional Wayne Lundgren was
perhaps the best of the pitchers on show
If you can ignore the three successive hits that were punctuated
by Michael Collins’ three-run “jack” in his opening
frame, Lundgren was outstanding with only four more base runners
allowed over his quality 6.2 innings losing start
It may be a bit unfair to focus on the seasoned 2006 World Baseball
Classic AROO, rather than the young guy who started for the winning
team, Justin Erasmus
After cutting his AMLB teeth with the Australian Provincials
in Claxton 2008, Erasmus has shown only a few glimpses of the
potential that saw the Boston Red Sox open their cheque book
to sign him so far this summer
His 4.1 scoreless frames today should bring him a decent confidence
boost, even though he was consigned to a no-decision when he
was lifted before the end of the fifth dig
2008 Washington Nationals ‘AA’ professional Tristan
Crawford was the man to grab the win and, to some extent, the
game by the scruff of its neck
The seasoned right-hander allowed only one earned run from three
hits over his sterling 3.1 innings
Simon Morriss has been a valuable performer for the Rams over
the past couple of Claxtons, but his only non-prescribed duty
today was to walk Andrew Graham when he was asked to put a lid
on the eighth
Future Chicago Cub Ryan Searle backed up his polished effort
in Game One with another superbly poised save in the furnace
of this hot contest
Having spoken about all the other pitchers on display at Lismore
in this fixture, we might have left the best until last if we
can peer into the future
Minnesota Twins prized prospect Brad Tippett is still yet to
allow his first AMLB earned run after a brief cameo for New South
Wales in Claxton 2008, followed by his most competent closure
here
This guy has already demonstrated that most valuable of pitching
assets … the ability to get good batters out!
We’d suggest that everyone keep an eye on him
If I had been asked
to guess who might have done the offensive damage for the Queenslanders,
I reckon I might have plucked the quadrella by bracketing Brad
Dutton, Roneberg, Collins and Sutherland, in no particular order
As it happened, it was Dutton and Roneberg who set the table
for ‘Mighty Mike’ Collins to thump his three-run homer
almost directly back over the pitcher’s head to straight-away
centre field
The bases had been cleared by the time that on-deck batter Sutherland
walked to end the on base action for the Rams in that game-deciding
bottom of the first
ACT ace Michael Collins is turning it on again with all three
runs for the ‘Banana Benders’ via another 2-4 to follow-up
his fine season at ‘AA’ level with the LA Angels organisation
The other 2-4 man in
this game was Brett Roneberg who, we will cheekily mention, is
also a Queensland import from the south!
Ah yes, it somewhat pains we proud Victorians to note that baby
Brett was born in the southern capital Melbourne
How we let his family escape to Cairns would rate among the biggest
of all fishing stories about the one that got away!
I can’t stretch my arms wide enough to boast about how BIG
this guy has been in recent Australian baseball history
In a game generally dominated by the pitching of both teams,
only ‘Terrific Tim’ Auty could hit the Queenslanders’
offerings twice, while Trent D’Antonio recorded the one
and only RBI for the Patriots
Andrew Graham, who reached ‘AAA’ with the Detroit Tigers,
added a walk to his leadoff double in the seventh, while the
unsung Mark Holland also doubled and walked for a handy on base
effort for the game
So, here’s the trick Subscribers, how do you analyse where
this oh-so tight game was won?
Given that both teams pitched superbly and the hits tally levelled
out at seven each, we can only turn to one of baseball’s
well worn diagnoses … “timely hitting”
Ah yes, there is hitting and timely hitting in our beloved game
of baseball
The fact that Michael Collins was able to follow two hits with
a three-run long ball was perfect timing … the start and
the end of this story!
Queensland
hold on for second win
Hot on the heels of a 3-0
win on Friday night, the Queensland Rams made it an emphatic
two in a row against the New South Wales Patriots on Baxter Field
in Lismore
The Maroons determination to remain in the hunt for the finals
was emphatic from the outset, with a Michael Collins three run
homer over the right centerfield fence setting the tone for the
game in the bottom of the very first innings
Patriots started Wayne
Lundgren was under early pressure when Brad Dutton and Brett
Roneberg singled, but it was the Collins dinger that stung the
right hander into action
Lundgren composed himself to battle back against the Rams, but
was again in danger of a run rush in the second when James Linger
and Wade Dutton each gained hits
Lundgren quickly regrouped to shut the innings down, before stamping
his authority back on the game across 5.2 innings of scoreless
baseball
Lundgren struck out five and gave up just a walk and one more
hit before Coach Shane Barlcay retired him from the game
At just 18 years of age, Rams starter Justin Erasmus showed composure
beyond his years, shutting down the New South Wales line-up for
the duration of his outing, with one unearned run late in his
fifth innings the only blemish
Erasmus was superb in his control, but it was his ability to
starve the Patriots of base runners with just three hits and
two walks giving nothing away
Middle reliever Tristan Crawford continued the roll in his 3.1
innings with three strikeouts, three hits and just one run in
New South Wales closer Brad Tippett countered with some pitching
brilliance of his own, shutting down the Queensland offense with
two strike outs in his one and one third innings outing
The continued pressure allowed his team mates to continue their
pressure with the bats, a fight back that nearly resulted in
the upset in the top of the eighth when the Blues capitalised
on an early Rams error at second to put runners aboard
Tim Auty made it two aboard by hitting safely to left field before
designated hitter Trent D’Antonio brought the run in with
a single
Pitcher Simon Morriss walked the next batter to load the bases,
and Ryan Searle came in to deny the Patriots the go ahead runs,
striking out Tim Atherton with bases loaded
New South Wales quickly shut down the Rams in the top of the
ninth, but it was all Searle in the end, when he denied the Patriots
any opening to stay in the game, giving the Queenslanders a narrow
3-2 win and a glimmer of a finals position
Tim Auty picked up
two hits for the afternoon for the Patriots, while it was a pair
from Brett Roneberg and Michael Collins for the Rams as well |
