Division 1
South 5 d Federal 3
A SOLID crowd attended the Division 1 Mount Gambier and District Baseball League preliminary final between Federal and South Indians on Saturday night, which saw the latter make its way into this weekend’s grand final series for the first time in eight seasons.
Federal opened the score in the top of the third inning, facing the Indians starting pitcher Dean Hamilton.
Lead off batter Shane Howard had a fly ball dropped at second base by Ryan Placucci to find himself at first base, before progressing to second on a wild pitch and advancing to third on Kane McMillan’s hit to right-field.
Howard then scored on Gavin Smith’s hit into an error, again by Placuuci, with McMillan also scoring on this critical mistake to claim a two-run lead.
Morale replaced Hamilton on the mound at the top of the fourth and he kept the Demon batters hit-less, while picking up two strikeouts in the process.
South then tied the scores in the bottom of the fourth, when Bruce Morale arrived at first after a wild throw from shortstop McMillan.
He went on to steal second base, before advancing to third on Alex Lewis’ muffed fly to right-fielder Alex Pearson.
Morale then scored on Travis Lockwood’s hit to third base Smith, outrunning the throw to the plate.
Lewis scored on Ben Nash’s hit to centre-field before the inning was shut down to level the game on two-all.
South scored a further run in the next inning when Steve Issacson hit safely to centre-field, went to second on a wild throw from pitcher Alex Reppin, advanced to third on Morale’s hit back to the pitcher and scored on the subsequent wild throw from Reppin.
A further run was added in the sixth, which saw Nash hit into another error, this time from shortstop McMillan.
He scored on Jesse Balshaw’s two-bagger to centre-field to give South the lead, four runs to two.
However, Federal was not out of the fight and closed the gap by one in the top of the seventh inning, when Howard doubled to centre-field and scored on McMillan’s double to right-field.
The eighth inning was a watershed moment for the Demons as they had a huge opportunity to go ahead in the game.
Smith singled and Reppin was hit by a pitched ball to have two on base with none out.
Wade Chant got out on an infield fly and Clay Carpenter sacrifice bunted to advance the runners.
Nathan Taylor then loaded the bases when he was given an intentional walk without receiving a pitch.
This saw the bases loaded with two out.
However, Pearson hit a shot straight to first base to close off the late charge.
The Indians sealed the game in the top of the eighth by adding one more run to their score.
Lewis doubled to left-field and scored on Nash’s sacrifice fly, again to centre-field.
Federal tried to rally in the top of the ninth, but again left two runners on base leaving South the winners, five runs to three.
South had seven safe hits for the game, leaving seven on base, picking up nine strikeouts and making three errors, while Federal had six safe hits, left eight runners on, had seven strikeouts and made six errors.
Division 2
Millicent 10 d Tigers 6
MILLICENT Bandits knocked out the more fancied Tigers in the Division 2 preliminary final to secure a grand final berth against Central this weekend.
The Bandits scored four runs in the first inning, all unearned, while Tigers replied with two runs when they took up the bat.
They then added a further three runs in the bottom of the third to lead five runs to four, but Millicent returned to the front in the top of the fourth as it scored two.
However, with Tigers coming in to bat, it tied the game up with a single run, causing the match to go into overtime.
With neither team scoring in the fifth or sixth digs, the Bandits blew the game apart in the top of the seventh, scoring four runs.
Unfortunately for Tigers, it did not have the answers and Millicent claimed the win.
With Tigers giving up a massive 12 base on balls, this was likely the deciding factor, as both teams’ safe hits were similar.
After two and a half hours, Millicent won its way into the grand final with a 10-6 win.
Division 3
South 15 d Naracoorte 7
IN the Division 3 preliminary final, top of the table Naracoorte was easily beaten by the less fancied South Indians.
At the end of the third inning the game was evenly balanced, with South in front by a solitary run.
However, from there the Indians batters went berserk, scoring five runs and then a further four in the next two innings.
Naracoorte had no answer, belatedly only picking up a further two runs for the game.
South outhit Naracoorte 15 hits to six, stamping its authority on the match to win easily, 15 runs to seven.
South will now meet Central in the grand final.
Under 15
Tigers 16 d Federal 5
TIGERS have advanced to the Under 15 grand final after it set up its preliminary final win over Federal in the first two innings.
Scoring 11 runs in this time, Federal had little answer to the heavy-hitting Tigers.
They added a further five runs over the next three innings, while Federal was only able to score one in the first and third and three in the fifth.
Tigers ran out with an easy 16-5 run win and will now progress to the grand final against Central.
Under 13 Gold
Central 15 d South 4
IN the Under 13 Gold match, Central returned to the winners circle when it defeated South Indians fifteen runs to four.
With Central scoring five runs in three of the four innings, South was unable to contend on the scoreboard.
The Indians managed three runs in the opening inning, along with a home run in the fourth, but it was not enough to claim the honours.
Central will now play against semi-final winner Millicent for the premiership next Saturday.
