Central fields strong come-back against Federal

SAFE: Federal’s Alex Pearson slides safely to third base under pressure from Central’s Koby Chant. Picture: JAMES MURPHY

ROUND 10 of the Mount Gambier and District Baseball League’s Division 1 competition saw Central continue its run of good form with a comfortable victory over Federal, while in the late game Tigers broke a nil-all deadlock in the seventh innings to earn a narrow victory over South Indians.

CENTRAL 10 d FEDERAL 4

FEDERAL took an early lead in its 4pm clash with Central on Saturday afternoon, but it was short-lived as its opponent was quick to hit back.

The Demons scored one run in both of the first innings, but Central levelled the score in the bottom of the second with Mark Kilpatrick and Josh Aston both scoring on Brad Lynagh’s double to centre-field.

A scoreless third innings followed, before Central opened the game up in the bottom of the fourth.

Three consecutive hits combined with four errors by Federal fielders saw Central push three runs across the plate.

Federal scored two runs in the top of the sixth inning to narrow the margin to one, but Central countered with a run in the bottom of the sixth and four more in the seventh.

The 10-4 scoreline at the bottom of the seventh inning remained as the final result, with neither side able to score in the final dig.

Central’s batters collected 13 hits for the game, with Dylan Chuck and Lachlan Ridding leading the way with three each.

Federal batters found it tough against the pitching of Lauchie Tilley and Josh Aston, with only six hits for the game.

TIGERS 2 d SOUTH INDIANS 0

THE late game between South Indians and Tigers was a battle of the defences, with pitchers Brodie Foster (Tigers) and Bruce Morale (South) dominating the batters for a large part of the game.

It took until the top of the seventh innings for the first run to be scored.

Tiger’s Matt Thompson made it to first with an in-field single, before he stole second and then scored on Ben Marcus’ single to centre-field.

With the lead in its grasp, Tigers doubled the margin in the eighth when Brayden Morton scored on a Foster single.

Foster was able to complete the shutout, holding the Indians scoreless for a final margin of 2-0.

South did not make the most of opportunities early in the game and that was its downfall in the end.

The Indians left nine runners stranded on base in the first five innings and it was only late in the game Tigers looked the better team.

Morale did well on the mound for South and it was only in the final three innings Tigers was able to consistently put pressure on the South defence, with six of their eight hits coming from those innings.

While the Indians failed to score for their second game in a row, their one shining light was first baseman Dean Hamilton who collected four of South’s five hits.