WHILE all other grades were cancelled due to the heat rule, the Division 1 Mount Gambier and District baseball went ahead, with games rescheduled to 7pm timeslots on Friday and Saturday.
Friday night saw South Indians and Central battle it out under lights, while Tigers and Federal clashed on Saturday night.
SOUTH INDIANS 10 d CENTRAL 8
CENTRAL aimed to confirm a place in finals when it locked horns with South Indians on Friday night, but it was not meant to be.
A close battle saw the Indians two-run victors in the end, despite a fast finish from the Magpies.
South fired up first in the bottom of the opening inning.
Successive walks pitched to first two batters Ryan Placucci and Bruce Morale saw them both batted in by a three-bagger to Dean Hamilton, who in turn made it home on a sacrifice fly from Ben Morale.
Central returned fire in the top of the second when both Mark Kilpatrick and Lauchie Tilley were hit by the pitcher with two out.
Kilpatrick scored on Darren Smith’s single to left-field, while Ethan Chuck and Brock Keding picked up walks which pushed Tilley home.
Surprisingly, Kyall McClean was also thrown a base on ball, which pushed Smith across the home plate before a third out was made.
With scores level, the Indians added two more runs in the bottom of the third to take back the lead by two runs.
Central answered when McClean picked a base on ball in the top of the fifth and Nathan Meinck singled.
McClean managed to score on a wild pitch before the Indians shut down the assault.
In the even fifth, South fired up.
Bruce Morale got on board and Hamilton walked, while Ben Morale singled to score his brother and another single from Travis Lockwood scored Hamilton.
The score was then bolstered when Steve Isaccson hit safely for the second time to load the bases.
Ben Nash’s deep hit to left-field resulted in all three runners making it home, but Nash was thrown out attempting to make third.
The play gave South a 10-4 run advantage, while Central fought back hard in the top of the eighth.
However, despite a solid four-run inning, the Magpies were left short by two runs.
Dylan Chuck came on to pitch at the top of the sixth inning and shut down the Indians batters for the remainder of the game.
The coach may rue the choice not to make that change an inning earlier when the score was only one run difference.
The final score saw South 10-8 victors, with 11 safe hits, six base on ball and three strikeouts, while five runners were left on base and two errors were made.
Central had seven safe hits, seven base on ball, three hit pitched ball, seven strikeouts, left 10 runners on base and also made two errors.
FEDERAL 7 d TIGERS 5
COOLER conditions greeted players in the second Division 1 baseball game on the weekend, as league leader Tigers and final’s aspirant Federal clashed on Saturday night.
The match was another tight battle, with the Demons emerging on top by two runs.
Tigers was first to hit the board, with three runners crossing the plate in the bottom of the first.
Lead-off batter Brayden Morton tripled to left-field and scored after a wild throw from third base on a Ben Marcus hit.
Tyler Horrigan followed up with a two-bagger slam to right-field which scored Marcus, while Horrigan was batted in by Jesse Foster’s sacrifice fly to centre-field.
Federal answered with two runs in the top of the third.
Kane McMillan picked a walk and scored on Nathan Taylor’s hit to shortstop, which drew a wild throw to the plate.
Taylor then touched home on Sam Shepherd’s hit into an error at third base, to trail Tigers 3-2.
The Tigers’ lead was extended in the bottom of the fourth when Karl Ransom scored after a sacrifice bunt from Riley Rolph.
Another run was added in the next inning when Ben Marcus picked a walk and was batted in by a safe hit to right-field from Horrigan.
Beginning their recovery, the Demons pulled one back in the top of the sixth when Shane Howard singled to left-field and scored on Alex Reppin’s safe hit to centre-field.
However, Tigers remained ahead by two runs, until Federal tied the game up in the top of the eighth after a pitching change from the Tigers’ coach.
Travis Younghusband picked a base on ball and crossed home plate on Reppin’s second safe hit.
Reppin then touched home on Taylor’s third hit for the night to level the game at five runs apiece.
The lead finally slipped into the Demons’ hands in the top of the ninth, when Wade Chant doubled to left-field and Shepherd hit safely to shortstop.
Chant added a run on Clay Carpenter’s safe hit to shortstop and Shepherd added a second run for the inning when he crossed home on a wild pitch.
Tigers had no answer in the bottom of the inning, which saw Federal with a 7-5 victory.
Federal had 13 safe hits, four base on ball, seven strikeouts, made three errors and left 11 runners on base.
Tigers had seven safe hits, six base on ball, 10 strikeouts, made four errors and left seven runners stranded.
The results of the round see Tigers remain guaranteed a top finish, while South Indians is assured a place in the preliminary final and will likely finish second, unless it loses to Tigers and Federal defeat Central this weekend.
All eyes will be on the clash between Federal and Central, as they battle it out for third place and a spot in the preliminary final.
They play for the Taylor/Probert Shield in the late game this Saturday night, which will see the winner take the shield for 2018-19 and book a place against South Indians in the preliminary the following Saturday.
Although Federal is ahead by two points, should Central win it will make the final by virtue of having the least number of defensive runs.
