SATURDAY afternoon baseball arrived in Millicent to a bumper crowd.
The travelling Central side looked to continue its winning streak and take a zero loss record to the Christmas break.
A close contest is how the game started, with Centrals drawing first blood in the second inning thanks to an Ethan Chuck single to left field.
A Jordan Johnston single to centre field equalled the scores in the top of the third innings and the Millicent/Federals side had the home crowd up and about.
Centrals needed to find a second gear as Millicent/Federals just would not go away.
The summer heat started to take its toll on the young Bandits brigade and errors began to creep in.
All of sudden Centrals found its mojo after a double to young gun Alex Ridding to kick start proceedings which was backed up by a double to Jordan Aston and the score was five to one.
Things went from bad to worse for Millicent/Federals and another six runs in the fifth inning saw a nine run lead to the premier team of the competition.
Centrals added another five runs in the sixth inning and the game was well gone for the Millicent/Federals boys.
Millicent could not add to its total in the bottom of the innings and the umpire had seen enough and called time, giving Centrals a monster 15-1 victory.
Big time performances came from Ethan Chuck (two hits and three RBI’s) and Alex Ridding (two hits and two RBI’s).
Meanwhile out at Blue Lake Sports Park an undermanned Tigers outfit took on a fired up South Indians who could smell and upset going into the break.
Hayden Jones started for Tigers and looked in control on the mound, retiring South without an issue in the first inning.
The game turned into a hit fest from there on in and runs flowed for both sides.
Tigers drew first blood in the bottom of the third inning when Jones scored from second on a play to first base.
South struck back in the bottom of the third to score three for some breathing room.
Tigers unveiled its fifth rookie in his first game for the year in Division 1 with 42-year-old Phil “Nanu” Clark getting the nod.
Tigers scored two runs in the fourth inning and the game was all square again at three apiece.
However, that would not last long as South scored four more runs in the sixth to take a 7-3 lead.
Tigers clawed back another two in the seventh inning to cut the deficit back to two.
A pitching change by both sides saw Placcucci replaced by Dean Hamilton for the Indians and for Tigers, Jones was replaced by coach Karl Ransom.
South enjoyed the change and managed to hit another three runs across the plate, burying the Tigers side and claiming a 10-5 victory.
Big performances from South saw Bruce Morale and Jesse Balshaw both with two hits and two RBI’s, while for Tigers it was Jake England and Matt Thompson with three safe hits each.
Baseball will now break for Christmas and resume on January 8.
