CORCORDES United overcame both Covid-19 and their opposition in Wanderers on Saturday, taking the win despite missing pitcher Dana Jones and key play-maker Codie Jackway.
Wanderers welcomed back Em Hart and Leanne Little and both reached base in an opening innings which saw Wanderers score three as Montanna Millard looked to find the strike zone.
Concordes replied with two runs thanks to RBI’s from Hannah Taylor and Bec Von Duve, who shone with the bat, recording three hits on the day.
Lily Clifford-Finch placed a perfect hit to the vacant right field area for a triple to open the second innings for Wanderers and was scored along with Hart, bringing Wanderers to five runs.
However, that was the end of their scoring as Millard tightened the screws as the game progressed, wracking up five strikeouts after a slow start.
Concordes kicked into gear in the final innings with consecutive hits including a triple to Millard, a double to Taylor and singles to both Von Duve and Amber Lindquist to pile on eight runs to end the game 14-5, despite the match being tight for all-but 10 minutes of playing time.
Rej Smith pitched accurately for Wanderers but could not stop the hot bats of Concordes, who hope to secure a top-two finish and claim a double chance in the finals.
Similarly affected by player outs, Concordes White fell to a spirited Demons outfit 7-1.
Demons took their opportunities with both hands and deserved the win, producing enough hits against the fill-in pitchers of Sam Brown and Jo Hopgood to get the runs on the board.
Concordes could not create any momentum with the bat and apart from two hits to Linda Dodds and doubles to Brown and Maddie Bowd, they did not trouble the scorer much.
This was mostly due to the excellent pitching of Jordi Gower, catching of Bree Ridding and fielding of Cody Manning.
Despite their frustrations Concordes will not be too concerned about the result and will look forward to their players returning and rebounding in their last two games before finals.
League champion, Wanderers’ Rej Smith backed up in the heat by throwing every innings of their double-header, showing pure grit and determination against Warriors Blue and also scoring one of her team’s two runs for the day via a clinical double to left field in the first innings.
Em Hart was scored having previously lined a triple to centre which scored speedster Fiona Finch.
Apart from Lily Clifford-Finch’s single in the fifth, that was all she wrote for Wanderers batters against Blue’s pitcher Leyna Bruggemann.
Easily the best play of the day went to Jasmine Disselbach who executed a 9-3 and anyone who was watching would have thought it was a grand final with the excitement generated.
She also smashed a ball to short, surprising even herself, after having legged out a single to third base.
Disselbach’s crisp high fives lifted the Blues energy, along with the supportive cheering of Elly Hogben and McLean in the outfield.
McLean added another cracking single to her season tally, along with Melissa Chuck, who has been on fire with the bat and dominating RBIs.
Jarvo Queale had a day out with the bat.
An early shot looked destined for the home run fence but found the left field line meaning Queale had to run out two bases.
Vicki Taylor was calm and composed at second base for Blues, making two key plays and getting on base each time.
Daena Wombwell also had patient at-bats, picking two walks while catching in the heat.
Bec White smashed one up the middle for an RBI, while Bruggemann was relieved to have regained the skill to catch a fly ball while striking out six hitters in five innings.
Blues need to win most, if not all, of their remaining matches to have a chance at making the finals, while Wanderers remain alive in the finals hunt.
Concordes United 14 d Wanderers 5. Safe hits – Concordes United: H. Taylor, B. Von Duve 3, L. McCallum, M. Sutherland, M. Millard, A. Lindquist 1; Wanderers: L. Clifford-Finch, E. Hart, F. Finch, L. Little 1.
Demons 7 d Concordes White 1. Safe hits – Demons: C. Manning 2, B. Ridding 1; Concordes White: L. Dodds 2, S. Brown, M. Bowd 1.
Warriors Blue 10 d Wanderers 2. Safe hits – Warriors Blue: A. Queale 2, M. Chuck, S. McLean, J. Disselbach 1; Wanderers: L. Clifford-Finch, E. Hart, R. Smith 1.
Warriors White v Warriors Blue postponed to next weekend.
