ROUND 9 of Mount Gambier and District baseball went as expected, with the top two teams showing why they sit at the pointy end of the 2022-23 leaderboard.
Friday night baseball saw South Indians take on arch rival Tigers in what many thought to be the match of the round.
South entered the clash off a heavy defeat and was eager for some much needed points to keep a second-place ladder position within reach.
Tigers was slightly undermanned with coach Karl Ransom, brother Garth Ransom and Ben Marcus all unavailable due to work commitments.
That saw responsibility handed to Alex Reppin to shoulder the work load on the mound for Tigers.
A fast start was needed and Tigers did just that, bringing three runners across the plate in the first innings.
South were short lived in the first part, as Reppin retired the first batters of the game without trouble.
Bruce Morale returned to the big league for the night.
While starting on the interchange it was clear his intentions were to ruffle the feathers of Tigers’ players and get under their skin, which is what he did.
Tempers started to rise and the game went up a notch when Tigers made a couple of errors.
A second hit for the night to Garrett Ha followed by a second hit to Jesse Foster settled Tigers back down and another three runs handed them a seven-run lead.
South’s Ryan Placucci tried hard again on the mound and Ben Nash was a vocal leader, but it was too little, too late.
Tigers was able to pick up another win and it has now all-but cemented a home final just halfway through the season.
The side holds a four-game lead and a large difference in defensive runs for second spot.
Foster and Ha both had a night out with the bat and picked up three safe hits each, while Matt Thompson again showed why he is one of the in-form players in the league with his all-round strong game.
On a warm Saturday afternoon Centrals took on Federals in front of a strong crowd.
Federals was always going to have its back against the wall taking on the powerhouse ladder leaders.
Add to the mix player shortages, which saw a couple
Federals were without top grade talent which did not help things, as Alex Pearson and Matt Nicholls were both unavailable.
That saw the return of a couple of club champions in Shane Howard and Clay Carpenter return to the top grade, along with a few other fill ins to cover player shortages.
Centrals on the other hand rested a few big guns itself, as coach Dylan Gull, Nathan Meinck and Koby Chant all remained on the sidelines.
However, Centrals still managed to pick up 15 hits for the game to Federals five.
Mitchell Cutting and Alex Ridding shared the role on the mound for Centrals with the former also hitting a home run.
He has established himself as a bit of a dark horse contender for league best and fairest at this point in the competition.
Federals players battled hard and in the sixth inning saw some reward for effort, scoring a couple.
Seejuut Esufali took the role on the mound and certainly held his own, with errors his man issue for the young Federals side.
In the end a mercy rule was called for the game with the score at 18-3.
Cutting with top scored for the game with two hits, including his home run, while Colby Muller was another standout for Centrals.
Centrals will now shape up for a big clash against Tigers on foreign ground, with the match played in Naracoorte.
RESULTS
Division 1: Tigers 8 d South 0; Centrals 18 d Federals 3.
Division 2: South 14 d Tigers 2; Centrals 14 d Millicent 0.
Division 3: South 9 d Tigers 6; Millicent 14 lt Federals 20; Centrals 12 d Centrals Magpies 2.
Under 18: Federals 18 d Tigers 2.
Under 15: Tigers 9 d Centrals 6; Centrals 8 d South 4.
Under 13 Gold: Centrals 12 d Tigers 3.
Under 13 Blue: Tigers 5 d Federals 1.
