Under 16 Wrap up Round 6
This week was always going to be interesting, as the baseball gods had not been kind with all the hot weather and we had only managed one training session in 2 weeks, and had a game cancelled due to heat. This age group needs to keep playing to stay focussed, as they are discovering a social life, girls, facebook, myspace and all the other things that good baseballers find distracting at times. So on to the game versus Glenelg. This in itself was a good test as the rivalry between West Torrens and Glenelg stems back to my days as a Glenelg Junior, and certainly Etto spent a good deal of his career there also. This team was sitting middle of the pack at Two and two, with no real way of assessing their level of ability based on the results. Best bet, brace yourself for a good hard competitive game and relax when it is all done.
The ball park presentation was first rate, we had the big stage(main diamond) to play on, and all were there on time so it was looking good. Another quick pep talk on the pre game responsibilities and we were in to it.
Pre game went surprisingly well and we scored three unanswered runs in the first to set the scene for the day. A little bit of drama from the opposition saw the close of the first and we then went on to score runs in two and three, then fell asleep for a couple before a game settling run in the sixth. Gave Glenelg a run in the same dig to erase their donut, and that was all she wrote.
Highlights were another superb performance from BA Fulton, with a 70-odd pitch outing over 4 digs for no hits and 2 walks, and a fine save by Dylan Duval, although he lost the plate momentarily in the sixth to give up a run. No harm, no foul and defensively we did very well, with Mitchell Mead providing the comedy relief with a four or five attempt play at second to eventually miss out on getting an out, and looking for a fork to stab that slippery little basebal that would not seem to stay in his glove. Good aggressive baserunning by all and some stellar hitting by BA Fulton for a screaming shot though Short, Matt Scharenberg showing again his consistently with hits when it counted, batting in his fifth different batting position in five games, and a big welcome Back to Thomas Dunn with a towering double to Left in the middle part. Mitchell Mead squared the ledger and hit one of the shots of the day after facing 5 or 6 straight strikes that he killed off, then nearly decapitated the pitcher with a line drive through the middle for a double.Nico managed to power his way though the basketball induced Corky and when asked if he needed a rest, did not surpise me when he said he would play on, and Tom McGarry had a very pleasing outing both behind the plate and in the batters box.
End result, West Torrens 8, Glenelg 1 and we continue our run to the break. Good test this week with Golden Grove, who are breathing down our necks in second spot.
