West Torrens Baseball Club

After a forfeit and a loss to the top team which could have easily gone our way the boys are still battling on.

Brodie has been a solid pitcher averaging around 15 to 20 pitches an innings.

Jordan has been struggling to find his confidence on the mound and proven with some hard work during the week can make a huge difference.

More work from this guy and he’ll setting himself up for some enjoyable baseball now and next year.

Patrick also followed up with an excellent effort on the mound he is really enjoying his baseball and it’s showing with his consistent improvement.

Making his pitching debut was Ethan and it won’t certainly be his last a great effort especially when thrown in the deep end.

Kyle enjoyed his chance with gear on behind the plate. It has given him a break from pitching and proven his versatility.

There were many hits the best coming from Jordan and Kyle though if we put the ball in play the way the whole team did we are going enjoy our remaining games that’s for sure.

Darragh, Jacob, Alex, Josh, Luke and Nathan are all putting in at training and not far off making their mark on the diamond.

Also thanks to the two Andrews Scott and Morgan for giving me great assistance and giving the boys encouragement and confidence with sound advise.,

In the end a win 11 – 6 against the Hawks but more importantly more steps in the right direction.

1 2 3 4 5 6 R H E
Sturt Div 1
2 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 3
West Torrens Div 1
4 0 2 2 9 2 19 19 2
Details

The Eagles put on a hitting display in a comprehensive trouncing of Sturt on Sunday. The 4th placed Saints were no match for a superior offence that combined for 19 hits against 3 different pitchers. Multiple hit games abounded with Moose Falls, Jesse Duval, David Forbes and Adam Spencer all recording 3 hits apiece. A-Spence sprayed line drives to all parts of the field and with a single, double and triple was literally a few feet short of hitting for the cycle in a great day out.

After Sturt scored twice in the top of the first from an unlucky helmet ricochet and then an error, Reds combined well with A-Chap to settle into a commanding rhythm to never give the Sturt hitters a chance. Getting ahead early by establishing his fastball and keeping hitters off balance with good location and offspeed was the key to his dominating performance.

The Eagles responded magnificently in the bottom of the first frame by scoring 4, clutch hitting with 2 out bringing in 3 runs. Effectively this run support gave Reds the confidence he needed to pitch to his strengths thus shutting down the Sturt hitters for the next 5 innings.

After 2 run 3rd and 4th digs established a commanding lead, the Eagle hitters could have been forgiven for taking their foot off the pedal somewhat. But they did exactly the opposite busting out a 9 run 5th and a 2 run sixth, the game called under the mercy rule mid-inning with more runners in scoring position. The run production from a collectively aggressive approach is sure to give our hitters a confidence boost heading into a big double header this weekend. Saturday we take on 12th placed Adelaide at home starting at 4:30pm. Sunday we take on 2nd placed Glenelg at Glenelg at 3pm. 2 wins will keep our finals hopes well and truly alive.

Congratulations to Nathan Van der Linden who displayed composure and maturity beyond his years in his first Div 1 start on Sunday. He never looked daunted making every play that came his way at shortstop, including a great play up the middle. At the plate he made solid contact several times and got on base twice, including his first Division 1 hit in his final at bat of the game. Well done Nathan, you are player of the future who no doubt has many more Division 1 games to play for West Torrens Baseball Club.

Sam Tibbits

Junior Eagles put the pedal to the metal

 This weekend the brooms were out again as the Junior Eagles swept all comers posting six wins from six games, scored 90 runs offensively and conceded 20 runs in defense!!

In the process, 3 home runs were hit, a triple, several doubles and many, many singles. It is fair to say that WT had a day out offensively! Just as impressive in defense, were the pitching stats where the K’s were racked up in earnest, the double plays were turned, and the number in the ‘E’ column was very low indeed. The only pity is that our Claxton Shield team didn’t have quite as much success. Congratulations to Nathan Vanderlinden who made his run on debut for the Division 1’s on Sunday in a team that posted a win against high-flying Sturt. Nathan played Short Stop and posted his maiden hit in A-grade. At 15 years of age, this is a meteoric rise for a talented, yet modest young man.

 The finishing post is in sight

 I am delighted to report that the response to my entreaty to pick up the intensity at training was met with overwhelming enthusiasm by our dedicated coaching staff who also recognise the imperative of being ready to play finals baseball. To whit, training was sharp, intense and focused and didn’t it show on the diamond with all of our teams playing to their full potential. It was also fantastic to see the impact the likes of Bob Baker make on our pitchers as they fine-tune their technique to add strength to their body and speed to their fast ball. We are extremely lucky to have a dedicated pitching coach with Bob’s passion and knowledge for the game. Bob is running bull pens on Wednesday and Friday nights from 4.30 for Little League and 5.30 for U/14 and 16 pitchers.

 It is now more important than ever that you attend training

 As we enter the final phase of the Minor Round, I am delighted to report that ALL of our Junior teams are going to play in the finals. (LL Minors excepted because there are no finals in this Division)

 It is our goal now to finish as high as possible on the ladder, as we have many clubs breathing down our necks hoping that we slip up and give up our top spots. We must work hard to make sure we succeed. We face some challenges in the last few games by some talented ball clubs. We cannot assume success. We must earn it.

 Finals Baseball

 During the regular season, we expect our coaches to rotate their squads through different positions, infield, outfield, pitching, catching and whatever their skill and experience allows. They also shuffle the batting order to make sure that players are given a fair opportunity at bat. When we enter the finals race, coaches are allowed to choose what they consider to be the line-up that best suits the team’s positional needs. They will endeavour to include all of the squad, but cannot guarantee that every player will see game time.

The club scoreboard for this week reads as follows:    

          WT                              Result                        Opponent                              Season                      Ladder

Division 1      19        defeated        Sturt                            2            8 – 9                         (9^th)

Division 2      6         lost to             Sturt                            9          12 – 3 – 2                   (2^nd)   

Division 3      13        defeated        East Torrens             2          13 – 2                         (1^st)

Division 4      7         lost to              Henley & Grange     9            5 – 8 – 1                   (7^th)

Division 5      5         lost to              Adelaide                    10          5 – 10                       (9^th)

Division 6      14       defeated        East Torrens             4          11 – 2 – 2                   (3^rd)

Under 18       7         defeated        Golden Grove           2          11 – 1                         (1^st)

Under 16       25       defeated        Glenelg                      1          10 – 1                         (1^st)

Under 14 (1)  23       defeated        Port Adelaide            0          11 – 1                         (1^st)

Under 14 (2)  13       defeated        Kensington               7            9 – 3                         (3^rd)

LL Major          8         defeated        Sturt                            2            10 – 1 – 1                 (1^st)

LL Minor        11       defeated        Hawks                        6            7 – 5                         (4^th)

 Under 18’s continue Dodgers’ Dodgy record at the nest

 The Under 18’s flew back to the nest this week to resume hostilities with a feisty Dodgers outfit whose finals aspirations were on the line. They are now all but extinguished. With Sam Bawden on the mound returning from injury, the Eagles coughed up an early run and trailed into the third dig before the bats exploded with power and purpose to post a five spot featuring a powerhouse triple from Mitch Harvey and some consistent hitting through the order with Alex McDonald, Tom McGarry, Dylan Chuck and Joel Ettridge carving shots into the outfield and pushing around runners. After 4 innings of 1 run ball, Bawden came out for Dylan Chuck, and he and McGarry behind the plate combined to render the Dodger bats ineffective. Chucky’s curve ball danced its way through a bemused batting line up. The Eagle bats followed up with a further 2 runs in the 4^th dig before  giving up a late run in the 5^th  that brought some respectability to the margin. As time expired, Chucky posted another goose egg and the Eagles continued to shore up their position at the top of the ladder. A much more consistent performance than previous weeks and an ominous warning to rival clubs.

 Under 16’s cage tame Tigers

 Rick Mead’s team made a confident start against the Tigers at the Den, and with a 2 – 1 score line after the first, the game was shaping as a tight affair. At the top of the second, the Eagle bats exploded and the constant pressure of putting the ball in play, running the bases hard and threatening every pitch we maxed out at 9 for an 11 – 1 spread at the change. Bryce Fulton was on the mound to Todd Dunstall and the pair combined to shut the Tigers down and leave the second frame with a ten run lead. The subsequent innings saw the same sort of results with our sustained aggression eroding our opponents’ confidence. The highlight of the day in offense was Bryce Fulton’s in the park home run, hit to deep centre, turning the fielder around and bouncing off the fence. Defensively, Fulton came out after three innings and was replaced on the mound by Matt Scharenberg who threw a nasty screwball, completely shutting down the opposition offense. Coach Mead made numerous positional and personnel changes through the game, but by the time game was called, the Eagles had posted two maximum innings and a 25-1 spread. A good effort with bigger fish to fry in weeks to come.

 Green Machine flex their muscles

 The Under 14 Green Machine ventured down to the Port to face the Magpies after having been stretched to the limit last week. Sam McGarry was given his first assignment for the season on the mound and his two innings saw him throw 27 pitches for 4 strikeouts, two hits and no runs. Mason Pickard, also throwing for the first time this season, replaced him, and his two innings of work featured a strikeout and a double play by a hard working infield. Brad Dedrick assumed the closing duties and his speed and accuracy were too much for the deflated Magpie hitters. A powerhouse performance from the Eagle pitchers. Just as impressive were the monster Eagle bats that showed great discipline at the plate, discretion, technique and power, getting the ball into play, hitting with 2 strikes on the batter, scoring runs with 2 out and swinging hard. The outstanding moment was Brad Dedrick’s 3 run homer deep over left field, but there were a number of fantastic performances including Lucas Hunter going 3 for 4 including two doubles and a single, Ethan Haylock hit a double, Brad Dedrick was 4 for 4 (including the HR) and his day was a triple short of the cycle, posting  two doubles and a single to go along with the bomb. William Bourchier had his best day for the season going 2 for 3 with a pair of well-struck singles to centre. Altogether, an imposing performance from the league leaders.

 Dineen Machine building momentum

 The Under 14 Dineen machine continued to consolidate their position on the table with another solid win against the Cardies at home. This team is now assured of playing in the finals and it is their goal to finish as high as possible on the ladder. It is impressive to watch this team improve behind the pitching of William Lampard as the starting pitcher. Will’s numbers each week make favourable reading. The support in the field has improved tremendously and the offense has given the defense enough lead to hold on to. The challenge is to be as good as we can be in preparation for playing the League Leading Norths whose talents are formidable.

 Little League Majors make sinners of Saints

 The battle of the Titans took place down at Flinders on Sunday afternoon when the top two teams squared off with both teams boasting identical records, but head-to-head the Sturt boys had our number. This didn’t faze the Boydon/Mead led Eagles who squared that ledger up in emphatic fashion and took the lead in the Division with a couple of rounds remaining in the season. If we can maintain our consistency, we will be a chance to host a home final.

 Little League Minors swoop the Hawks

 Ronnie Paulus’ Little League Minor team took on the Hawks from Southern Districts on Sunday and posted a solid 11 – 6 win in a game featuring a couple of our younger Eagles taking their first steps on the mound. It is always an exciting time for these youngsters and is vital in the preparation and development of the young players that are the future of our club. It may not always be so for the coach, but Ronnie’s work in getting this team ready has been tremendous and this team refuses to stop trying and keeps holding their own against teams with older players. A great job by all.

 

 February 14 our games are as follows:

 Little League Minor:           Coach:           Ron Paulus

Southern Districts, Home on the Junior Diamond

Starting at 10.00am (report 9.00am)

 Little League Major:           Coaches:       Jamie Boydon and Tim Mead

Adelaide, Home on the Junior Diamond

Starting at 12.00pm (report 11.00am)

 Under 14 (2):                       Coach:           Rob Dineen

Sturt, Home on the Junior Diamond

Starting at 2.30pm (report at 1.30pm)

 Under 14 (1):                        Coach:          David Green

Adelaide, Home on the Main Diamond

Starting at 10.00am (report at 9.00am)

 Under 16:                              Coach:           Rick Mead

Golden Grove, Home on the Main Diamond

Starting at 12.30pm (report at 11.00am)

 Under 18:                              Coach:           Brett Ettridge

East Torrens, Away on the Main Diamond

Starting at 10.00am (report 9.00am)

 Fees and Quiz Night

 Thank you for the tremendous response in finalising your child’s fees for 2009/10. For a variety of reasons, the club’s income has been lower than forecast and your committee needs all subscriptions fulfilled to meet our obligations to Baseball SA. We are a fiscally sound club, but we need to make operating surpluses if we are continue to add to the amenity of our club environment. To this end, can I urge you all to make the effort to support one of our last fundraising opportunities for the season and attend the ‘Quiz Night” to be held at the clubrooms on Friday night February 19.

 See you at the Ball Park.

 Yours in Baseball   

Mark McGarry

Junior Chairman

West Torrens Baseball Club

Come along for fun family night at the Club.
Heaps of prizes up for grabs!
Please support one of our major fundraisers for the year
See flyer below

Quiz Night

The Brooms come out for the Junior Eagles.

Well the Junior season reignited after the Christmas break with a bang as the Junior Eagles swept aside all comers in largely emphatic fashion. The Under 18’s were able to play an overpowering brand of baseball that saw them score in every innings whilst blanking the Reds, for a 16 nil mercy decision. The Under 16’s swept aside rival Sturt with plenty of hitting creating a winning gap that they were able to hold for 13 – 5 win. The Under 14 Green machine had to work much harder to shade Sturt 8 – 4. The Under 14 Dineen machine went toe – to – toe with the Hawks before out slugging them for a thrilling 9 – 7 win. Tim and Jimmy’s pocket rocket Little League majors batted in enough runs to stay ahead of Souths and Ronnie Paulus’ baby Eagles were given a free pass by the Cardies who had trouble mustering enough players at this time of year.

Time to start training in earnest

All in all, an extremely pleasing set of results and with finals on the horizon (LL Minors excepted), we must now keep our eye on the ball and play good team baseball. I’m sure that coaches will be emphasising the basics, and the importance of the execution of these. To whit, it is now more important than ever that you attend training and develop the basics, practice them under pressure so that we can execute under the pressure that finals games provide. Please note that unlike most other clubs we have a dedicated pitching coach in Bob Baker, who oversees the strength and development and technique of our young pitchers. He does this in conjunction with the team coach. Particularly for Little League Major and Minor boys, there is extra training available on Wednesday nights from 4.30pm with Bob.

The representative cycle is now complete for 2010, so all players that were chosen to represent the state at the recent Nationals should also be back into the club cycle of Wednesday and Friday night training. If you can’t make a session it is your responsibility to notify your coach of said inability to attend.

Congratulations to the A grade who climbed off the mat after a lackluster three games since resumption to record an impressive away win against fellow finals aspirant East Torrens.

The club scoreboard for this week reads as follows:

WT                    Result      Opponent          Season      Ladder
Division 1 8 defeated East Torrens 5    7 – 9          (10th)
Division 2 8 drew with East Torrens 8 12 – 2 – 2 (2nd)
Division 3 12 defeated Golden Grove 4 12 – 1       (1st)
Division 4 6 lost to Adelaide 17              5 – 6 – 1   (7th)
Division 5 16 lost to Glenelg 17               5 – 8          (8th)
Division 6 16 defeated Gawler 3              9 – 2 – 2   (3rd)
Under 18 16 defeated N/Districts 0       9 – 1          (1st)
Under 16 13 defeated Sturt 5                    8 – 1          (1st)
Under 14 (1) 8 defeated Sturt 4               9 – 1           (1st)
Under 14 (2) 9 defeated S/Districts 7  6 – 3            (3rd)
LL Major 18 defeated S/Districts 11      8 – 1 – 1    (2nd)
LL Minor 7 defeated Kensington 0        6 – 4           (4th)

Friday Night Meals

This Friday night’s meal is Yiros and chips BUT we may suspend this given that SA is in the Claxton Shield preliminary final at Norwood Oval. Please keep your eye out for confirmation by email from me.

January 31 our games are as follows:

Little League Minor: Coach: Ron Paulus
Glenelg, away on the Junior Diamond
Starting at 10.00am (report 9.00am)

Little League Major: Coaches: Jamie Boydon and Tim Mead
Goodwood, away on the Junior Diamond
Starting at 12.00pm (report 11.00am)

Under 14 (2): Coach: Rob Dineen
Golden Grove, away on the Junior Diamond
Starting at 2.00pm (report at 1.00pm)

Under 14 (1): Coach: David Green
Southern Districts, at home the Main Diamond
Starting at 10.00am (report at 9.00am)

Under 16: Coach: Rick Mead
Woodville away, on the Main Diamond
Starting at 10.00am (report at 9.00am)

Under 18: Coach: Brett Ettridge
Goodwood, away on the Main Diamond
Starting at 10.00am (report 9.00am)

See you at the Ball Park.

Yours in Baseball
Mark McGarry
Junior Chairman
West Torrens Baseball Club

 Norwood Oval hosts the final series this weekend to see who challenges Victoria in the Grand Final.

Tickets can be purchased online at 

www.southaustralia.baseball.com.au

Finals flyer

West Torrens 8 def East Torrens 5
 
The Div 1’s got back on the winning side of the ledger on Sunday with a gutsy pre-Australia Day performance versus the Redsox.  

After a disapointing start to the calander year, the Eagles proved they can beat teams above them, defeating the ET import starter for the second time this season. Momentum swung several times during the game with the good guys scoring first  courtesy of a T Fiebig sacrifice. However the Redsox responded with a 2 run home run the very next frame. The Eagles answered in the 5th to tie the score at 2 all before ET went ahead again in the bottom frame.
Not to be outdone the Eagles persisted to eventually see off the Redsox starter and break out  in the top of the 7th . Execution under pressure at the plate has been lacking in recent weeks, but in this situation our hitters responded magnificently scoring 5 earned runs in a massive 2 out rally.  Weathering an attemted ET comback bottom 7 we executed again top 9 and put out the fire in the bottom frame to run out eventual winners 8-5.
 
From our guys it was immensley pleasing to see quality at bats return against a strong pitcher.  Mulitple hit games abounded ,  from A-Chap, A-Spence, Lewy, Jedi, Fiebig and  Moose Falls to name a few . The confidence and self belief required to succeed in Division One have returned to our hitters. Hopefully it remains with more tough pitching to come our way in the coming weeks.
 
Defensively Steve-O was strong, pushing through 6 digs and was relieved well by Reds and Rexy who had tough assignments against a floating strike zone. A-Chap was solid behind the dish taking charge and calling a good game. Overall a sound effort in the field allowed us to move ahead in the second half of the game.
 
It was also excellent to have vital contribution from our young bench with Mitchell Harvey, Sam Burgess and Nathan VanderLinden all getting involved in the game at various points. Division One opportunities will continue to come the way of bench players who are willing and able to assist when called upon.   
  
Good Luck to the SA boys in the Claxton Semi Final series starting Friday night versus NSW this weekend. Get down to Norwood at some stage over the weekend to see SA push for it’s first title since 1980.

The Div 1 Saturday Game versus Adelaide has been postponed due to the Claxton format. If the Semi Final series is over in 2 games we will travel to Woodville to play the Senators in another must win game this Sunday at 3pm. If the Claxton series goes into Sunday we will have the weekend off with both games to be made up at later dates to be announced. Check the SABL website www.sa.baseball.com.au Saturday night/Sunday morning to find out if we visit the Senators on Sunday or at a date TBA…

Sam Tibbits

The Club would like to acknowledge and congratulate both Ben Zoontjens and Matthew Brown Snr on reaching their milestone 200th games last weekend.

Both have been loyal servants for the Club and we look forward to the next 200!

The first game back after the xmas break has traditionally seen the WT Div 3 lads, struggling to come to grips with their added KGs from the festive season, get belted by a lower ranked team. This season however was a different story with the Eagles managing a 7 – 4 victory against a competitive Sturt outfit. Assistant Coach Stephens still in holiday mode when he arrived to the ground with the div 5 gear bag and no lumber in sight.

 After sorting out a rent to own arrangement of the Div 4 gear the Eagles failed to trouble the scorers in the top of the first. Big Noblett had starting dome duties and shut down the top part of the Saints lineup in the first. A couple of walks followed by some opposite field power by Stan The Man Laziridis plating a run and a sac up by Broady in the second to give WT a lead they would not relinquish.

 Nobby worked brilliantly on the hill and was ably backed up by his field. In particular Brett Lacy covering the ground in CF to make a sweet sliding catch to end an inning and Stan, playing at 3b, making a nice pick from a bad hop off the lip and making the throw to extinguish another threat.

 Patience at the plate enabled the Eagles to continually have base runners however at times opportunities were wasted with many left on base throughout the game. A total of 11 free passes received by the Eagles for the day. Highlight on the offense would have to be Ben Zoontjens legging out a triple, yes a triple, proving the 36Litres of Bavarian brew consumed by the big man at the previous weeks Shizenfest has not slowed him down one bit.

 In the end a solid win after a layoff with special mention to Nobby for toughing out the complete game with 7 strong innings knowing the relief pitching stocks were very thin. A great effort particularly appreciated by Stephens, Broadbridge and Zoontjens who were all in line for a throw.

 Hits: Zoontjens 2, Louzikiotis, Lacy 1

Round 14 West Torrens 1 Kensington 8
Round 15 Goodwood 10 West Torrens 3

The Division 1 side’s chances of making the finals took a severe blow with 2 losses over the weekend.

On Saturday several defensive blunders and a lack of aggression at the plate resulted in a painful defeat against a team who before the weekend were ranked below us. Our overall approach on the day raised questions surrounding the level of commitment and desire of some to play Division 1 baseball for this club. Amongst some scattered hitting the standout was Tom Fiebig who was one of few to make the necessary adjustments against Kensington’s knuckleball starter.

Sunday versus Goodwood was an improved showing with better hitting and defence in general. Luck did not go our way with more than several line drives going straight to fielders including 3 in a row off the bat of Jedi Morgan. However, to be in a situation where luck could determine our fate was always going to be dangerous. To score only 3 runs off a weak starter was never going to be good enough against a line-up boasting 4 state representatives.

To play hard nosed baseball and come up short against better quality opposition would be acceptable. To underachieve and lose as a result of physical and mental errors and general passiveness is not acceptable. It may be a cliché, but it’s high time our players did some soul searching and ask themselves if they are giving their best to West Torrens Baseball Club.

Sam Tibbits