| Teams | Innings | Runs | Hits | Errors | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | ||||
| St George | 12 | 2 | 14 | 12 | 4 |
| Us | 11 | 7 | 18 | 4 | 4 |
| Poole, D | 2-2, RBI, 3R, BB, 5SB |
| Faber, C | 1-1, 2RBI, 2R, 2BB, 2SB |
| Huthnance, W | 1-2, 2RBI, 2R, BB, 2SB |
| Linnane, J | 11/3IP, 12H, 12R (9ER), BB, |
A win! Our second of the season. It was hard fought, fortunately with no animosity from either side. But it was not pretty and the outcome was not decided by who hit the ball more often, or harder; or who made the fewest errors. Along the way we achieved our highest game score of the season.
A lot of interesting things to unpack from that game. They out hit us 12:4. We threw fewer walks 3:14. They batted in more runs than we did 13:7. We out stole them 25:6. We scored more runs from wild pitches 9:0 (thanks Adam). We left fewer on base at end of innings 3:5.
It would be great to see us achieve more safe hits in a game, we are still below par. But we are putting bat to ball much more often and not conceding a high number of strike outs. We are taking better advantage of the opportunities presented. I think the stolen bases is very telling in that regard. All bar one of our runs from wild pitches came after at least one stolen base in that trip around the bases. We may not have been in a position to take those wild pitch runs if we hadn’t stolen those bases. It may not be as easy to pinch bases on some other catchers but we can only play the team that takes the diamond against us.
Another interesting factoid – we scored 15 of our runs after 2 outs. That seems like determination to make a difference.
Speaking of determination, it would have been so easy to “drop our bundle” after a frustrating first innings in the field. Three errors prolonged the innings and helped them with 3 unearned runs out of 12. It added a lot of unnecessary pitches (possibly as many as 30), which potentially prevented Jonathon from pitching a complete game. But the bundle wasn’t dropped. We come out and scored 11 runs, taking advantage of the wild pitches and walks to leave us only 1 run behind.
We were much tidier in their second innings, only conceding 1 error. The catcher’s interference may have been a cagey play from Adam as that hitter had already managed 2 doubles in his prior at bats. That innings saw the play of the game. Well done to Ethan for tracking down a well struck ball into right centre. It had the potential reach the fence if Ethan hadn’t manage to catch up with it and take the fly over his shoulder. The ball may have been knocked down a little due a slight head wind but that should take nothing away from the determination shown. That out gave us a boost of energy and we closed their innings with only 2 runs conceded. Of course, if Ethan hadn’t been celebrating the out so much he may have turned it into a double play. Their runner from second, with the 3rd bases coach’s encouragement, had taken off expecting to score on the play. He was all but at 3rd when Ethan caught the ball. The runner had to scamper back. As it was he only just made it back to 2nd in time.
Next game: St Pats v Bosco (S) at Tom Evans 2 on 10:00 Sun (04/02)
