Demons 18 d Bandits 0
It was a beautiful day for a 1pm game on Diamond One and Demons and Bandits were ready to battle it out for the second to last game prior to Mount Gambier Softball League finals.
Bandits started at the plate but were held tight by Demons defence in a three up, three down innings with a caught fly to Feast at third, a K2 from Jones and a ground ball to Morale at second for the out at first.
Demons went into the first wanting to back up their defence with a solid offence.
Baby Demon Morale and Hart were able to start strong for Red and Blue and landed themselves on base.
Bandits’ Tilly Dohnt picked up a fast ground ball for a play at first to get Demons’ first out for the innings.
Coach Feast scored Hart home with a safe hit to right field before Bandits pitcher Chantel MacDonald rolled over her first K2 for the game.
The first innings ended with a 3-0 score.
Maddie Redman faced the plate first in innings two and scored Bandits’ only safe hit for the game with a bat to centre field.
Unfortunately, she was left on base with Demons’ defence and Jones’ pitching being too consistent, getting out the following three batters.
With Demons on a high, it was a matter of smart batting and not being too eager for the hit.
They took five walks during the innings and landed themselves eight runs home.
Bandits’ Haigh, Galpin and Williams were all able to land bat on ball in the third.
However, a hit to second and two to pitcher Jones saw them all out at first base.
Demons finished strong with another seven runs home and six safe hits for the innings from Morale, Hart, Manning, Feast and Jones.
The game ended after the third with a mercy rule. Warriors 6 d Concordes White 3 Concordes White were coming into the penultimate round with their tails up on a genuine winning streak.
Karly Pearson continued to be the most consistent pitcher in the league, holding the Warriors crew to zero in the first despite having to throw 32 pitches.
Caroline Bradshaw led off with an infield single and Jarvo Queale chipped a single to Maddie Bowd at left who was kept very busy out there for the day.
Daena Wombwell, catching for Warriors, took a solid foul fly off Pearson’s bat before team leader Sam Brown sent one to “Doddsy” Dodds at left.
Aleesha Tucker hit a tricky infield single and Bowd stayed off the junk to pick a walk as did Chloe O’Connor, gaining a RBI for her walk and putting her Concordes side in front.
Despite “Saintly” Jasmine Disselbach zinging one to the outfield and not ball watching, Pearson was in control, giving Warriors nothing, as her defence backed her up care of Tucker at third and Lauren Lunsmann at short.
Tucker was surely in the best as she made several crisp plays and owned Warriors pitcher Leyna Bruggemann, going 3-3 including a double and two RBIs.
White was looking the goods up 3-0 but Dennis “Denuto” AKA Warriors gun Sarah Polderman answered her coach’s call.
Jarvo hit what should have been a triple, but as she had used all her jets last week, kept it to a pedestrian double.
She must have known what was coming next so was conserving herself to not be overtaken by Dennis who lined a homer and had Warriors away.
Jarvo kept the momentum going in the subsequent defensive innings by making a titillating double play over to Disselbach at first, three outs in four pitches.
The Warriors team play stepped up another notch with Doddsy forcing her way on base, stealing second and then sneaking home from there to tie the game after Concordes left the plate open.
Jarvo singled to left for her third hit of the day, Bruggemann managed to hit the ball past Tucker for a RBI single to Bowd then Dennis, as she has done many times this season, doubled and added two more RBIs to her season tally, putting her side up 6-3.
Concordes White’s last ditch efforts showed their tremendous improvement, although Linley Pollard flied out to Bradshaw at second, Pearson stepped up and singled to Teresa Hatch at centre.
Sam Brown sent the next pitch Bradshaw’s way for the second out prior to Tucker expertly dispatching an outside pitch beautifully to centre-right setting the scene for Bowd.
Bowd certainly had her steps up for the day, collecting many left side fouls and safe hits off the Warriors bats, but she did not look at all fatigued as she had patiently picked two walks prior to her last plate appearance.
She decided to buck her trend and absolutely hammered the second pitch she faced that had the veteran’s pitcher’s glove half off her hand, but the ball was reflexively caught and was safe as a house in Bruggemann’s 1997 Wilson with gasps from everyone but Bowd and Bruggemann, who had a good laugh between them for the final out of the game.
The result cements Warriors in second spot as the finals approach.
