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U18 METRO - MATCH REPORTS.

Round 14 - Berwick 1 lost to Blackburn 15.

Unable to make the finals we decided to throw our guys into different positions & try a couple of different players on the mound also. Tim started & threw really well for the 1st 3 innings, then we had Lucas, Tommy & Hendo  finished it off. Brad put up his hand to catch & did a really good job also. Andrew Hemmes played his last game of juniors & it was pleasing to see him make the last out in the field in his favorite position (ss) & also get a hit in his last at-bat. He really has showed me what a leader he is & would make a perfect upper age coach as early as next year. Deb did some great work for us towards the end of the season bringing half a team each week so the boys could play, thanks heap for that. Matty K, Well done on making the state team this year, lots of long toss mate.......... trust me. Also my rotating scorers Dallas & Juney thanks for your efforts Leo you are a star, did all the hard work, great club person! Thanks to the club as a whole, I am not sure where my coaching will take me next year but I had a great time this year, there are a lot of kids with some real talent at Berwick & all things point towards Division 1 in the next few years if the kids stick together.

For those that dont know Richard Silva is a star at what he does & I'm taking him to Dandy over the winter

Mick Poole

Round 13 - Berwick 6 lost to Cheltenham 10.

After a disapointing week previous not being able to fill a team we were lucky enough to appoint our new recruiting manager (Deb Taylor) to solve the player shortage problem. The Sale Bus turned up with 4 players in it & we finally started a game with nine players. Andrew Hemmes started the game & struck out the 1st 4 hitters having command over all his pitches eventually comming out with a sore elbow after 4 ripper innings with us leading 2-1. A relief pitcher was no-where to be found due to more sore arms but we had Hendo & Timmy have a crack & do pretty well for guys that dont throw that often. Lucas was behind the dish & also had a great game. Matty & Andrew were the stars with the bat & we had some great efforts & outs made in the field. Thanks to our fill ins timmy & mike, hopefully you guys can stay on as long term Cougars. Thanks Mr K for umpiring once again & Juney for scoring (think dallas had a hang over?) Cant fault the effort guys well done!

Round 12 - Berwick lost to U.F.T.G. (Forfeit).

Round 11 - Berwick 9 lost to Malvern / Mulgrave 13.

After a good showing at training this week it looked as though we would take the field with all hands on deck & maybe even one or two on the bench. By 9am we took the field with only 7 players & 2 blanks in our hitting line up. Unfortunately Hendo had a family tragedy & couldn't play, I hope all is as well as it can be mate. Other than that we had 1 no-show & a knee cramp keeping 2 other players out. On some positive notes it was a great effort from the 7 guys we had to be able to score 9 runs in 2 hours with a blank at 8 & 9 in the lineup. Tommy Munn was our lead off & got 2 hits & a walk scoring each time & was the star with the bat for the day, Lucas & Brad hitting 6 & 7 had some great at bats scoring runs for us just before the blanks were due in a couple of innings also. Ralphy got a hit in the last, stole a couple of bases & scored on a ground ball by Andrew Hemmes to put us in front in the last needing 3 outs to steal the game. As has been the case in a few games we ran out of pitching in the end & weren't able to close out the game. Mike did a great job on the hill after coming in early in the game & deserved the win but lack of man power cost him & the team on the day. Other notable efforts on the day were Andrew catching his 1 st game for some years & doing a pretty good job + 2 sand wedge hits & Brad Taylor finishing off the game for us on the hill.

Thanks to Malvern BC for the oranges for the boys, Steve Behin (Mulgrave) for lending us a sub fielder & June Ralph for scoring.

Mick Poole

Round 9 - Berwick 4 def. Bonbeach 3.

Once again the Dandenong ground looked a million bucks for this week's game against Bonbeach, thanks to Wokka & Don for marking it etc. Jake went head to head with his old team & didn't have his best stuff but toughed it out & got through his 80 pitches only giving up 2 runs. Matty Kennedy came on after that & gave up only one for the rest of the game to get the win. In the field we had some great plays by Brad Taylor both at 2 nd base then out at leftfield, Tommy Munn took a nice catch out in right & Hendo caught his best game of the year so far although still having drama's with pitches thrown on the full. We didn't get a lot of hits but we had a lot of good long at bats that resulted in walks (including our 4 th run which put us in front.) We did go onto score more runs in the last but the score reverted back because they couldn't get us out. Once again Andrew Hemmes came up with the big hit when the team needed it & we also had a couple of nice hits from Hendo,Jake & Lucas (I hear Lucas is in for some school awards this week also, well done mate).

We won this game because of :

1. Great pitching

2. Pretty good defense

3. Aggressive baserunning

4. Because all members of the team did something & even when things weren't going our way we kept pluggin away & finally over ran the opposition, well done to the player to be named later

Well done boys , best team game we have played all year, looking forward to next week.

Mick

Round 8 - Berwick 3 lost to Melbourne 8.

This week we travelled to Melbourne to face the top team in the 18 state league. Matt Kennedy had his 1st start for the 18s & gave up 3 runs & only 1 hit in his 4 innings striking out 5. This was a great outing considering the opponents we were up against. We were blessed that our 16s state team had a bye & we were lucky enough to get 2 pretty good fill ins (Adam Silva & Sam Beasley) Both played their part getting a double each in the last (which gave us 3 hits total for the game). Sammy was easily b.o.g for the team with some outstanding blocking & aggressive play behind the dish. Thanks to both sets of parents & Adam & Sam for giving up their sleep in to help the team both have the baseball world at their feet. The whole team had a crack which was great & for parts of the game were as good as Melbourne but in the end Melbourne were more consistent over the full 2 hrs. This was the last game before the re-draw, our efforts had us placed in the 4 on percentage BUT due to VBA rules which states that if 2 teams finish with the same amount of wins they then look at the head to head result between the 2 teams unfortunately Fitzroy (5 th ) beat us by 2 runs earlier in the year which meant they go up & we play Metro.

I see this as a positive for the team short term though & am looking forward to seeing how far we can go in the metro.

Mick

Round 7 - Wash-out.

Round 6 - Berwick 3 lost to Essendon 9.

Big game this week with Berwick 3rd & Essendon 4 th on the ladder & a win by either team pretty much guaranteeing a spot in the state league for the second half of the year.

With a couple of division 1 1sts players & 2 quality pitchers at their disposal the bombers were too good for us in all areas of the game.

They jumped out with 4 runs in the 1 st 2 innings & it looked as though we could be on the end of a belting but some good relief pitching from Ralphy & some good defense including a great double play driven by Jake & Matty & some patient hitting we were able to claw the game back to 6-3 at the end of 5 innings.

As has been the trend in all our losses the opposition tacked on some late runs in the last innings(3) to make it 9-3 & although our boys tried hard we were just not up to it on the day.

Thanks Leo for swapping your coaches hat for an umpires hat at late notice.

Mick

Round 5 - Berwick 6 lost to Fitzroy 8.

First would like to thank Matt Little for giving up his time to umpire our game, who did his best under trying circumstances, thanks Matt. Big game for the team this week with a win placing us in a pretty good position to remain in the state league after the re-draw in 3 weeks. Once again Jake started & threw really well for 4 innings striking out 3 & giving up only 2 runs which at that point had us in the lead 3-2. The last 2 innings however didn't go to plan giving up 6 runs to the lions. We were able to hit back late & score 3 runs in the last 2 digs but it wasn't enough to get the victory we really needed. Best hitters on the day Matt Kennedy 3 hits, Ralphy, Andy Hemmes & Tommy Munn

We played the game the way it should be played & in the right spirit. We allowed Fitzroy's coach to sub-field as they only had 8 players & to a certain extent he played a big part defensively in their win, a decision we will do again if any other team is short of players & they request a favour, we pitched to the number 8 hitter with runners on knowing we could intentionally walk them to get to the blank but we decided that was not the way the game should be played. Well done to all of our players, parents, coaches who did not use the tactic of umpire abuse & excepted all decisions good & bad for what they were.

Mick Poole

Remember training till further notice is at Dandy 5.45-6pm for those that can make it.

Round 4 - Berwick 21 def. Blackburn 8.

This week we travelled to Blackburn to test ourselves against another division 1 club.

We had some great at bats right from the start with some walks a couple of singles & a bases clearing double to Jake which ended up in a 7 run innings. The next 2 innings were exactly the same scoring 7 each innings which would have been more but due to the 7 run p/innings rule left us being about 21-1 up after 3 innings. Great to see Brad Taylor's determined at bat fouling balls of everywhere then coming up with a great hit as reward. You can't score 7 runs per innings without everyone contributing so it was a great team effort. Andrew Hemmes took the mound & threw hard & lots of strikes which made for some quick innings in the field, even got the forkball out a couple of times which was great to see him have some fun with that. Hendo took over after that & made things a little exciting (unsafe) for the hitters for a couple of digs. In the field Lucas was really good behind the dish, Tom Munn made some nice plays as well. 3 wins 1 loss at this stage is a great result so far. Well done boys!

This week's game is at Dandenong v Melbourne so we will need an umpire, if anyone can help please let me know.

Mick Poole

Round 2 - Berwick def. Sunshine by forfeit.

Round 1 - Berwick 8 def. Bonbeach 4.

First of all I am sure there are many that put in alot of hard work to get our new u18 state team on the park this year, I hope to meet you all personally & thank you for your efforts. Special thanks to Mouse for his endorsment, Quinny as president & the unbelievable effort & help given by Richie Silva so far has been amazing. Leo (Assistant Coach) & Dallas (Scorer) thanks for putting your hand up to help, I welcome any parent that wants to get involved to contact myself or Leo. We started our 1st game with 8 players against Bonbeach who's team included 5 rep players so it was always going to be a tough game. With only 3 hits for the game,but with some disciplined hitting & baserunning (6 steals) we were able to scrap 8 runs for the game,ironically each player scored once. Jake Kendall took the mound against his old club & struck out 8 in 3& 1/3 then handing over to Andrew Hemmes to close the game out. We have a long way to go but to see 8 players all contribute & play as a TEAM and then roll the more fancied team was awesome.

Well done boys!

Mick Poole