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Monday, 13 November 2006
Division 2:
Doncaster 1s defeated Preston 10-2
Another explosive outburst from the Doncaster hitters carried the Dragons to a 10-2 win over Preston.
In a game that was tight for five innings, the Dragons' hitters turned on the power in the sixth, scoring six runs to turn a one-run deficit into a five-run lead. They followed up with another three runs in the seventh inning to put the result beyond doubt.
Chris Nicholas led from the front, collecting four base hits. Paul Weichard had only one hit, but it was a towering home run. And Sean Pascoe added another home run.
Andrew Mazzocato and Justin Woo were also busy with the bat, with two hits apiece.
While the hitters were dominating, Lachlan Craven was solid on the mound, pitching six innings for two runs. Michael Dobeli was his usual efficient self in relief, pitching three scoreless innings.
The win continued Doncaster's stellar start to the season, leaving the Dragons on top of the ladder and unbeaten after six games.
Next up is a home game against Mulgrave on Sunday, after which Doncaster will have played every other team once.
Doncaster 2s lost to Preston 1-2
No report supplied
Doncaster 3s defeated Preston 9-8
The Dragons prevailed after a traditional arm wrestle with Preston on the weekend. The visitors started with 4 runs in the first and to their credit hit relatively cleanly all day with a number of shots to the alleys, but the Dragons never gave up and pegged that lead back by the third inning.
Preston then skipped away to a 7 to 4 lead, but with grit at the plate the Dragons kept the scoreboard moving and got ahead such that we did not have to bat in the bottom of the last, winning 9 runs to 8. All of the guys got on base at some point throughout the day, and John Hollingsworth lead the way with a thumping triple followed by a double at his next plate appearance.
Five catches were shared between the two Stu's in the outfield, and between the four Dave's (plus one Dane) the infield well supported Brendan Nick who threw hard all day. Play of the day was a run down between third & home where almost all of the guys got a touch of the ball, which started as a bases-loaded force at home for the first out, and whilst we missed the subsequent double at first, a strong right-field throw by Craig Hutton who was backing up well made it back to home and we nailed the potentially tying run.
Doncaster 4s defeated Preston 30-3
The Dragon 4ths kept rolling along on Sunday with a 30 - 3 win over Preston at home on Sunday.
John Dixon started on the hill and pitched solidly as always. He was relieved by one of two spray tanned Dragons who finished the game in
his usual no fussed manner. The defence was led by our star left handed shortstop (who dosent have a spray tan I dont think) who made some hard plays look easy.
Our batting was again our strength. If you want experience we have it JC , Neil M , Bobby , Tuti , Burger , Kofu , Lester.
If you want youth we have it Michael C , Deals , Daniel P , Hughie.
JD
Division 4 East:
Doncaster 5A defeated Doncaster 5B 6-5
Sunday saw a battle for club bragging rights as the 5A’s and 5B’s stepped onto our homeground for the first meeting of this year.
John Evers, veteran pitcher coming back after a lengthy layoff against Mark Ursu, making his pitching debut.
Both sides have been putting runs on the board all season but Sunday would be a day where pitching dominated play. With the winds being extremely gusty, it is a wonder that both pitchers did as well as they did. John Evers was on top of his game hurling 8 strikeouts and a flurry of easy groundballs. Unlike previous games, the 5A defense committed a slew of unforced errors in the infield, from fielding to throwing. The outfield played flawlessly in a day where there were few bright spots.
Dragon offence appeared to stay at home as the Dragons (5A’s) were able to put up only a half dozen hits though were able to put most of its baserunners over the plate where it counted.
Young Mark Ursu pitched a brilliant game for the 5B’s and kept the 5A’s hamstrung for most of the game. Poor Bruce had so many splinters on his backside as he never had the opportunity to come in to relieve for the blistering pitching attack that Ursu had unleashed on the unsuspecting 5A’s side.
The game ended 6-5 in favour of the 5A’s which very accurately showed how close this game actually was. With Ursu at the helm, this writer anticipates the 5B’s possibly putting together a run at the top 3 finalists and a possible playoff berth. I wish them well.
As for the 5A’s, it was a disappointing hitting and fielding performance compounded by the boys being a bit flat.
The next game is at Ormond Glenhuntley at 3:30pm who are hot on our heels at 4-2, only one game back. We will need to pick up our game to what it can be. The side has a solid bunch of players to really do some good things this season but we will need to turn some of that on this coming weekend to come out on top of Ormond Glenhuntley. OG has had a decent defence this year and the bats will really be needed this Sunday. Up the Dragons!
Reports added if supplied by team manager/coach.
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