Date: Sun, 04 Dec 2005 14:52:38 +1300 From: Vance <vance(at)vanf-graphics.co.nz> Subject: Three wins for Black Sox - One game still to play
Two wins for Black Sox in contrasting games Saturday December 3rd 2005 Power hitting has seen the New Zealand Community Trust Black Sox take two wins today over Samoa at Norana Avenue Ballpark, Auckland. In contrasting fixtures the opening game of the series went the way of the Black Sox 13-2 in five innings. But the second game was a whole lot closer with the game going down to the bottom of the seventh inning before the Black Sox could score the winning run to take the game 6-5. Home run hitting was a feature of game one as the Black Sox took the lead in the second inning via an automatic over the centre field fence by Patrick Shannon. This was followed up in the next inning when Daniel Milne repeated the dose smashing the ball over the left field fence. The defining moment of the game came in the fourth inning as the Black Sox displayed their true hitting power scoring 11 runs. Features of the hitting were two consecutive home runs by returning Black Sox Travis Wilson, a second automatic of the game to Patrick Shannon while outfielder Stacy McLean also collected an automatic over the right field fence. Samoa replied with two runs of their own in the top of the fifth innings but it wasnt enough and the game ended in the fifth inning with the mercy rule invoked as the Black Sox held an 11 run advantage. On the mound Black Sox captain Jarrad Martin had control of the game he faced 19 batters giving up three hits and one walk while taking two strikeouts. Samoa used three pitchers on the mound as they tried to stop the flow of runs. Heinie Shannon started the game, he faced 21 batters conceding eight hits and one walk while taking five strikeouts. Gerard Long came into the game in the fourth inning but he couldnt contain the Black Sox hitters as the first batter he faced was Patrick Shannon and he hit the ball out of the park. David Gollan relieved Long of the mound to close out the fourth inning. Game two of the double header was a much tighter affair as the world champion Black Sox had to come from behind to take the victory. Samoa took the early advantage in the third inning when Tony Niu, Bradley Annandale and Kurt Allan all crossed home plate. The Black Sox replied with interest in the fourth inning when lead off hitter Lyndon Andrew singled and then came home on an automatic by Gus Leger. This was followed by another automatic this time off the bat of Black Sox debutant Corey Matakatea to level up the scores. The Kiwis hit the lead for the first time in the game when Travis Wilson continued his fine hitting form again smashing the ball over the fence this time with Thomas Makea on base to give the Black Sox a two run advantage. Down but not out the Samoan team struck straight back scoring two runs of their own in the fifth inning to level up the scores again. That is how things stayed until the bottom of the seventh inning when with two down Lyndon Andrew picked up a walk and then scored on a hit by Gus Leger to centre field. Given the tight nature of the game Black Sox coach Eddie Kohlhase was forced to dig deep into his pitching reserves using three hurlers in the game. Tane Richardson started the game and faced 15 batters taking two strikeouts while giving up five hits. Thomas Cameron was introduced into the game in the third inning and he pitched two innings facing eight batters and giving up two hits. Veteran Black Sox pitcher Marty Grant closed out the game after being introduced to the mound in the sixth inning. He faced seven batters picking up two strikeouts while giving up one hit. For Samoa teenage pitcher Penese Iosefo started the game and he held the Black Sox hitters during the early innings. He faced 17 batters giving up five hits and two runs. David Gollan came into the game as relief pitcher for Samoa in the fourth inning and he faced 17 batters giving up three walks and two hits while taking two strikeouts. While the games may have been contrasting Black Sox coach Eddie Kohlhase was happy with the performance of his side as they scored 19 runs in two games with the only concern being the conceding of five runs in the second game. During the series we are looking to field four different teams over the four games and it is all about combinations. I am pretty happy, we have got a little bit to work on in terms of our pitcher/catcher combinations but we scored 19 runs today and you have got to be happy with that, said Kohlhase. With two wins today in the four game series Kohlhase says the team will be looking to repeat the effort tomorrow at Rosedale Park, North Harbour and make it a clean sweep of the series. New Zealand Community Trust Black Sox v Samoa Series results: Game 1 NZCT Black Sox 13 Samoa 2 (five innings). Game 2 NZCT Black Sox 6 Samoa 5. Black Sox send the ball out of the park Sunday December 4th Samoa needed fielders outside of the diamond in game three of the series against the New Zealand Community Trust Black Sox at Rosedale Park, North Harbour this morning. The Black Sox claimed their third win of the series with a 7-1 victory over Samoa. Of the seven runs six came courtesy of home runs. Black Sox lead off hitter Thomas Makea set the tone for the game in the bottom of the first inning when he sent the third pitch he faced over the centre field fence. In the bottom of the second inning Lyndon Andrew repeated the effort of Makea with the second home run of the game. Travis Wilson continued the home run hitting in the bottom of the third inning with a shot over the centre field fence before Daniel Milne added another in the next inning. The home run hitting dried up in the fifth inning when designated player Corey Matakatea singled and then scored on a hit by Fabian Makea. The Black Sox werent done with the home run hitting though with the bats back in action in the sixth inning as Travis Wilson smashed his second home run of the game this time with Thomas Makea on base. Samoa could only manage to pull one run back in the sixth inning when Kurt Allan scored on a double by Duane Gerard. As his batters were doing the damage with the bat Black Sox pitcher Thomas Cameron kept a lid on the Samoan hitters. Cameron faced 27 batters taking five strikeouts while giving up three hits and three walks. For Samoa pitcher Heinie Shannon started the game and did a good job but he could not contain the home run hitting power of the Black Sox. Shannon faced 16 batters giving up four hits, one intentional walk and three runs while taking two strikeouts. Jerome Smith was introduced into the game in the fourth inning relieving Shannon on the mound but he couldnt stop the flow of runs. Smith faced 16 batters giving up seven hits, two walks and four runs. The Black Sox and Samoa meet again in the final game of the series at 1.30pm with the world champion Black Sox looking to make it a clean sweep. By SNZ Media Liaison: Kelly Mitchell * mailto:kelly.mitchell(at)xtra.co.nz http://www.softball.org.nz/ * mailto:snz(at)softball.org.nz Cheers Vance Softball New Zealand web master. * mailto:vance(at)vanf-graphics.co.nz Als Fastball List *Email: fastball(at)pmihrm.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.AlsFastball.com/ NEWS: http://fastpitchwest.com/alsfastball eScribe is down, but may be back soon escribe.com Our New Condo: http://www.rpt.ca/hunt/ for Sale or Rent _______________________________________________ Alsfastball mailing list Alsfastball@fastpitchwest.com http://fastpitchwest.com/mailman/listinfo/alsfastball_fastpitchwest.com
