I know that many of the 'Waverley Nation' were still clinging to hopes of a miracle victory for Newport at Malvern that would have opened the door for us to sneak into the Div One finals, but most of us were resigned to the grim fact that we had given up that right with our home loss to Malvern last weekend. Not to mention the fact that baseball fans should never put the cart before the horse when they have a game of their own to concentrate upon... this is fraught with danger!

It is history now that Malvern grasped their opportunity to secure their position in the finals and we congratulate them, along with the Blackburn, Essendon and Doncaster clubs for achieving that honour. Given time to analyse it, I'm sure we'd find that there is a combination of many reasons why our Waverley Wildcats slid from 2006/07 Champions to fifth place in 2007/08 but, in an overall context, the most basic reason would surely be consistency. 

We have had moments during this season when he have proved capable of beating anyone and other moments where we didn't look much superior to the lower teams in the competition. At the end of it all it will be a very painful thought for the 'Waverley Nation' to digest the fact that we finished just one win short of giving ourselves a chance... I bet we can all remember more than one game that we really should have won this season, but didn't!

Funnily enough, but then again it almost wasn't amusing, our final game of the season at Cheltenham would very nearly comprise the best and the worst of Waverley baseball this year with nine innings of fluctuating fortunes that mirrored the way that our season has see-sawed all year. Just to start the game in surreal fashion our offence, that has been bereft of rallies all year, came alive to post a season-high EIGHT run first inning.

The Waverley contingent on hand at Cheltenham for the 2:00pm Saturday fixture enjoyed the rare moments of hitting continuity but, at the same time, we would all bemoan the fact that we had to wait until that often mentioned large female had sung before we finally found a way to give our pitchers some breathing space early in a game. As it turned out they certainly needed it!

One of the really intellectual guys in the Waverley family watching the game had pulled out his slide-rule, opened up his logarithm tables and fired up his Hewlett-Packard calculator to calculate for us that, based on plate appearances and runners left on base, we had scored NINE runs in the opening inning. He was so convincing and so well respected that we all took this as "gospel" for the next several innings while the Cheltenham Rustlers chipped away at what had seemed to be a match winning advantage. 

That tremendous generosity of the Waverley club was in evidence once again in this game when we surrendered an early inning runner in a futile attempt to score at home plate only, of course, to be followed by a safe hit that would have scored him anyway! What we didn't imagine at the time is that it would signal the drying up of our run scoring opportunities for several frames, while those feisty Rustlers gathered some momentum as they crept ever closer to our total. 

The mood among the Wildcats' supporters began to lose its jovial outlook when the gap narrowed to the traditional four-run (grand slam) distance at 9-5 and, when Cheltenham added another run in the seventh, we thought that 9-6 was becoming somewhat uncomfortable. It was at this time that one of our brethren tempted fate by checking the scores with someone who was really scoring the game and he returned with the more disturbing news that the the accurate position was 8-6. 

Thankfully, a genuine embarrassment was averted when the Wildcats came alive again in the late innings to rattle on another five runs against a thinning Cheltenham bullpen. The 13-7 margin of victory in the end might have had a reasonably contented sound to it, however, it was a little more agitating to those who witnessed an eight run lead nearly evaporate against a team that was starting to sniff the opportunity for an upset. A dramatic comeback victory over our Wildcats would have been a nice season-ending memory for the relegated Cheltenham club to take away from an otherwise challenging season.

Evan 'Embree' Phillips was the man who found the Rustlers difficult to contain as his control was not quite what he would have preferred. 'Evo' did do his best to stay away from walks while pitching with a healthy lead in the game but, in doing so, he left a few too many balls up and over the fat part of the plate... it often happens in these situations. 'Tommy John' Rynberk hasn't had a lot of opportunity (read very little) to oil his arm over recent weeks and it was nice to see him finish the season with a pretty good relief outing. Even better for Donavon 'Drysdale' Hendricks who looked very sharp in this last game before he heads off back to play pro ball in the USA. 

The Waverley batters took full advantage of an opportunity to end their respective seasons on a promising note with no less than ten players producing a safe hit. Grant 'Carter' Karlsen capped his terrific season with a mighty four-hit game that included three doubles. Not only would he end the year as Waverley's batting average leader, but he is also the man who handles our pitchers every week as a truly outstanding catcher. 

More really promising news for the club was the continued emergence of young tyros Joshua 'Big Papi' Hendricks with three hits and Taylor 'Baby Beresford' McEvoy who added another two to his solid hitting sequence in recent weeks. These kids are among the brightest stars in a galaxy of young talent still coming through from our junior program, even though these two guys have been temporarily "sidetracked" into a rival college program over the last couple of years.

It was also fabulous to see Ian 'Ichiro' Geduld end the season on a very positive note with his two hit game coming on the back of some much better recent form. We really hope that 'Ichy' can return next summer in the same type of form that he had during 2006/07 when he was a genuine key to our Championship triumph. So too Andrew 'Rusty' Russell who hammered two hits in this game but, to state the truth, he is just about at the end of his tether after a seemingly endless program of baseball over the last few years. Yes, and like most others, he also has to work for a living at the same time. 

One of the happiest men to collect a hit right at the end of the season was Chris 'Chipper' Maurer, who is another bloke we would love to see back to his very best next season after spending most of a frustrating season searching for batting consistency in the Reserves. The spectator crew wasn't privy to a secret pact among the players that the last batter to make an out would have to shout beer for the rest of the team. 

The coaches might have been trying to set 'Chipper' up when they demanded that he pinch-hit late in the game, but he avoided making the last out with a ringing double into the left-field corner... it was the most noise we've heard from the mute Wildcats' dugout all season! Popular veteran, designated hitter, committeeman and chairman of selectors Kerry 'Giambi' Gassner took the unenviable honour of making the last out. He had also cracked a deep double earlier in the game but he couldn't find another one with his bank balance on the line... tough luck 'KG'!

So there it ends for another year of Waverley baseball folks. The glow from our 2006/07 Championship success has all too quickly faded into the relative gloom of maybe the least successful season of senior baseball in our memory. Nobody of any longevity at Waverley can remember the last time that none of our top three senior grades had managed to compete in the finals. It's not all doom and gloom with many young players developed during the year, especially in our Seconds and Thirds, but it is still a situation to cause some concern at the club.

When the dust settles over the next week or two I'll attempt to write a "Season Overview" and/or "Report Card" for anyone who might still be interested. For those who aren't then you'll know where not to look! I know it might take a week or two to really sink in, but I can assure you that it will be a longer than usual winter hibernation without finals baseball and already I can't wait for the action to start again next summer... bring it on!

In the meantime we wish our Fourths, Fifths and Masters every success in their finals campaigns, along with our several Junior teams still in contention. Please don't forget to support the club by following as many of these teams as you can and by attending Senior Presentation Night on Saturday 5 April, click here. I hope to see many of you again there...

Once again, our pro players carry all of the best wishes of the 'Waverley Nation'. We will be following the fortunes of Jimmy Beresford, Danny Berg and Donnie Hendricks this winter.

For most of the time yesterday there grew a belief that this fixture against Blackburn just wasn't destined to be played. The home twilight game against our local rivals from Blackburn just down the Burwood Highway had already been re-scheduled due to flash flooding a few days before Christmas and, once again, persistent rain threatened to bring about another postponement. Just in the nick of time, baseball's weather gods chose to smile upon Napier Park when the steady rain falling on Melbourne's east stopped suddenly at about 4:15pm and this provided sufficient time for the ground conditions to be ready for play. The atmosphere remained overcast, but the light had also improved enough for our game of baseball. 

It wasn't only the rainy day that had put a bit of a dampener on this game that would normally be very eagerly awaited as an important pre-finals contest between two of the leagues heavyweight clubs. The other issue that lingered as a pall of gloom at Waverley was the painful memory of our weekend loss to Malvern that, in all probability, ended our hopes of defending our Division One championship. Not only would the 'Waverley Nation' be somewhat deflated by the thought of a premature end to our season, but also the knowledge that we would have to battle on without key players James Beresford, Danny Berg and Donnie Hendricks. 

But folks, one of the things that we have always loved about our great game of baseball is the way that fortunes can so often fluctuate and you don't usually have to wait too long after every disappointment for something much more enjoyable to occur. For those of us who were able to cast aside the disappointment of our predicament, this game would be one of the genuine classics and, in some ways, maybe the best contest we have witnessed this season. It is often in the eye of the beholder, but for this writer a high-quality pitching duel is always a joy to behold.

The light may have been fading rapidly close to the end of the two-hour game, but this did not prevent us from enjoying the extremely remarkable sight of our THIRD complete nine inning game within the two-hour limit! Yes, there is only one way that this can happen and that is when the efficiency of the pitching makes short work of the batters and the innings flash by with a paucity of offensive action. The one common denominator in all three of these amazing events this season is Waverley's newest pitching hero Brett 'Beckett' Flemming who has been an absolute revelation for the Wildcats this season. 

Our 2008 Victorian Claxton Shield rookie started the season very well, but he has just grown stronger and more impressive as the season has progressed. Not only would he appear to have developed some more venomous "strike out pitches", but we can't help feeling that the most significant improvement for 'Flemmo' has come with the increasing self-belief that is a product of his tremendous success this summer. 

In some ways I should be thankful that our season might be drawing to a rapid close, because I've just about run out of superlatives to describe how good Flemming has been, ONCE AGAIN! I won't need any extra superlatives to describe his complete, nine inning, shutout of the Division One leaders... it speaks for itself. If this is to be Brett Flemming's final appearance for Waverley this season, then he has added a quite magnificent punctuation mark to a superb season and he has the appreciation of the 'Waverley Nation' for keeping our ship afloat as long as it has this season. You have been GREAT 'Flemmo'!

Of course the complete game would take two pitchers to tango and, as often, Blackburn's lion-hearted manager 'Lethal Lee' Hogan would insist on taking the ball in order to remind his former club what a tremendous competitor he is. The former Waverley favourite Hogan has inflicted a fair bit of pain on the Wildcats since his regrettable departure from Napier Park and he was, once again, close to his most determined best for this game. The result of the contest would not mean a great deal to the top-ranked Orioles, but any game between these two friendly rivals would always include a hint of spice.

Just as Flemming mowed down the cream of the potent Blackburn batters, his wily Victorian Claxton Shield team mate Hogan did likewise against our Wildcats bats. Waverley may have threatened slightly more often, including stranding a one-out runner on third base in the very first inning, but Hogan always seemed to have the poise and focus to pitch his way out of those difficult moments. One of Hogan's key attributes as a pitcher that is often overlooked is the fact he becomes an extra infielder when he is on the mound. Teams persist in testing the chunky veteran with small ball, but he always proves to be an amazing agile mover with the skill an experience to make those important infield outs. 

If there had to be a loser in this game, we are sure glad that it was Blackburn on this occasion, but we must be gracious enough to appreciate the longevity of Lee Hogan's baseball talent... I don't think we'll see the end of him for a very long time yet! In fact our Wildcats required a slice of good fortune to record the single run that proved enough for victory in this game. On the other hand, our Waverley hitters finally reaped some reward for hitting the ball hard when he baseball gods smiled on us for a very rare moment recently. 

Our 2007 'Triple Crown' slugger Andrew 'Rusty' Russell must have felt like two or three hundred black cats had crossed his path or that he'd inadvertently walked under several ladders since his barnstorming start to this year's Claxton Shield campaign in Adelaide. Rusty batted a gaudy .615 in that series and he was crushing the ball all over the park at the time, but his fortunes have nosedived lately with an inevitable slide in his confidence. There are times in the game of baseball when even the most gifted players don't seem to get a lot of luck and even the balls that Russell has crushed lately have seemed to find a fielder's glove! 

Things may turned around for Russell with his solid hit against Malvern last Sunday and a hint of luck seemed to have returned for him last night. Taking the very first at bat for Waverley, 'Rusty' slammed a deep line drive to right centrefield that forced Blacky's outfielder to race to the warning track but, just when he appeared set to make a splendid catch, the ball deflected off his outstretched glove... these are the sort of catches that Russell has seen taken from several of his hits in recent times. 

Later in the game 'Rusty' drilled a low screamer that sizzled between the legs of Blackburn's third baseman before he barely had time to flinch with his glove. The third baseman must have felt like a host of test cricketers who have been "nutmegged" by a Joel Garner or Jeff Thomson yorker when you don't have enough time to react... that is why it is called "hot corner" folks! In any case his double into left field was soon followed by a similar hit by Glenn 'Ferrett' Mascoll who roped another shot that went directly over the third base bag for the all-important game-winning RBI. 

As I mentioned, the Blackburn Orioles did not have a lot to play for in this game but, typically, they were never going to go away quietly and it took all of Flemming's talent and determination to keep Waverley's very skinny advantage in the game right to the highly competitive end. A 1-0 victory over nine innings and all inside two hours represented a terrific game of baseball, with all the tension and drama that could want from top level sport. It wouldn't totally erase the disappointment of our below-par season, but it was still a welcome highlight for the 'Waverley Nation' that somewhat sums up the inconsistency that has plagued us this year.

The wiser Waverley heads in attendance would look beyond the immediate issues to the very bright lights that we saw shining at the end of the Wildcats tunnel. Looking more and more at home at short stop is teenage star Taylor 'T-MAC' McEvoy who overcame a wrist injury to produce another terrific game in Victoria's "big league"... he has been an outstanding feature for the club this year. Also getting some more playing time in this game were future stars Wade 'Boggs' McConnon and Joshua 'Big Papi' Hendricks. We might be deflated by some events this season, but the club remains in very good shape for the future.

Please make sure that you give our Wildcats players a fitting end to the season by attending our final game of the season at Cheltenham's Farm Road this SATURDAY afternoon at 2:00pm. The boys have not stopped trying hard to perform for us this season and they deserve all of the support that we can muster!

Mr and Mrs 'Waverley Nation' I'm afraid that we have some very bad news, your No.1 team is badly wounded and barely alive, it is still breathing but the pulse is very weak. If we don't get some type of miracle during this coming week we will probably have to discuss turning off the life support system! 

Well, of course we should never take our beloved game of baseball, or any other sport, quite this seriously but it was the overwhelming feeling in the clubrooms after we had just been soundly defeated 1-5 by the visiting rival Malvern Braves in a game that would pretty much decide who would contest the 2007/08 finals. 

What those "baseball gods" giveth on one day, they will often taketh away the next. It was just less than a month ago that Waverley won our vital mid-week twilight fixture at Malvern by the score of, you guessed it, 5-1. What an eerie but disappointing reversal for we Wildcats! 

It was very warm and humid as it often seems to be on the occasion of Waverley's annual 'LADIES DAY' but, while those gorgeous girls really looked the part, I can't quite say the same for our teams on this occasion. Both our Reserves and Firsts played from behind and never really provided much hope of delivering the victories required for them to compete in the finals. To be very frank about it, it was a most disappointing day on the diamond for Waverley Wildcats. 

To set the scene with some team news, our lineup from last Wednesday night would suffer a little disruption with the return from injury of James 'Jeter' Beresford who would be available for this game as his last with the club this season. Next week 'Jimmy' and his Waverley team mate Danny 'Bambino' Berg will be off to try their luck in earning selection with the AROOS team to compete in the Beijing Olympics qualification tournament. It would be asking a lot of Jimmy Beresford to produce his brilliant best after missing so many weeks with two separate injuries in 2008, but he must be given the opportunity to play.

While it would always be good news to have a player like Beresford returning to the team, on this occasion it would come at the very unfortunate expense of left fielder Ian 'Ichiro' Geduld who had just struck some of his best form in Wednesday's uplifting win over Newport. Neither James nor the club would contemplate shifting young protégé Taylor 'Baby Beresford' McEvoy who has been holding down the short stop position so well in James' absence. Our managers did the right thing by not disrupting him for just one game. 

It would also be virtually impossible to surpass the pitching excellence of Brett 'Beckett' Flemming who was close to untouchable on Wednesday night and, with due respect to our other pitchers, it is a pity that Brett doesn't have a twin brother who we could turn to when we face two such important back-to-back games. In any case Wildcats' supporters would have plenty of faith in lefties Evan 'Embree' Phillips and Donavon 'Drysdale' Hendricks who would take the mound for our home team at Napier Park. 

First up would be 'Evo' Phillips who started with confidence via two quick outs to commence the game, but a 'Texas Leaguer' and a walk saw him suddenly under pressure and his control began to waver. A neat infield play finally enabled him to escape the first inning with only the damage of one run crossing the plate when Malvern threatened to post a few more. The immediate 0-1 deficit would be a source of annoyance to the Waverley supporters, but this annoyance would shortly turn to grave concern when Evan again struggled to throw strikes and two base runners were plated with a three-run 'jack' over left field by Malvern's former Waverley Wildcats and Waverley Reds stalwart Justin Whitford. 

Even being 0-4 down so early in the game should not have presented an impossible task for Waverley's offence that, we should not forget, contains no less than four Victorian Aces Claxton Shield players. Unfortunately, we have to admit, our team has rarely produced the consistency or "put it all together" often enough to fill supporters with confidence. There were signs that some batting form may have been returning on Wednesday night, but it vanished again too quickly between Wednesday and Sunday.

Only a Danny Berg solo home run that sailed over left centrefield gave cause for optimism by breaking the ice on the home half of the scoreboard. However, this optimism would not be backed up with much more activity from our Wildcats offence who were horribly ineffective on such a big occasion. No doubt that much of the credit for this should go to Malvern's pitching, but a paltry five hits for the game from our talented hitters is not the sort of performance required to assert any authority on such a big home occasion. 

We should spare a thought for young pitching ace Donnie Hendricks who was pressed into action early after Evan departed and he did just about all you could ask of him to put a succession of "goose eggs" onto the top half of the scoreboard. What a pity that our offence could not bolster his efforts with some run support. Donnie showed a lot of character in this game to keep the Wildcats in with a chance to grab the vital victory and he would have been an automatic choice for MVP if Waverley had won the game. Sadly, we never really looked like getting close to doing that! 

In the aftermath of this demoralising result we must not forget to farewell Daniel Berg and James Beresford, as mentioned, along with Donnie Hendricks who leaves to resume his professional career in the USA this week. It would go without saying that we wish all of these loyal Waverley guys our very best for a healthy and successful Australian winter, wherever it should lead them. As ever, we all look forward to seeing them back better than even in a Wildcats uniform next summer. Good luck fellas!

As I said, unless other results go our way AND we can win our final two games of the season, our beloved Waverley Wildcats will not have earned the opportunity to defend the Victorian Championship that we cherished so much following our Grand Final triumph at the end of last season. It is difficult to rationalise how our fortunes have declined so far that we could slide from Champions to mid-table. It proves a few things that we have always known about sports. It can be tough to repeat the passion and to recapture those "intangibles" required for Championship success, while rival teams just get hungrier and more determined to knock off the tall poppies.

If we are going to be anywhere near good enough to contest these finals then we will have to beat top team Blackburn in our last home fixture at 6:00pm this coming Wednesday evening, as well as defeating the Cheltenham Rustlers in the last regular season game this coming SATURDAY afternoon. In the end we will have nobody else to blame but ourselves if we don't make it!

We will need all of the support possible if we are to revive our "patient"...

It was all pretty good news for the Waverley Baseball Club last night from our final mid-week fixture at Melbourne Ballpark. After some rather warm and pleasant visits to Altona recently, and perhaps even for most of this season, there was a more familiar feel to the windy and chilly environment of the stadium stands for this occasion.

The bulk of the 'Waverly Nation' clustered in its customary position just toward the western side, while a few of our more "highbrow" members headed straight for the expensive seats in the centre of the grandstand. I really wasn't aware that such snobbery existed among the "Waverley family". Once again we enjoyed the company of Geelong's "microphone man" Al Ricketts who, as always, did such an outstanding job during the recent Claxton Shield home series, as did Waverley's own Keith Sheldon-Collins during the first series.

It was pretty clear that Waverley's management was not about to take any chances with our Newport opponents who have enjoyed the better of us in both previous meetings this season by the narrow margins of 6-7 at Newport and, who could forget, 1-2 after extra innings at Napier Park just a few weeks ago. No.1 starter Brett 'Beckett' Flemming was entrusted with the ball in what would be a very important, no... crucial, game.

Both teams threatened with two-out base runners in the early innings of the game but, as the pitchers settled in to the contest and the conditions, it pretty quickly appeared that scoring was going to be at a premium once again in the two-hour mid-week game at Altona... especially when the Wildcats and the Rams lock horns.

To the massive relief of the Waverley supporters, our offence finally grasped an opportunity to rally when leadoff batter Andrew 'Rusty' Russell was hit by a pitch and then moved into scoring position. Once again in the midst of the rally was young gun Taylor 'T-Mac' McEvoy who delivered the all important ice-breaking RBI single in the inning. He has been a real spark-plug recently.

Next man up was Ian 'Ichiro' Geduld who earned his recall to the Firsts this week after recapturing the batting form that had escaped him for much of this season with a fine game in the Reserves last weekend. Geduld's speed was to be most significant in this inning when, first of all, he was able to "beat out" and infield hit to reach base. Then again when he was able to fly home to score from first base just behind McEvoy when Jarrod 'Hammer' Hodges lashed a big two RBI double down the left field line.

While it is never a secure position, a three run lead in any game against Newport always seems like a luxury and Waverley spurned other chances to extend the advantage soon after. Super-catcher Grant 'Carter' Karlsen crushed the biggest hit of the game with his ripping line drive that hit the left field fence half-way up on the full. Considering the wind and the dimensions of the yard at Altona it really should have been a home run ball... and by a long way at some venues! Grant's leadoff double would become a first and third situation with none out, yet the Newport team was able to strand our runners in that inning to limit the advantage.

Some further relief would arrive a little later when Ian Geduld's deep fly ball into the left field corner would add two more runs onto the Waverley half of the scoreboard. The five run lead was about as comfortable as it ever seems to get for the 'Waverley Nation'... this season in particular!

Making the lead seem even more secure was the dominant presence of Flemming on the mound for Waverley. As he often seems to do, 'Flemmo' got stronger and more efficient as he worked his way into this game. To emphasise his brilliance, Brett dismissed the last 13 batters he faced, and several of those with impressive strike outs. He was AWESOME once again for the Wildcats.

Flemming handed the ball to Donavon 'Drysdale' Hendricks for the last inning but, after nailing down the first couple of outs, 'Donnie' almost made hard work of closing the game. A couple of walks were compounded by an unfortunate infield "squibber". After an unearned run had crossed for the Rams they did bring the tying run to the plate with loaded bases. However, let's be honest, there wasn't much fear of anyone supplying a Grand Slam home run in these conditions and Donavon was able to secure the final out with no more damage done.

The final analysis would be a very positive result for Waverley against a quality opponent in a game that could prove absolutely vital if we are to make a late run into the finals. From the reverse angle, another loss to Newport here might well have dealt us a knockdown blow near the end of a frustrating season where our next knockdown might be our last for this year.

As it is, we live to fight another MASSIVE battle with the talented Malvern Braves at our Napier Park home this coming Sunday. We will have the opportunity to effectively take over Malvern's long-held grip on a finals position with a win in this game, so you won't need me to elaborate on how high the stakes will be for both teams. These games are nearly always tough, but this one shapes to be a WAR!

We can only hope that our annual 'LADIES DAY' at Waverley is more of a distraction to our Malvern visitors than it is to us! And, please don't forget the re-scheduled fixture against Blackburn next Wednesday night at Napier Park starting at 6:00pm. These will be our last two home fixtures for 2007/08 so please don't skip the opportunity to give our Wildcats all the support you can!

A 1:00pm start for the RESERVES and a 3:30pm start for the FIRSTS, what a brilliant strategy for afternoon baseball... do you think that maybe I've mentioned this enough?... I do, but this occasion did remind me why these things have become such a long-standing tradition and why it might be unwise to jump toward any "funky" alternatives without reasonable thought, planning or consultation... OK, enough!

Our visit to Melbourne's quite pleasant Surrey Park venue was greeted, as usual, by huddles of the 'Waverley Nation' taking advantage of the shade provided by the old gum trees on the southern embankment. The temperature was not too hot, but Melbourne's sunshine still had a fair sting to deliver upon anyone who didn't find the shade a necessary commodity.

Our Waverley Wildcats would be facing the same opposition that battled us long and hard for an unconvincing 2-0 win at Napier Park this past Thursday evening. The only enforced change to the composition of the teams would be the unavailability of the starting pitchers who performed so brilliantly mid-week, Brett Flemming for Waverley and Darren Cassidy for Melbourne. Instead, our Wildcats would call upon left-hander Evan 'Embree' Phillips, while Melbourne would find its pitching cupboard almost bare, except for manager Andrew Fennell who had to pencil his own name into the starting pitcher's box.

Of course, most Waverley people would be quite familiar with 'Funnel' who was a former Senior Club Champion at Napier Park and a pitcher who delivered very many innings of sterling work in a Wildcats' uniform. The only issue for him would be a few years of battling injuries that have not allowed him to pitch with much confidence or regularity. We did hear about one remarkable recent performance by the not-too-old warhorse, and the low-confidence Waverley offence could not afford to underestimate him.

The only team news for Waverley would be the continued absence of James 'Jeter' Beresford who is near to full fitness following his recent groin injury, while Wade 'Boggs' McConnon gets a start in the "ONES" in place of another youngster Jake 'Son of Jeff' Dunn who made his debut last weekend. Once again the coaches at Waverley have made some very clever investments in the future of the club by finding valuable game time for most of our promising players of the future. These investments usually guarantee dividends!

Evan Phillips has shown the tendency to start a little shakily lately and he did so again today to enable our hosts to grab an immediate 1-0 lead in the first innings. Thankfully, parity would be restored not too much later when Kerry 'Giambi' Gassner thumped a sweetly timed bomb over right-centre for a game-tying solo home run. At that point the Waverley contingent might have thought that the crafty Fennell would become vulnerable and that the flood-gates might finally open for our hitters... um, NO!

While 'Evo' settled to pitch extremely well for Waverley, 'Funnel' would proceed to do likewise for his own team, chewing through the innings down to the very end of the game, while the 1-1 deadlock would cause increasing nervousness among the very twitchy 'Waverley Nation'. Let's be quite honest here folks, Andrew Fennell showed much of the class that has made him a bona fide Division One pitcher of not-so bygone days and a heap of the heart that is required to carry a ballclub through such an energy-sapping game. 

Finally, thankfully for we Waverley fans, we were able to find a small chink in a tiring Fennell's armour just when extra innings loomed in the game. The most important spark-plug on this occasion was junior prodigy Taylor 'Baby Beresford' McEvoy who is starting to look and feel more comfortable at this level each week. Young Taylor capped another terrific defensive game with his leadoff double over centrefield that ignited an all important rally for the Wildcats. I can't quite recall the ensuing detail, but a couple of batters later Fennell was left with little option but to load the bases with an intentional walk to the hot-hitting Daniel Berg. 

While Fennell called the obvious and correct strategy, his major problem would be that he would be providing a huge run scoring opportunity to the one player who has been hitting most consistently for Waverley lately Anthony 'Rolen' Reinke. It was not a big surprise, but a most exhilarating moment for the Wildcats fans in attendance, when 'Reinks' slashed a bases-clearing three RBI double into left-centrefield. His decisive blow was immediately followed by a Grant Karlsen RBI to put the polish on a huge four run inning for Waverley.

The major difference between the teams in this game would be the pitching depth. While the lion-hearted Andrew Fennell inevitably tired towards the end of this game, Waverley was able to finish off Evan Phillips' sterling work by replacing him with recent Victorian Claxton Shield reliever Donavon 'Drysdale' Hendricks who has just recovered from a nasty illness. It really does appear that Donavon has made his mind up that he should not dabble with walks by pitching too fine to batters and he looks much more potent when he challenges them. In any case, an up-tempo Donnie didn't waste much time putting the lid on a most vital win for the club.

Our next hurdle is an always challenging mid-week fixture against those "home boys" Newport at their second favourite venue of Melbourne Ballpark at nearby Altona. While we don't look beyond that in terms of our playing focus, I must make a couple of important announcements about our upcoming schedule.

Firstly, this coming Sunday we will host the tough Malvern Braves in a game that might well decide whether we can realistically nudge someone out of the final four. The big occasion will also be spiced by the annual "LADIES DAY" festivities in our Napier Park Clubrooms. We will need as many other supporters as possible to join the ladies in supporting our boys during a most critical game for the club. It is also the final game of the season for our RESERVES (game time 1:00pm) and one that they must win to have any chance of contesting the finals. It also heralds the last Sunday home game of the year for the Waverley club... got all that?

If you are the correct gender and you want to partake in LADIES DAY, click here. 

Secondly, some very important news about the re-scheduling of the washed out game against Blackburn from that soggy 20 December 2007 evening. This game will now be played on Wednesday, 20 February starting 6:00pm at Napier Park. This is also very likely to be a vital game for our finals hopes... pencil it in!

It was just another evening in paradise for the 'Waverley Nation' who gathered in good numbers for our Wildcats home fixture against the Melbourne team who have played pretty well lately under the guidance of former Waverley Club Champion Andrew Fennell. We can only have respect for 'Funnel's' efforts this season with what are slightly limited resources.

In order of relative importance, the "Main Man" for Waverley in this game, as he has been very often this season, was Brett 'Beckett' Flemming who pitched a quite brilliant complete game shutout for Waverley in a game that we might have expected to win, but we could not even contemplate losing. If there is any pressure associated with this, and I'm sure that there is, then our current Claxton Shield left-hander handled it with more confidence and authority than he might have when he started this season?

And, if you're wondering about the nicknames, I originally tagged Brett with 'CC' in reference to the Cleveland Indians' Cy Young Award winner 'CC' Sabathia, but I have now reverted to 'Beckett'. This refers to the Boston Red Sox ace Josh Beckett who, not only SHOULD have won the American League Cy Young Award but, more importantly, he has two World Series rings to place on his most valuable fingers! I don't expect the "low key" Flemming to be impressed with any of this stuff, but I can assure him that EVERYONE in the 'Waverley Nation' was more than impressed with him again tonight. He has been a titan for the Wildcats this season.

In truth, we probably didn't expect our Melbourne visitors to run us "down to the wire" as they did tonight, but then we NEVER underestimate any of our opponents... to do so is, not only disrespectful, but certainly tempting fate in our most unpredictable of games!

As time and innings marched on, this game remained delicately deadlocked at 0-0 as the warm and bright evening began to fade quickly into a murky and almost chilly night time. Now, let's be brutally honest for the 'Waverley Nation' by admitting that our highly rated batting lineup really struggled to make inroads against some tough Melbourne pitching and we had to rely upon a late inning hit batter and a sacrifice fly to score our rather modest two run total for the game.

It is sometimes easy to be critical of our quality batters for failing to pulverise any opposition, but it is usually better in these circumstances if you reverse the thinking and, instead, credit the effectiveness of the pitching for making the hitters struggle. In this case I will again pay tribute to the pitching of BOTH teams for producing a complete nine inning game within the two hours. Quite amazingly, this is the second time that Waverley fans have seen this happen in 2007/08.

Even then our fate would still hang on tenterhooks when Melbourne threatened to snatch the result in the enveloping darkness. A leadoff triple gave Melbourne more than a sniff of at least tying the game when their Victorian Aces star Brad Harman was next to bat. However, Flemming was able to pitch around him for an "intentional-unintentional walk". It all came to fruition for Waverley when our marvellous back-up short stop Taylor 'Baby Beresford' McEvoy turned a game-ending double-play! 

Had it not been for Flemmo's OUTSTANDING pitching that produced a spectacular complete game shutout, young Taylor 'T-MAC' or 'Baby Beresford' McEvoy... take your pick, may have been the star of the show tonight. Much like the junior James Beresford a year or three ago, we know that Taylor will bat more strongly as he matures, but his defence is already Division One standard. We don't expect anyone to fully replace the overall brilliance of Beresford, but it is a really great thing for the Waverley Baseball Club that we can develop players of Taylor McEvoy's quality to step up when it is needed... he can forge his own career at Waverley in coming years.

While we are still missing the injured James 'Jeter' Beresford and Donavon 'Drysdale' Hendricks was ill tonight, there was some great news for Waverley with the return of Daniel 'Bambino' Berg who has made a swift recovery from that nasty finger dislocation against Blackburn. Our recent Victorian Claxton Shield batting average leader 'Bergie' supplied two of Waverley's four hits.

So, our Waverley Wildcats have achieved the minimum expected of them in this far too nerve wracking home fixture and there is still not too much reason for optimism about our ability to earn a finals berth again this season. We can only hope that our talented team can find the "magic button" that will enable us to defend the Championship that we worked so hard for last season.

Our next date is against the same Melbourne team, but this time we will have to try to get the better of them on their home soil at Surrey Park. At least we can enjoy the traditional timeslot of 3:30pm, after the Reserves game... what an outstanding idea this is!! We also have another mid-week game next Wednesday night at Melbourne Ballpark, but we simply cannot afford to think any further ahead than our game against Melbourne this weekend.

WEARY WILDCATS BOMB OUT 2-3 @ EARLY ESSENDON!
 Sunday, 3 FEB 2008 at Essendon