I deliberately started with this to put into context what a tremendous effort the club raised in their absence to win all four senior grades over our respected rivals for Malvern who were close to full strength. It is one thing for a club like ours to boast about the depth of quality players we might have, but on occasions like this it is important that you prove it with positive results. The fact that the boys achieved this is something we should all be very proud of this week… they were GREAT!

Of course, it was a bit of a surprise that we got the opportunity to play these games as both Waverley and Malvern venues were literally under water early on the Sunday morning. Thankfully the weather cleared and the windy conditions combined with a warming sun to help both diamonds be prepared for play in the afternoon. In fact, it was quite amazing to note how good the conditions were following the sort of two-day deluge that had Noah ordering the timber for his boat and the animals gathering two-by-two!

Our day would start in a very positive fashion with our young Reserves team holding on for a 2-1 win over the Braves’ Twos after what was a most enjoyable and keenly contested game. Then, a glance at the Waverley Firsts lineup would provide us with an immediate reminder about the depth of quality we are fortunate to have this season. To start with the most obvious, our battery would open with former Club Champions Adam Bonaddio and Dan Reeman who, thankfully, both returned to the club this summer after long absences… naturally, they were both OUTSTANDING performers in this game.

Adam ‘Beckett’ Bonaddio was the man to take the ball again for Waverley in the absence of our Claxton pitchers and, much as he did against Blackburn, he set the tone for a solid performance by our team. What ‘Bonnas’ might lack in sharpness after a few seasons away from the game he certainly makes up with his bulldog determination and his clever ability to work around the toughest hitters. Mind you, much of the credit for the location and pitch selection should go to catcher Danny ‘Rambo’ Reeman who rolled back the years with his trademark hard-edged leadership behind the plate.

After five innings of sterling work for the team, Bonaddio handed the reins over the newcomer Tom Shaw who consolidated the impressive form he showed in his cameo debut recently. On this occasion Shaw needed to be good to make sure that the game didn’t slip from our grasp during those important sixth and seventh innings. Tom allowed only the first batter to get a hit, while a couple of nervous wild pitches would cost him a run in an otherwise excellent effort by the youngster. I’m now going to leave any mention of our closer until the end of this report.

The healthy representation of the ‘Waverly Nation’ at the game could hardly have been more delighted to see our recent Premiership outfielder Ian ‘Ichiro’ Geduld finally getting some breaks with the stick as he was a standout in this game with his 3-5 that included three doubles, three RBIs, a stolen base and two runs scored. Not much behind him was established star Jarrod ‘Hammer’ Hodges who stroked the ball around the park like he had all the time in the world to pick where he was going to drive it. His sweetest of sweet strokes garnered 3-4 with a double, a RBI, a walk, two stolen bases and two runs.

The humble quiet achiever Kerry ‘Giambi’ Gassner continues to be a most productive designated hitter with his 2-5 that drove in a couple of runs, while Anthony ‘A-Rod’ Reinke couldn’t get through a game without supplying at least one “rib eye steak”. Finally, but not least, Dan Reeman wasn’t satisfied with catching the complete nine innings, so he added a terrific 2-3 with a double, a walk and two runs scored… what a job ‘Reemo’!

Once again I deliberately finished with Reemo because it would be hard to forget the gleam in his eye when he started catching the warm-up pitches of our “celebrity closer” Travis Blackley who took over for the bottom of the eighth. Most baseball fans should know that Travis, the older brother of Adam, comes with the considerable CV of having played in the US major leagues with both the Seattle Mariners and the San Francisco Giants… it just doesn’t get any bigger than that! Much of the audience, including the Malvern bench, watched in awe and admiration as a slightly rusty Blackley gave us quite a few glimpses of a rare pitching talent.

It would be a massive understatement to say that Travis “overmatched” the hitters he faced at the end of this game but, with due respect for the Malvern boys, I don’t think they should feel too bad about the fact that they couldn’t touch him… it will remain a vivid memory for those who faced him I can assure you. Blackley threw exactly 30 pitches, 18 for strikes, and struck out four to put a giant-sized exclamation mark on a fabulous day for the Wildcats. He slammed the door shut in both the eighth and ninth with two mesmerising strike outs.

Catcher Dan Reeman might have been excused for using the famous line attributed to Rod Marsh the first time he kept wicket to Jeff Thomson… “it hurts, but I love it”! Travis Blackley will bring a heap of excitement to Waverley games whenever he pitches, that is for sure! Sorry, no major league nickname for a major leaguer... I don't fancy trotting out Travis 'Blackley' Blackley!! 
PS: Travis also drove in our opening run while playing superbly at first base in the Reserves!

Just a quick word for a couple of “whiz kids” from the prolific Waverley farm system known as our Juniors. JJ. O’Connor shapes as a fine prospect with his third cameo appearance off the bench this season while he was joined in this game by a “nipper” with a very famous name at Waverley and in Australian baseball, Jacob Sheldon-Collins, who made a brief Firsts debut. I have a feeling that we will be seeing a lot of these guys in Waverley shirts long into the future.

With that meritorious and valuable win banked away, we must now look ahead to a pretty daunting fixture this coming Thursday, just before our Victorian boys head off to Mount Gambier for their away series against South Australia. This Thursday night we have another clash with the table-topping Essendon in the early game at Melbourne Ballpark (6:30pm). Then, within minutes of this concluding, we have been compelled to “finish” the Round 6 game against Geelong that ended in controversy with the scores tied 1-1 in the top half of the sixth inning. Apparently we will be required to play no more than 12 minutes, picking up the game where it left off with the Baycats having the bases loaded and two out. There is no need for me to explain how finely balanced that contest is, or to discuss the whys and wherefores of how we came to this decision.

Rounding off the pre-Christmas season, we will then host those same Baycats with all four grades playing our traditional “festive fixture” at Napier Park… sincere thanks again to Baseball Victoria! Thirds and Seconds starting 1:00pm, while Fourths and Firsts start at 3:30pm. Please make sure that the ‘Waverley Nation’ arrives in full force for the event, while fans from Geelong and anywhere else are invited to join us for the usual after-match conviviality.

GO WILDCATS!

It might be taking this job a bit (or a lot?) too seriously to think that I should have to declare any sponsorships or gifts received before making positive comment, but I will declare right now that Grant Karlsen did give me a lift home after the game last night… so, many thanks for that ‘GK’!
But then, as our dearly departed old chum Peter Wood used to say; “Grant is a typical Waverley person - a fine baseballer, a quality citizen and a nice kid”. I could never find any reason to disagree with him!

Having got that out of the way, Karlsen very nearly removed his Waverley shirt with a ‘W’ on the chest and replaced it by that well-known blue suit with a huge ‘S’ on it… he was SUPERMAN for the Wildcats at Sandringham last night! I’ve made a rough calculation that Grant has caught around 800 pitches in seven games over the past fortnight since our Thursday game at Bonbeach on 27 November. In between time he distinguished himself as Victoria’s No.1 catcher at the Claxton Shield Showcase Round in Blacktown where the Aces secured three wins from four games.

Hardly showing any of the fatigue or “let down” you might expect after such a schedule, Grant literally “did it all” for Waverley in a game that was almost a bit too close for comfort. Once again he caught 5.1 innings, before handing the gloves to Andrew Russell and taking the ball himself to pitch a mighty 1.2 innings save for his team. And, if that is not enough, he batted 2-4, drove in a run and threw out a would-be base thief with a cannonball throw to second base. If you happen to see Grant Karlsen today he is probably wearing glasses and going under the name of Clarke Kent!

With the heavy Claxton Shield schedule just behind us and more looming ahead this weekend, manager Phil Dale was obviously keen to spread the workload on our players who are top-heavily represented in the Victorian team. Pitching stars Donnie Hendricks and Adam Blackley were used for just one inning each to start the game and both put up a goose egg on the bottom line of the scorecard. In stark contrast, Donnie escaped from a three-hit inning via a big one out strike out, while ‘AB’ had to tip-toe around a couple of walks.

The man entrusted to do the bulk of the pitching work for Waverley was reliable ‘Tommy John’ Rynberk who sailed through the next two innings with just two base runners as he looked set to overshadow the efforts of our two Aces representatives. However, Tommy ran into a nasty speed-hump in the fifth when two doubles and a walk, with one out, would turn very pear shaped after an untimely error followed. A couple more hits would see five runs scored by the Royals in the frame, only two of which were earned against Tommy’s stats line. Sometimes you have to expect to leak some hits when you throw strikes and pitch to contact plus, to be fair, Sandringham are an underrated batting team.

Rynberk was relieved by the aforementioned Grant ‘Dr.K’ Karlsen after he issued a one out walk in the sixth. Like the man with the X-Ray vision, who can leap tall buildings in a single bound and who throws faster than a speeding bullet, Karlsen put a big dose of kryptonite on that threat with two strike outs. Then, he bounced out to slam the door shut in the seventh with another two Special Ks. Only a solitary walk would slightly blemish a near perfect pitching display that secured the game for the Wildcats from a precarious position.

Waverley jumped out of the blocks to score two runs in the first when “run machine” Anthony ‘A-Rod’ Reinke delivered again with two RBIs as the fourth successive hit to start the game. In fact we deserved to feel that two runs were a bit skinny after such a promising start. The man to get the ball rolling in the game was our Minnesota Marvel James ‘Jeter’ Beresford who, as I mentioned, is starting to roll back into form very nicely. Jimmy stroked his leadoff hit into left field and then produced two rifle shots straight up the middle in his next two at bats. His night finished with a walk that left him owning a terrific 3-3 game with four times on base and two runs scored.

Aces ace Danny ‘Bambino’ Berg smashed one of the longest home runs of the season… except that someone had obviously moved the outfield fence. I kid you not, with a hint of Wildcat licence, Danny crushed this line drive around 450ft only to see it caught just inside the low fence by the DEEP Royals’ outfielder. I reckon they measure their dimensions at Sandy in yards rather than feet… this hit would have landed on the Junior clubrooms at our Napier Park! Earlier, Josh ‘Big Papi’ Hendricks had launched a towering sacrifice fly around 350ft but it was well inside this yard.

Beresford’s 3-3 topped the offence in this game, while Bergie, Reinks and GK each batted 2-4 and drove in runs. Glenn Mascoll also continued his recent streak of underrated contributions with 1-3, plus a walk and another stolen base.

The ‘Waverley Nation’ survived a brief nervous moment in this game to take the one prize we covet… the invaluable two competition points. We never take anything for granted against the Sandringham Royals who often save some of their best efforts for contests against Waverley. Baseball, as we all know, is very much a team game and it takes more than one player or one facet of the game to win… but, on this occasion, I reckon Grant Karlsen deserves the MVP votes while Jim Beresford tried his best to take them from him.

If you want to see Grant at it again, along with Bergie, Donnie, Blackers, Jimmy and Rusty you might like to risk the weather by supporting the Victorian Aces in their home series against Queensland starting tonight at Melbourne Ballpark - first pitch 7:00pm. Unfortunately 'Wearney's' shoulder is not quite ready for him to join the Aces this weekend. You can even follow the Victorian team to Mildura if you are really keen for the games on Saturday and Sunday.

Then again, you might prefer to give the heavily depleted Waverley Wildcats your support when we take on a full-strength Malvern Braves at Toorak Park this Sunday at 3:30pm.

GO WILDCATS!

While the Victorian Aces were enjoying a very successful “Showcase Round” of the 2009 Claxton Shield at Blacktown in Sydney, the biggest baseball ticket in the nation was at Napier Park for the clash of Division One titans Waverley and Blackburn. In fact, I’d almost be prepared to bet that there were more spectators on hand for this game between the local eastern suburbs rivals than there would have been for the final game of the Blacktown event between NSW and Victoria. The sun was reasonably warm for the occasion, but there was a distinct chill in the regular wind gusts.

Our Wildcats would be missing our Aces' representatives Danny Berg, Adam Blackley, Donnie Hendricks, Grant Karlsen and Scott Wearne, while the Orioles would be without Hayden Dingle and Paul Weichard. Maybe most significantly both teams would be without their managers; Phil Dale of Waverley and Lee Hogan of Blackburn. It made for an enthralling contest where the depth and resilience of both teams would be tested. The ‘Waverley Nation’ would find themselves a bit restless on the eve of the game given recent Sunday losses to Bonbeach and Sunshine… there was a degree of pressure hinging on the result of this fixture even at this stage of the season.

With both regular starters on Claxton duty it fell to Adam ‘Beckett’ Bonaddio to take the ball first for Waverley and, as we would expect, he certainly didn’t let anyone down on this big occasion. ‘Bonnas’, as we know, has been polishing his social skills while on a tour of Europe in recent years and he has just returned to Waverley this summer. After shaking off a thick coating of rust upon his return to baseball, Bonaddio was just about ready to remind all of us about the attributes that have made him a Junior and Senior Club Champion at Waverley. His splendid six innings, quality start was not without a few moments of concern, but with only the single scrambled run he allowed in the fifth frame Adam's effort was vital to the team cause.

Likewise reliever ‘Tommy John’ Rynberk who, most importantly, kept the Orioles off the board in the seventh and eighth innings while the Wildcats mounted a brilliant comeback. We have spoken often about Tommy’s clever variation, but by far the best component of his makeup is his ability to remain poised under pressure and to work his way out of tough situations. I don’t think that ‘TR’ was at his sharpest on this day, but he once again demonstrated his fighting qualities and determination to get the job done for his team.

By the time the ninth inning rolled around Waverley was suddenly enjoying the luxury of a 9-1 lead in the game and it was a perfect opportunity for assistant coach David Clarkson to give club newcomer Tom Shaw a debut outing for the Wildcats in a relatively low stress environment. Low stress or not, Shaw pitched to the top of the tough Blackburn lineup and he deserves to be very pleased with his confident 1-2-3 closure which did not allow a runner to reach base.

Opposing our Wildcats would be the ever competitive presence of Claxton Shield stalwart Cam Hardy who possibly should have been in Blacktown himself. Cameron must have been under serious consideration for a berth in the Aces bullpen and he certainly would have been there if the Provincials had not been sadly railroaded out of the competition this year. Hardy, as always, made life very tough for our hitters through five scoreless innings before an Evan Phillips home run indicated him starting to run short of gas. Hardy would never give up and he battled manfully to supply 122 pitches for his team in the absence of his usual backup guy, manager Lee Hogan.

Infielder Daniel Mack took over when Hardy was finally done and, although he was tagged for four add-on runs via Andrew Russell’s grand slam homer, none of those runs were earned. It could be said in the review of this result that Waverley’s pitching depth proved the decisive factor because Cam Hardy didn’t have the arms in reserve to take over while he still owned the lead.

Of course the reality is that you have to wrestle the ball away from Hardy as he doesn’t back away from a challenge. And, he is by no means the first pitcher this year to feel the unexpected brunt of Evan ‘Longoria’ Phillips bat this season. ‘Evo’ can look out of sorts at the plate with occasional ugly swings, but he does swing the bat hard and when he makes solid contact the ball tends to travel a long way. His go-ahead two run blast in this game sailed over the deep part of the Napier Park diamond in right field… it was not a cheap one! If anyone may be thinking that Phillips is riding a streak of luck, well, let me remind you that this is the SIXTH time he has found lightning in the bottle this season so far!

What puts this into context is the fact that our recent Triple Crown slugger Andrew ‘Rusty’ Russell has been hitting the ball solidly all season yet he was still to register his first homer of the 2008/09 season. In fact, Rusty was facing the rarely seen scenario of successive hitless games when he walked in the seventh inning. However, Russell gleefully grasped the opportunity for another plate appearance in the eighth when he “went yard” to centre-left with bases loaded for a game-breaking GRAND SLAM homer! Delighted father Jimmy was just about the shout the bar in the clubhouse until he realised that it could become a dangerous precedent if Rusty starts to run hot for the rest of the season!

In between the big bombs from Phillips (two RBIs) and Russell (five RBIs) was another most valuable two RBI single up the middle from Anthony ‘A-ROD’ Reinke that gave our Wildcats some welcome breathing space in the seventh inning. 'Reinks' collected two hits for the game.

Young pro star James ‘Jeter’ Beresford is just starting to ease his way back to full throttle and he would have enjoyed starting in his familiar short stop position. To mark the occasion he stepped up to supply two hits for the game, including one of his trademark running bunts for a safe hit and a lashing line drive to left field. Defensively, he had five assists for the game. Of them one was a brilliant swooping pick-up and throw while another “hit-robber” was one right out of the Beresford box of special tricks. In this instance the Blackburn batter had been jammed inside and he floated a ball closer to third base than short stop. With not a second to spare on the slow-hit ball, ‘Jimbo’ launched himself to collect the ball, spin and throw in mid-air to make the spectacular force out at second! That’s why we are prepared to pay the big money to attend these games.

Jarrod ‘Hammer’ Hodges once again proved his ability to rise to the biggest occasions when he batted a terrific 3-5 with a spanking double to keep up the action on the Waverley base paths. Down the order you may be thinking that long time loyal Waverley team mates Glenn ‘Ferret’ Mascoll and Daniel ‘Rambo’ Reeman didn’t contribute much to the offence as they are not listed among the safe hitters. WRONG! Dan Reeman walked THREE times from his four plate appearances, while Glenn walked twice, stole a base and was also hit by a pitch… there is more than one way to get on base to help your team.

There were plenty of highlights to recount and plenty of good spirit among the ‘Waverley Nation’ after such a positive result, but we all recognise that the end scoreline did not accurately indicate the overall evenness of the contest. More importantly we cannot afford to let such a great result fade with lack lustre performances against what might be considered lower-ranked teams. This will first be tested at Sandringham in the midweek twilight game 6:00pm Thursday 11 December at Tulip Street. This is soon followed by our away trip to Malvern who have been lifting lately… be there at 3:30pm this Sunday 14 December.

PS: Congratulations to our Victorian representatives who helped the Aces take three wins from four games in the 2009 Claxton Shield Showcase Round at Blacktown. Pitchers Adam Blackley and Donavon Hendricks both pitched excellent winning starts for our State. Bergie showed glimpses of his hitting power and Grant Karlsen caught nearly every pitch for the team. Best news of all is that our new Wildcats' favourite Scotty Wearne is not as seriously injured as first thought... PHEW!

GO WILDCATS!

Now just wait a minute, before you start thinking that they have been adding something “funny” to the water in the Waverley area, NO we have not started to enjoy or embrace LOSING! It’s just that on occasions like this you can’t do much other than simply tip your caps to the opposing team… in this case the Sunshine Eagles. The underrated Eagles arrived at Napier Park like gunslingers ready to stare down the pride of the ‘Waverley Nation’ and by the time they had left they had shot some considerable holes in our finals prospects.

The weather was little short of magnificent for Sunday baseball at Napier Park and there would be no excuses for the players. A healthy but not huge contingent of the ‘Waverley Nation’ in the club house would be in high spirits after our Reserves hammered out a resounding win over their Sunshine counterparts. This mood, however, would not last for too long when the Eagles quite quickly grabbed an unexpected and rather fortunate lead in the Firsts game and there was every indication that we would be in for a serious struggle.

To cut to the chase, the chief reason for this was the impressive presence of Sunshine’s American pitcher Ryan Trytten dealing his quality stuff from the mound. And, as we were to discover later, at just the worst time, he could be equally as dangerous while swinging the lumber. For those who may not know, Trytten is a baseball professional who this season plied his trade with the American Association Independent League team the Lincoln Salt Dogs. In 2008 he owned a 5-5, 3.52ERA record with 81 strike outs from his 102.1 innings. He would arrive for this game with the big reputation of having struck out no less than 16 Doncaster Dragons in a seven inning mid-week game at Altona this year!

But, to be plainly honest, Trytten did not intimidate or even dominate our hitters on this day. Sure, he pitched extremely well overall and he did “whiff” eight strike outs for the game, but there was still plenty of solid contact made by our guys at regular times. The biggest problem for Waverley on this day was that some of our more impressive hits were to find the gloves of the fielders who were a combination of very good and trifle fortunate. Of those that spring to mind were rocket blasts delivered by Jarrod ‘Hammer’ Hodges TWICE and James ‘Jeter’ Beresford later in the game.

In the end Sunshine would narrowly win the game 4-3 and the hit-count 10-9, but I’m sure I’m not being too biased to report my impression that the Wildcats hit a lot more balls harder than their opponents. One classic example was the exquisitely lobbed “dumper” that bisected the converging infield and the outfield to drive in Sunshine’s game-opening run in the third inning. I’m not aiming to take anything away from the Sunshine crew… that’s baseball. It’s those same unpredictable things that make our game so absorbing that will often frustrate fans to death in games like this!

While Trytten was worthy of the complete game victory that he secured for his club, Waverley’s pitchers Donavon ‘Drysdale’ Hendricks and ‘Tommy John’ Rynberk had very little to be ashamed about as they both threw very well in a sad losing cause. Hendricks continued his marvellous trend this season by issuing just one walk and among the eight hits allocated against him were a few very “soft” ones. Donnie also matched Trytten’s eight KKKKKKKK’s from his seven innings of polished work.

Tommy was also very sharp in his usual canny manner to close out the last two frames for us but his day would be spoiled by the one pitch that found the sweet part of a Sunshine bat and next touched down beyond our left-centre field fence. That go-ahead, game-winning home run in the top of the ninth would be delivered by… yep, you guessed it… their Man of the Match starting pitcher Ryan Trytten who also batted in the #7 hole. What a day he enjoyed!

I’ve already mentioned that some of our hitters were almost literally “robbed” of hits in this game, but among those Scott Wearne, Grant Karlsen and Glenn Mascoll were still able to reap two hits each from the somewhat slim pickings. Evan Phillips once again demonstrated how dangerous he can be when, after appearing overmatched while striking out first time up, he crunched a two run ‘dinger’ in the fifth over left-centre. 'Ferret' Mascoll doesn't always get rave reviews for his offence, but he showed once again that he can bring his best against quality opposition with his 2-3 plus a walk and two stolen bases. Jarrod Hodges may have had three booming hits in this game, but in the end he had to settle for one ringing double in the eighth.

Just finally, the ‘Waverley Nation’ would be graced by the presence of one of our more illustrious fathers for the first time in many blue moons for this occasion. Our star outfielder Jarrod Hodges would finally convince his Helms Award winning baseball legend dad John ‘The Phantom’ Hodges to come along to a game. It is great to see John looking trim and healthy following his long sabbatical away from the game that made him famous. I’m sure ‘Hodgo Senior’ mentioned that he would be only to pleased to help out the club in any way he can… especially if we were to need anything relating to the timber industry… Good on you John, we just might take you up on that!

PS: For anyone that has ever had the pleasure of watching a baseball game with John Hodges you would not need me to tell you that he has a keen eye and he is an absolutely brilliant student of the game. Just about every prediction he makes seems to come to fruition. On this occasion John assured us that Sunshine’s pitcher was starting to run out of tricks after the fifth inning and that the Waverley bats would surely get on top of him before the end of the game… sadly, I’m still waiting for this to happen mate!!

Once again, caps off to the Sunshine club for taking the honours in this game. Our next assignment comes in the form of a visit from our most local rivals Blackburn at Napier Park next Sunday 7 December. Both teams will be without coaches and players who are on Claxton Shield duty in Sydney so it should be an engrossing contest. Good luck to the Victorian Aces and, especially to our boys in the team; Adam Blackley, Grant Karlsen, Donovon Hendricks, Danny Berg and Scott Wearne… and, of course, our manager Phil Dale.

GO WILDCATS!

Phew! For a while there I thought that I might end up having to eat my words from the previous report when I suggested that the weather couldn’t possibly get much worse than it was last Sunday. Far from the Alaskan wind-chill that we experienced last week, this Thursday evening would bring a quite balmy 28deg temperature but with the near-certain threat of a late thunderstorm. Sure enough, just as the afternoon hours faded, the dark clouds rolled across Melbourne from the west and it was dropping plenty of precipitation on the ‘Waverley Nation’ as we ventured south to Bonbeach for the second time in five days.

At first it seemed that we were actually driving out of the storm as we neared the Frankston Freeway and the clear blue skies over the Bonbeach area was a reassuring sight. Our confidence was high when Stu Hendricks phoned to see what we thought the weather was doing… no sooner had we told him that things were looking promising when rain drops the size of dinner plates fell upon our car windscreen!

It was still very murky when Stu and I arrived before the game and, shortly after, we saw a massive thunderbolt touch down just a few feet away from us (OK, it might have been a bit further than that!), quickly followed by a clap of thunder louder than anything either of us young fellows had heard before in our lives!! We scurried for the shelter of the Waverley dugout as a brief rain storm descended upon us. Thankfully, most of this had passed by almost perfectly in time for the pre-game infield warm-ups and, with the light improving as the clouds passed overhead, the game was never seriously threatened after that.

First things first… we had heard a whisper that one of our young pros James ‘Jeter’ Beresford would be playing his first game for the club this season and, while we knew that Danny ‘Bambino’ Berg was back in town, it was a pleasant surprise to see him in uniform too… even if he was travelling incognito in an unfamiliar No.21 shirt! Both Jimmy and Danny are coming off very positive seasons with the Minnesota Twins organisation in the US professional minor leagues and it is always great to see them back representing the Wildcats as they have done so superbly over their many years at the club. Coach Dale chose not to disrupt the lineup when he simply substituted the pair of ‘Twinkies’ into left and centre field in place of the unavailable Joshua Hendricks and Jarrod Hodges.

Providing another Minnesota Twins “connection” was the appearance of the Hendriks family from Perth as they have recently moved to Melbourne. For those who may not follow the Claxton Shield competition their son, Liam Hendriks, is a team mate of James Beresford with the Twins and he was a genuine superstar of the 2008 Claxton Shield as WA's No.1 starting pitcher on a Championship winning team. If you had attended the second day of the 2008 Claxton Shield versus WA at Melbourne Ballpark, Liam Hendriks was the young right-hander that bamboozled our Victorian Aces as the Game 2 winning pitcher. We can’t guarantee that we’ll ever see Liam playing in Victoria, but we are hoping to hook his parents and family into joining the ‘Waverley Nation’?

The game started positively for the Wildcats when back-to-back doubles from ‘Rusty’ Russell and Danny Berg (welcome home!) scored our first run with one out in the opening frame and a subsequent Kerry Gassner RBI single plated Bergie for our second. In the second inning a Scott Wearne RBI double drove in Evan Phillips' leadoff single and… you’ve done the mathematics... we were leading 3-0 and in the same position as we were twice at the same venue last weekend!

However, one major difference was the presence of a more usual standard Adam ‘Blyleven’ Blackley on the hill for our team. ‘AB’ might have struggled for location in the wind last Sunday, but he was all business here as he went about his job like a man who felt that he had something to prove. He didn’t have anything to prove to the ‘Waverley Nation’ but he certainly made sure of a vital win for the club.

In fact, it was a bit of surprise to see Adam back on the mound mid-week with Tommy Rynberk and Adam Bonaddio named as our likely pitchers but, apparently, it was part of the pitching rotation strategy for the upcoming Claxton Shield games next week in Sydney. Blackley faced just five batters more than the minimum in this game, while striking out five in a most effective six inning “complete game” victory and the only run allowed by him was unearned. It was a terrific confidence booster for him to take into his Claxton Shield campaign this season.

Waverley tacked on a couple more runs in the fourth when our leadoff whiz Scotty ‘Pedroia’ Wearne milked a leadoff walk and then stole his way to third base before crossing the plate via Kerry Gassner’s bases loaded walk. Catcher Grant Karlsen, who was enjoying a terrific game, then did likewise with his bases loaded walk pushing Danny Berg across for our fifth run of the game. To round off the scoring Andrew Russell’s second double of the game drove in Scott Wearne in the fifth inning.

It was a fairly comprehensive victory for our team in this game. What didn’t escape my attention was the fact that we scored an identical six runs from an identical ten hits to the tallies from our miserable losing cause against the Blue Jays just five days ago. The difference was, guess what?... brilliant pitching, avoiding walks and very solid defence… funny about how that often works in baseball!

Scotty Wearne continues to set the tone for the Wildcats as a prototypal leadoff batter… his 2-3 with three stolen bags and two runs scored was just further evidence of this. He was joined in the “two for three gang” in this game by (YAWN!) Andrew Russell, along with Grant ‘Maurer’ Karlsen and Evan ‘Longoria’ Phillips. It was especially important to me to see Grant Karlsen recapturing some of his batting confidence in this game after a rare barren spell and it will be a major boost for the team if he can get on an offensive roll again this season to compliment his high-quality work behind the dish.

Well folks, as you will see from the picture above, the night ended on a much more bright and cheery note than the way in which it started. And, for the travelling ‘Waverley Nation’ the result of the game would allow us to enjoy the trip home in much better spirits than we suffered last Sunday afternoon! Let’s hope that we will be feeling just as pleased after our visit from the Sunshine Eagles this coming Sunday afternoon 30 November at Napier Park. There’s nothing quite like home cooking… first pitch at 3:30pm, but why not also take a look at our solid young Reserves starting at 1:00pm.

GO WILDCATS!

So what is the opposite of RED?, must be BLUE I suppose?, therefore this really was a “BLUE LETTER Day” for the ‘Waverley Nation’ down at Bonbeach on Sunday. The home-standing Bonbeach Blue Jays would certainly leave us feeling blue in more ways than one. Firstly, many of the hardy patrons who survived the afternoon left with an icy cold blue-ish tint to their skin and, after the negative results achieved by our Wildcats teams, there would also be a blue melancholy mood to accompany us on our long trip home.

The first thing to greet us was the fact that we would be playing on what most of us would consider the “second diamond” at Bonbeach because, apparently, they have been having some grass problems on their main diamond this season. To emphasise the lack of shelter was a howling gale coming straight off the Antarctic unhindered by the windswept tundra adjoining our spectator location. I’ve seen penguins on National Geographic looking miserable in conditions like this. It was bitterly cold and anything that was not secured would be quickly blown away… as was the confidence of the bedraggled ‘Waverley Nation’ by the end of the proceedings.

As their name suggests, Bonbeach is somewhat near the beach and we certainly felt that something smelled “fishy” when our well-performed Reserves team coughed up what looked like a comfortable 5-0 lead and then had to cling on for a deflating 5-5 draw. A succession of Waverley hits would see us settle for a moderate four runs in the opening frame of this game, while ‘Tommy John’ Rynberk used about 25 pitches to post his three scoreless innings. How we failed to pile on many more runs in this game and then, ultimately, let it slip away for a draw will remain a head-scratching mystery to most of us.

But much worse was to follow when our high-rolling Firsts fell from the lofty heights of our tremendous victory over undefeated Essendon last week to the depths of a not-quite-soul destroying 6-7 loss to the Blue Jays. Oh yes, the unheralded team from Thames Promenade had applied a very sharp spike to the soaring balloon of confidence that we inflated last weekend. Baseball, as we have often noted, is a great leveller and, in this case, our Wildcats have made the horrible transition from rooster to feather duster in the space of just seven days!

Making this feel worse for the ‘Waverley Nation’ is that we would have to leave Bonbeach with the overwhelming feeling that it was a game that, not so much got away, but it was one that we probably threw away! While we don’t want to take too much away from the underrated Bonbeach team, there is no denying the fact that Waverley had led decisively 3-0 and 6-3 in this game but we were sadly unable to put those last few nails in the Blue Jays’ coffin on each occasion. And that folks is a sure recipe for failure in our beloved game of baseball.

In stark contrast to the balanced offence we have lauded for most of this season, on this day we relied far too heavily on the top of our batting order. We dished up far too many flyballs into the teeth of the howling gale just to give the Bonbeach outfielders another session of outfield catching practice. Once again, I don’t want to take too much away from the Blue Jays’ sterling starting pitcher Matt Prior, but we really did make him look like Cy Young while delivering his 144-pitch complete nine inning victory. We had opportunities to make life much more difficult for him, but this is the type of selfless generosity that we have come to expect from Waverley on occasions. Apart from the steady stream of fly ball outs, we also gifted him two pick-offs and a caught stealing to help him secure the requisite 27 outs!

The undoubted offensive stars for the Wildcats in this game were ever reliable leadoff Scotty ‘Pedroia’ Wearne and Andrew ‘Rusty’ Russell who each had outstanding 3-5 games. Not for the first time this year Jarrod ‘Hammer’ Hodges was deprived of the opportunity to put up big numbers when he was limited to 1-2 on a day that included a hit-by-pitch and two walks. More significantly, Russell and Hodges each produced two RBIs as a vital team contribution. We still managed to out-hit the Bonbeach team 10-9, but this was far more lop-sided until the home team rattled on five hits in the sixth and seventh innings.

Russell and Wearne put the icing on their fine outings with some complimentary moments of defensive excellence. Wearne would probably dismiss his efforts as "nothing special" but his consistent ability to stay behind hard-hit grounders at second base has been a cornerstone of our infield defence this season. 'Rusty' Russell is always an unobtrusive star at right-field but in this game he enjoyed the opportunity to showcase his eye-catching arm strength. On one occasion he teamed with catcher Grant Karlsen to easily "gun down" a stunned runner at home plate. While later he also snatched away a safe hit from one Blue Jay with a rare 9-3 put out at first!

Our ace pitching duo of Donavon ‘Drysdale’ Hendricks and Adam ‘Blyleven’ Blackley have been very good and near brilliant lately, but they struck a speed-hump at Bonbeach in this game. Hendricks appeared to be in cruise control until three successive none-out line drives opened up the game for the hosts in the bottom of the sixth. Donavon, to his credit, continued to avoid walks but seven hits was a few too many this time. Three walks and two hits would also punish an out-of-sorts Blackley in the seventh inning when he didn’t seem to get a lot of love from the “balls and strikes”. Adam struck out two in a neat 1-2-3 eighth inning, but by then the damage had been well and truly done.  

I’m sure that our pitchers did not enjoy the buffeting wind coming from directly behind the mound but they would not like this to be put forward as an overriding excuse for an uncharacteristically modest performance in this game. What would stick in the mind of the Waverley supporters would be a pair of defensive mishaps that really allowed the game to slither from our grasp while the Bonbeach boys lapped up the shift in momentum.

The sixth inning may not have been nearly so costly for Henricks had we been able to take some advantage from a play at home plate when two Bonbeach runners scampered home on Ricky Johnston’s RBI double. In a split-second play we might have almost been able to tag out both runners, but we had to settle for none when a tag on the second runner must have missed by a proverbial bee’s appendage! It certainly wasn’t a routine play by any means but on most occasions I would back our young catching star Grant Karlsen to get at least the trailing runner out. We will also give some credit here to a canny piece of base running for getting around the tag.

Then, in the following frame, Adam Blackley should have preserved the lead and collected another WIN had it not been for a fairly routine double-play that could not be turned at a most critical time. A composed Blackley got the ground ball to extract himself from the jam but, after making the out at second base, a low throw to first saw the ball scuttle under the glove and out of play for two more game-breaking runs to score.

There weren’t too many “positives” for the ‘Waverley Nation’ to take away from this game. However, one thing I can be positive about is that the next time (Mother Rusty) Sandra Russell warns me that “these are the kind of days when you need to be careful about sunburn”, I reckon I might listen. I’m now hoping that my face won’t be quite as red as it is today when I see her again at the very same venue this Thursday… I’m not sure what is worse, losing this game, or being advised “I told you so”!

Yes Nation, by a strange quirk of programming we will need to follow the same tracks down to "Bonnie Bonbeach" again this Thursday evening 27 November for the 6:00pm twilight game at Thames Promenade. I’m not really into bold predictions but I feel quite safe to predict that the weather conditions and the game result could hardly be much worse than that we experienced yesterday. If those “baseball gods” have any sense of fairness we should enjoy the opportunity for immediate redemption… but we will probably need to play nearer to our best to achieve it!

And, given that we survive another trek to Bonbeach this Thursday, we can then look forward to the relative luxury of the soon following home fixture against the Sunshine Eagles at Napier Park on Sunday 30 November… first pitch at 3:30pm.

GO WILDCATS!

For baseball fanatics like us, it just doesn’t get much better than this! We certainly backed the ‘Trifecta’ this weekend with good Spring weather, an exciting atmosphere generated by a large audience and, best of all, some tremendous “cut and thrust” baseball. The conditions at Napier Park were comfortably warm, just so long as you didn’t venture outside the clubrooms where a very cold wind was not nearly so hospitable.

A large contingent of fans would arrive to support both teams for the long-awaited clash between the undefeated league leaders from Essendon and the highly rated home-standing Waverley Wildcats who are hoping to challenge the “big dogs” this season. The ‘Waverley Nation’ would be close to full strength while the travelling band of Bombers’ supporters would appear to have swelled as a consequence of their lofty expectations this season. Even renowned baseball tragic Allan ‘The Voice’ Ricketts joined us, travelling all the way from Geelong for the big occasion!

As I will try to describe, the action on the main diamond at Napier Park would not disappoint anyone in terms of the contest and the quality of the baseball action on display. It was one of those occasions when results could not entirely dampen the spirits of either support crew because, in the bigger picture, the sport of baseball in Victoria was the huge winner on this day.

The visiting Essendon team gave us an early glimpse of their considerable depth of muscle by romping away to a big 12-6 win in a keenly contested Reserves game. The younger Waverley team showed plenty of promise and was gallant until the game got away from them towards the end. The more seasoned men from the north showed our lads a yardstick for them to aspire to. Even at this early stage of the 2008/09 season the Essendon Bombers would appear to have a mortgage on the BV Division One Club Championship.

With most of the Waverley supporters still discussing the yet undetermined outcome of the midweek game against Geelong, the scene had been set for a battle of the titans in the FIRSTS. While both clubs would arrive boasting batting lineups stacked with talent and power, there was always a feeling that the “finals like atmosphere” would create the type of tension that is usually dictated by pitching and defence… and so it would prove.

At Essendon it is a rare thing for any team to rattle the experienced cage of their pitching ace Casey Jones, while at Waverley the increasingly impressive lefty duo of young pros Adam Blackley and Donovon Hendricks is becoming very formidable. On this occasion the Wildcats were to grab an early advantage in the bottom of the second inning when a leadoff walk and three successive hits resulted in two runs scored. This inning threatened to get much larger for Waverley until we surrendered an out and base runner at second via a rarely successful pickoff move.

The Bombers clawed back in the top of the fourth to plate a leadoff walk via a hit, a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly delivered by Josh Licence. This was the type of “manufactured run” that Essendon needed to crack the vice-like grip of Adam ‘Blyleven’ Blackley who rose to the challenge in magnificent style with an outstanding display of starting pitching. Blackley demonstrated the type of poise needed to shut down such a dangerous batting linup while pitching carefully to most batters and, importantly, keeping the ball inside the yard. He scattered four hits over six strong innings, while striking out five, to record a victory of very significant proportions.

After throwing 93 quality pitches it was time for Adam to pass the pill to his bullpen partner Donavon ‘Drysdale’ Hendricks who also thrived in the pressure-cooker situation with his increasing confidence this season. Of course, he too needed to avoid the fat part of the plate and he did this splendidly apart from one “mistake pitch” that Bomber Tim Sullivan dispatched over left-centre for a game-tying solo homer in the seventh. In past years a younger Donnie Hendricks may have felt the internal pressure affecting his performance, but not these days… he re-grouped and re-focussed with tremendous concentration to close out the game. He earned himself a really impressive three-inning save.

The dramatic nature of this red-hot contest probably deserved a grandstand finish, even though the collective ‘Waverley Nation’ had just seen their ascendancy in the game disappear in the top of the seventh. However, it didn’t take long for the mood in the home clubhouse to rise again when our recent triple-crown slugger Andrew ‘Rusty’ Russell launched a decisive leadoff triple in the bottom half of the seventh. This was the catalyst for him to score the go-ahead and game winning run on Jarrod ‘Hammer’ Hodges RBI ground out. In smashing that triple Andrew might have imagined that he was wrapping his bat around the head of the individual(s) who stole his car and it contents last week apparently for little other purpose than vandalism… what a shame we have people like this to somewhat tarnish an otherwise great society like Melbourne!

Backing up the brilliance of our pitchers in this game was an evenly spread offence that worked hard to deliver eleven hits against the blokes from Boeing Reserve. While it may not be fair to single out specific players after a game like this it was most pleasing to note that, when the going got toughest, the heart of our batting order definitely did not go missing. I’ve already mentioned ‘Rusty’ and ‘Hodgo’ for their exploits in the seventh, but each would be further rewarded for their efforts with two hits in this game. They were joined with two knocks by Anthony ‘A-Rod’ Reinke who has bounced back hard from a relatively quiet season last year to become a consistent force in our lineup again this year.

I’m guessing that some readers who were at the game would be starting to think that I was going to overlook one fellow who also deserves a special mention. Ah yes, it was a red letter day for the HENDRICKS family at Waverley who are proud to boast not one, but two young players in Waverley’s FIRSTS team this year. I have already outlined the contribution of ace pitcher Donavon who collected a save but I’m sure that he would be happy to share the spotlight on this occasion with his not-so-little brother Joshua. I’m not sure if he has turned 17yo yet, but this lack of experience didn’t stop ‘Big Papi’ from emulating his Red Sox namesake by delivering the HUGE two-strike, two RBI single to left field that broke open the second inning of this game. It should give the youngster valuable confidence to know that he can already be a major factor in such a big game… good on you Josh!

It would be natural for the Essendon team to feel slightly deflated after taking their first loss for the season, but they should not take long to realise that it is only one small battle in what should be a season-long war between the top teams in this competition. One thing we will not be overlooking at Waverley is the fact that the Essendon Bombers will remain between us and our prospects for ultimate success at the pointy end of this season… they will not be going away! 
And, they should also take their share of the plaudits for being part of such an enthralling contest. There was not much in it folks!!

Although we would not need much more, there was further uplifting news for the ‘Waverley Nation’ coming via a few familiar faces in the clubhouse. Our reigning Club Champion pitcher Brett Flemming is walking and no longer hobbling as his knee rehabilitation continues to go ahead of schedule. Young star Taylor McEvoy is still nursing his arm in a sling following successful shoulder surgery and, while we will not see him playing for a good while yet, the smile is returning to his face. Our 2007 Premiership short stop whiz and Minnesota Twins professional Jimmy Beresford also appears to be getting his competitive juices flowing and I reckon that he is not far away from pulling on a Wildcats uniform this season.

By far the best news for the ‘Waverley Nation’ is the fact that we have proven to ourselves quite clearly that we can compete with anyone in this competition and this should provide the impetus for us to return to the finals action following a most disappointing 2007/08. It will be nice to enjoy the afterglow of a terrific win, but we must soon turn our full attention to a pair of upcoming battles away at Bonbeach. The first of these is on Sunday 23 November at 3:30pm, followed by another twilight meeting at the same venue on Thursday night 27 Nov at 6:00pm. I can’t wait!

GO WILDCATS!

What the….??! Well, I’d like to tell you that the Wildcats came away from Melbourne Ballpark with a magnificent victory, or even just a victory, but I’m just not sure what the wash-up from this incomplete game might be? Certainly Waverley was leading 1-0 at the end of the last completed inning and this might be the ultimate outcome from this game. But, equally, the Geelong Baycats had tied the game in the top half of the fifth and had bases loaded with two out when time was called just after the 11:00pm curfew.

Most people living in Melbourne would have been well aware of the thunder storm that loomed from the west around dusk and moved its way eastward through the night. The rain had just passed through the Altona area around the time we arrived at Melbourne Ballpark and it had virtually cleared by the time our nightcap game against the Baycats got underway. In fact it came somewhat out of the blue, OK murky grey, when apparently one of the vigilant umpires noticed a flash of lightning away in the distant sky.

A lengthy delay followed as, once again unseen by me, another flash kept the players off the field for what seemed like hours but probably amounted to about 25 minutes according to someone who was keeping track of the time. The smaller than usual gathering of the ‘Waverley Nation’ in the grandstand tried to amuse itself with various baseball discussions while staring at a blank sky and an eerie looking abandoned baseball diamond. We were wondering at the time if the game would even re-start.

One notable wag in ‘The Nation’ with a Scottish accent… yes, Jimmy Russell… wasn’t too impressed with the notion of lightning halting the game when he suggested that there was nothing sinister coming from the sky. Instead, Jimmy was prepared to bet that the “lightning” was actually some hard-working guy in Hoppers Crossing doing a bit of moonlight welding in his garage! To be quite honest the scant presence of lightning didn’t seem to offer much of a threat to the game, but I suppose you cannot fault anyone for taking a conservative approach with such things.

Before this our Waverley Wildcats would have felt a chill of déjà vu when Geelong lefty Elliot Biddle started the game like a typhoon with successive strike outs to open the game and his final tally of five from his four innings would help to keep our offence pretty silent. We didn’t want to contemplate another overdose of the twelve K’s we suffered at Geelong just recently. The stalemate continued until our sterling catcher Grant ‘Maurer’ Karlsen lined a leadoff single in the fourth. His base-running replacement under the speed-up rule was the swift Ian ‘Ichiro’ Geduld who used his speed to telling effect with a couple of stolen bases that moved him to third base. Our game opening run eventually scored when Geduld crossed the plate on Glenn Mascoll’s ground out.

Putting up the zeros on the Geelong half of the line score was our much underrated right hander ‘Tommy John’ Rynberk who was close to his best pitching form on this occasion after getting a bit more work this season. In fact, Tommy was quite brilliant while sailing through four innings until the lengthy delay cut short his terrific effort. In his customary style Tom used his variety to befuddle the Baycats batters and most of the timber laid on his pitches was mistimed rather than scalded. Only in the first inning did Geelong threaten with a runner left on third following a poked floater that found the chalk of the right field line. Rynberk struck out four and faced just 16 hitters in a splendid performance for the Wildcats.

After the major delay he handed the ball to his battery mate Grant Karlsen who was to suffer a similar fate as Rynberk in his first inning when Geelong’s leadoff batter repeated the precision of Roger Federer with a deftly floated shot that also touched down within millimeters of the first base line in shallow right field for a telling double. A fielder’s choice and an infield hit saw some Geelong “small ball” rewarded with the game tying run and a subsequent walk left the bags loaded with two out when the clock struck eleven and the baseball turned into a pumpkin!

A fair bit of discussion followed on the diamond and also in the ballpark foyer as some reached for rule books and others speculated about what the outcome of the game might be. The truth of the matter is that nobody was entirely sure and, I guess, we will have to await a pennant committee ruling. What you can take as a “given” is that Waverley have not lost the game at this stage and we may even be awarded a 1-0 win. Worst case scenario for us is that the game may need to be replayed, or re-started where it was interrupted, you’ll just have to wait patiently along with me to find out!

GO WILDCATS!

While it probably never will be the favourite road trip for the ‘Waverley Nation’, I have to say that my admiration for the fighting spirit of the Newport Rams grows every time I see them. It should not have surprised us as much as it did that the Rams pulled off one of the greatest “Houdini acts” of all time to escape relegation from Division One last season… these guys NEVER give up!

I’ve never had any issue with any of the Newport guys off the field, or after games, but, let’s be honest, they have never even considered rolling out the welcome mat any time that Waverley has visited KC White Reserve… and I’d assume that this goes for any of their baseball enemies. I don’t reckon that the Rams discriminate; they simply don’t feel the need to make friends with anyone when there is a baseball game to be won. The Newport Rams always come with their game face on and they are more than ready to rumble. They will scratch and claw for any advantage on the field while pouncing upon any sign of weakness from their opposition. And, they are also well prepared to get vocal from the bench in order to apply the blowtorch to any opposing team that begins to falter. This folks is why they are never, ever easy to overcome!

The “aggro” started early on this day when a routine play early in the RESERVES game sparked the bonfire on the home bench. Waverley pitcher, the mild-mannered Adam Bonaddio, fielded a come-backer and applied what looked like a standard two-handed tag on the batter who was running for first base. The batter obviously felt that ‘Bonnas’ had applied some unnecessary brutality to the tag and his reaction was enough to insert plenty of needle into the game. Now, fair dinkum, I don’t want to make fun of ‘Bonnas’, but he could pose as the “before guy” in one of those body building commercials… he used to weigh about 35kgs… that was before he had his hair cut! You nasty big brute Bonnaddio!

Anyway, the game did somewhat descend into a testy “cut and thrust” affair with players on both teams feeling the pressure and the stakes for victory were raised above the normal level of competitiveness. The fact that the Newport TWOS were to maximise a couple of Waverley errors late in the game for five runs would add to our chagrin when our four-run rally in the last fell agonisingly short.

This was to be the backdrop for the main event at Newport as the sun became sharper and a helicopter hovered noisily overhead for what seemed like an hou