5th Grade Mariners took on the Northern Pirates at Ison Park on Sunday. The team welcomed a number of new players to the club including Tom Box, Matt Forster, Samantha Harbinson, Luke Hennessy, Bruce Hennessy, Dan Miranda and Natalie Moore. Some of these are new to baseball, some players have returned to the game after a significant time away.
Pirates went into bat first and hit well. Assisted early by a couple of errors from the Mariners the Pirates looked set. Two strike outs by newcomer Luke Hennessy and a great catch in centre field by Tony Burgess could not prevent the Pirates from bringing home 10 runs across the plate. Mariners going in for their first innings of the year with a lot of new players were unable to bring any home.
Second innings saw Pirates kept scoreless with some great pitching from newcomer Luke Hennessy closing the innings with a double play involving Luke and Tausia Antonio. Mariner’s second innings saw hits from Chris Keith and Dan Miranda but unfortunately the team was unable to convert them to runs scored.
Third innings saw a change to Tausia Antonio pitching. Pirates, again hitting well, got 2 home before Tausia Antonia combined with Matt Forester to close out the innings with a double play. Mariners into bat saw Tom Box, Tausia Antonio and Luke Hennessey put runs on the board with some impressive hits out to centre field and short stop.
The fourth Innings for the Pirates saw no runs across the plate for a quick change of side bringing Mariners back into bat. Despite Mariners having a few hits around the park they were not able to add any runs to the scoreboard.
The final innings saw a change of pitcher with Ben Quiney taking to the mound for Mariners. The Pirates added 1 more run to their total before being caught out by consecutive infield fly balls taken by Luke Hennessy at short stop and from pitcher Ben Quiney. Mariners came out to bat for the last time with Ben Quiney and Tony Burgess both having single hits bringing one more over the plate. Final score Northern Pirates 13 to Shoalhaven Mariners 3.
Pitching duties were shared between Luke Hennessey -76 pitches with 43 strikes and 2 strike outs, Tausia Antonio -35 pitches with 25 strikes and 3 strike outs and closing pitcher Ben Quiney -13 pitches with 9 strikes. A game played in good spirits will see players return for another round next week.
