The Middle Rock Magpies hat trick of consecutive wins ended on Sunday afternoon with a loss to the Wauchope Giants 8-16.
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Up until the final innings it had been a tight game with the Magpies leading their opponents at each turn. At the end of the first innings the Magpies led the Giants 5-2.
Trent Lavelle ,pitching with speed, variety and accuracy, contained the Giants’ batters. When they put bat-on-ball the Magpies’ fielding was crisp, producing the team’s first ever double play and a spectacular catch by Ryan Sherwood at right field.
At the end of the second innings the Giants had closed the gap and the score was 5-4, despite another double play from the Magpies. Both teams failed to add to their score in the third innings.
In the fourth innings, Trent Lavelle moved to the catcher position allowing Kye Dures to come to the mound to pitch in his first ever game of competitive baseball.
With plenty of encouragement from his team mates and supporters, Kye started in the most impressive way possible by striking out a batter, restricting hits and demonstrating a growing depth of talent in the Magpies’ pitching department.
At the end of the fourth innings the Giants gained the lead 6-8.
It was in the fifth innings that the Giants stamped their authority on the game. They batted with consistency and power, driving balls either through the infield or deep into the outfield, ensuring their players were consistantly in a scoring position to add a further eight runs.
With only 10 minutes to play, the score was 6-16 and the Magpies had a big job to notch up a possible fourth win.
The Giants’ pitching proved too strong and in the last innings the Magpies were only able to add two runs before the team was all out.
The team’s batting was a strong point with safe hits to Jason Kirkpatrick, Trent Lavelle, Rod Dures, Reid Farrell and Kye Dures. The Magpies batter who demonstrated both finesse and power was Todd Ried who laid down a superb bunt to advance runners and later a massive three base hit over the head of the Giant’s right field player.