Sunday May 9 will go down in the history of the Middle Rock Mariners Baseball Club as it was the first time they have fielded three teams.
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In 2021 the Mariners have an A grade team and two B grade teams.
The A grade game was unfortunately washed out when thick dark clouds dumped a heavy downpour on Blackbutt Park around noon.
The timing of the downpour allowed both the B grade teams to play out their games. These games were the first games of the 2021 baseball competition. The Mariners Green team took on the Wauchope Giants.
The Giants batted first scoring four quick runs.
The Giants' powerful batting display ended when the Mariners' Rob Boorer snared a great catch on third base. The Mariners replied by scoring two runs, leaving the score at 4-2 in favour of the Giants. The Mariners added another run in the top of the third.
The highlight of the game came in the third innings when Peter Kirkpatrick, fielding at second base, tagged a runner going towards second base, then fired the ball to first baseman Reid Farrell to cap off a brilliant double play.
Rob Boorer again ended the inning when he caught a hard hit line drive. Reid Farrell had a top game at first base taking two great catches and being involved in four outs.
At the top of the fourth with rain steadily getting heavier, the Giants scored two runs to take their total to 8. The Mariners now 5 runs behind went into the bottom of the fourth innings with a determination to score runs. The Giants were having trouble with the slippery ball and the Mariners took full advantage with their total quickly climbing to 8.
Reid Farrell was the stand out batter for Mariners hitting three safe hits from three turns at bats.
Ryan Bray also had a perfect hitting record having two safe hits from his two times at bat.
Marty Dures hit a two base hit while Ryan Bray hit a single to leftfield. Raj Kandhi who was voted the Most Valuable Player (MVP) pitched 3.1 innings giving up only 3 safe hits and two walks while recording 2 strikeouts.
Rob Boorer then came on to pitch relieving Raj on the mound. With the rain making it impossible to continue the game was prematurely ended. An 8-8 draw being a fitting final result for two very evenly matched teams.
The Mariner's White Team were soundly beaten 18-4 by last year's premiers the Pirates.
Jason Kirkpatrick, Boris Budiono and Frank Reilly both cracked the ball into left field for safe hits while Rob Caire made an impressive debut at catcher.
The Mariners left 4 potential runs on base after fighting back from being 16-0 down.
In this fight back period the Mariners showed glimpses of their potential. Boris Budiono was voted the MVP for his efforts on the pitching mound which included a screaming catch of a line drive smashed back at his body.