Last night the Brisbane Bandits met the Sydney Blue Sox at the Blacktown Olympic Park for a doubleheader. There was a lot of really good baseball played, and both games were very close - despite the scoreline in the second game.
As we drove in to the park, hoping that it was not going to rain, I noticed two things that were different from the last game I attended. Firstly, the 'Standing Room Only' signs were up, which was great. And secondly, they have started giving out these neat little parking tickets:
The crowd at the game was really good, probably due to the fact there were a heap of kids there. The ground announcer and the team mascot got a lot stronger responses than they had previously. The second game got really close late in the game and the crowd was cheering and clapping as each pitch was delivered. A few 'rally sox' were also seen circulating wildly. This is all great to see, it seems a real pity when you get into a real close situation in the game and the crowd just sits there. Hopefully as the season goes on, this will continue to improve.
Off the field, it continues to be a well-run operation. Like the other games I have been to, the Sox continued to have the batting tunnels and other kids activities available, as well as a pretty good range of food. The Blue Sox have taken on board some fan feedback, and they now have a wider range of beer available - nice one!
The CEO of the ABL, Peter Wermuth was seen among the crowd at the game. At one stage he was leading around a delegation of US visitors, showing the facilities and talking about some of the work they are doing to bring the game to life. Later in the night he was sitting among the fans behind home plate watching the action unfold.
Now, to the on field action.
Friday night's game had seen the Bandits give the Blue Sox quite a resounding 6-1 loss. Game One of the doubleheader last night saw a very close affair, with neither side able to assert themselves offensively. For the Blue Sox, David Welch was dominant - striking out eight over six innings of work. Ryan Searle was pretty good for the Bandits, and I am a little surprised his record is now 3-0. He kept the Sox pretty quiet, and their first run came off a balk in the third inning. Some good situational hitting from Tim Auty plated another in the third, and the Sox also scored in the sixth inning courtesy of a Boss Moanaroa double which was followed up by a single to Michael Lysaught.
Predictably, Koo came on to close things out for the Blue Sox in the seventh. While he allowed one run, there was never much doubt, and he punched out Ryan Battaglia to end the game - Sox won 3-1.
The second game was interesting. Chris Oxspring started out very strongly, with six strikeouts over the first five innings. By the sixth inning, the Sox had picked up three runs and were sailing quite comfortably. The Bandits then picked up a few runs in the sixth, thanks mainly to a big double from David Sutherland.
I didn't pick up on this during the game, but reviewing the box score now I see that Chris Mowday retired 14 of the 15 Blue Sox hitters that he faced. All he gave up was a walk to David Kandilas. In five games against the Blue Sox, Mowday has pitched 7.1 innings, allowing 5 hits and 0 runs. He has struck out six, and that walk to Kandilas was his first walk of the season.
Wow.
The game was decided in the top of the eleventh, when some plucky hitting from Wade Dutton and Shuhei Fukuda led to the Bandits having runners on two and three and none out. The Blue Sox then intentionally walked Brad Dutton. Akira Nakamura stepped in and slotted a neat sac fly to Mitch Dening in centre field, allowing Wade Dutton to score. Josh Roberts then popped out, and there was 2 out, with the Blue Sox looking at a 4-3 deficit going into the bottom of the inning. Sox reliever Matt Williams - who had managed to avoid any major dramas, despite finding it hard to find the zone early - then composed himself and struck out Mitch Nilsson.
However, Pat Maat spilled the ball, and by the time he regathered it, rose to his feet and started moving, the fleet footed young Nilsson had zipped up the line and made it safe to first.
Disappointing, but surely just a bump in the road....
David Sutherland steps in, and hits a hard - although regulation - grounder to Michael Lysaught at short. Lysaught had not had a great night, grounding into two double plays. He bobbled the ball and was unable to make the short throw to second to secure the force out and end the inning. Shuhei Fukuda scored, taking it to 5-3 Bandits.
This was the beginning of the end for the Blue Sox. Rory Rhodes singled, plating two. Andrew Campbell hit a towering double to left field, plating another two, and Wade Dutton and Shuhei Fukuda picked up singles, scoring more. Brad Dutton then hit a double to right field to score another two. By the end of the massacre, it was 12-3 to the Bandits.
Funnily enough we went from a tied game to a potential mercy rule situation in the space of half an inning. It just does to show that errors lose baseball games. All up, both teams scored three earned runs. The difference was Brisbane's nine unearned runs.
While the scoreline didn't flatter the Blue Sox, the game was pretty good quality.
The Bandits seem to have a reasonably good pitching side. The Bandits currently lead the league in ERA with 2.56. Their bullpen is pretty solid, with Mowday, Morriss, Veitch and Stockman pitching very well. Mowday was just outstanding. I was desperately waiting for him to stuff something up, or go for a big hit, so I could call out and tell him to get a haircut - but it just didn't happen. He had a strong impact on the game, and really took the wind out of the Blue Sox hitters. As long as their hitters can fire - like they did in game two tonight - the Bandits pitching will keep them in the game.
Elsewhere, it was great to see the Melbourne Aces finally get their home opener in the book after some washouts earlier this weekend. They did it in style, beating the Cavalry twice today. I look forward to next weekend when the Blue Sox take them on at BOP.
For more pictures from Saturday's games, check out this album.
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