Coran Friend hits a grand slam in Junior Pirates win
December 06, 2007
Section: Sport
ILLAWARRA JUNIOR BASEBALL
Grant Vukasinovic
IN THE t-ball tadpole division, Cardinals Gold just went down to Chiefs 27–24. In another tight contest Cardinals Maroon 19 defeated an undermanned Pirates 17. Pirates Coran Friend hit another grand slam, Brodee Faccin batted well and Trent Jenkins had a great day in the field.
In t-ball Frogs division Dapto Chiefs 25 were too strong for Panthers 9, Cardinals 24 defeated Braves Red 15 and Pirates 22 beat the Braves 7 with Pirates Callum Donaldson hitting a grand slam and Tyson Clark a solo home run. Aiden McGoldrick was also enthusiastic in the field making a number of plays.
In rookie ball Cardinals Maroon 11 defeated Cardinals Gold 3, Chiefs 8 beat the Panthers 5 and Braves had their first win in two seasons defeating Pirates 15–8.
In little league Braves 9 defeated Cardinals Gold 6, Eagles came from behind to snatch a 12–11 win over Chiefs while Cardinals Maroon also came from behind to beat the Pirates 5-4.
Tight pitching featured highly with Cards Matthew Bridges and Pirates Bill Daly only giving up a single run each in their respective two-inning appearances.
Ben Parkinson struck a crucial base hit, after doubles from Lachlan Maher and Josh Krkovski, that gave Pirates the lead in the fourth only for successive hits from Cardinals take back the lead. Braves dominated with the bat in their under 14s game against Eagles, winning 7–0 while Cards were too strong for Panthers winning 7–0.
A solid first time pitching performance by Chloe Ruse of Eagles and Daniel Browne in relief made Pirates fight all the way for their 12–5 win in under 16s action.
With scores at 6–5, a three-run home run to Joshua Barber and a solo home run to Kieran Harris allowed Pirates closer Kyle Dutton to finish the match with a shut out innings and the win. Cardinals were too strong for Braves, 10–3.