Shoalhaven Mariners dominate Cardinals

After a loss in their previous outing against the Cardinals, Shoalhaven Mariners Major 2nd Grade side was keen to get back in the winners' circle on Saturday as they took on Berkeley Eagles 2B at Ison Park.

Being the home side, Mariners fielded first and after a leadoff walk, Mariners starting pitcher Kai Meuronen recovered well to strike out the next three Berkeley hitters.

At the bottom of the first inning, Mariners quickly gained the ascendancy scoring 4 runs, key hits from Nick Fisher (double) and Kieran Harris, doing the damage.

In second inning action, the Eagles were retired in order as Meuronen bagged another 2 strikeouts. At the bottom of the dig Andrew Provest hit a nice double to left field scoring Kyle French before the side was retired.

A leadoff single resulted in the Eagles scoring their first run of the game at the top of the third inning. But the Mariners answered back with 3 runs of their own as Eagles errors led to runs for the home team.

Mariners relief pitcher Andrew Provest took to the mound at the top of the fourth inning and retired the Eagles in order, striking out two. Mariners again kept the scorers busy adding another run to their tally at the bottom of the inning as Nick Fisher crossed for his 3rd run of the day. Fisher was the standout for the Mariners going 2 from 2 with 2 walks.

Costly errors from the Mariners pivots led to 2 Eagles runs coming in at the top of the fifth inning. But the home side proved way too dominant in this one and scored again at the bottom of the fifth.

The result was in the bag for the Mariners as neither team troubled the scorer in the 6th and last inning. Final result was a win for the Mariners 10-3.

In round 16 the Mariners will travel to Thomas Dalton Park to take on the Northern Pirates.

Shoalhaven Mariners Minor 2nd Grade

Mariners hosted Cardinals 3b team at Ison Park. This was a top-of-the-table clash that didn't disappoint.

Cardinals were to bat first and started strongly with some nice base running converting into one run.

In reply the Mariners hit back with some nice hitting from the top of the order bringing in three runs with the best being from big fella Leith Grant putting one to the left field fence to bring in two of the runs.

In the second inning both teams continued with their good hitting, both scoring two runs.

In the third inning, once again Cardinals continued with their good hitting, five of their batters having safe hits bringing in 3 runs.

Bottom of the third and Mariners only had three batters face the pitcher with Cardinals making a nice double play to prevent Mariners scoring.

Top of the fourth inning and Mariners had a pitching-catching change with the father-son duo of Stuart Raymond catching and Austin Raymond pitching to try and stem the flow of runs from the Cardinals.

Austin pitched well but unfortunately the field made an error letting one run score. Once again Mariners didn't trouble the scorers with only four batters coming to bat.

The fifth and final inning was coming up with Austin Raymond still pitching well making Cardinals struggle. Unfortunately it was a repeat of the last inning with a costly error letting Cardinals score another two runs.

Mariners were trailing by four runs but true to their never-say-die attitude came back fighting. They managed to get their first two batters on base with one out. Dalton Haines came to the plate hitting a ball to centre field bringing in two runs.

Three out of the next four Mariners batters managed to get on base. So with bases loaded and two out Austin Raymond came up to bat, hitting a bullet to right field fence scoring all of the three base runners which put the leading run across the plate. Mariners winning 10-9.

Pitcher Andrew Pearson 81 pitches 39 strikes and 3 strikeouts. Austin Raymond 34 pitches 26 strikes and 2 strikeouts.

Double hits went to Austin Raymond (2) and Leith Grant 1. Singles went to Matt Moore (3), Brodie O'Reilly 1, Stuart Raymond 1, Leith Grant 1, Dalton Haines 1 and Andrew Pearson 1.

Shoalhaven Mariners Minor 3rd Grade

A strong start by Mariners with three of their first four batters struck out by Stephen Pearson. Side away. Mariners came out strongly with every team member facing the bat. Hits by Colin Barnes and Antonio Tausia, runners batted in by Antonio Tausia, Chris Keith, Tony Provest and Shawn Carr. Five runs scored!

Cardinals responded scoring one run after a Mariners error. Stephen Pearson continued solid pitching eventually retiring with no hits, 56 pitches, 27 strikes and 5 strikeouts. Despite good hits by Stephen Pearson (2 bases) and Antonio Tausia, Mariners were unable to add to their score of 5 from the first innings. Score 5-1.

A change of pitcher for Mariners and two timely hits led Cardinals to scoring a further two runs. Again, despite hits from Tony Provest and David Cowley , Mariners were unable to add to their total. Score 5-3.

Up came the wind and so did Cardinals determination. With hits from the first two lead-off batters and a hit by pitched ball Cardinals loaded the bases. An error and another good hit saw the first 4 batters cross the plate before Mariners were able to retire the Cardinals. Tausia had led the charge with 38 pitches, 28 strikes and 2 strikeouts. Score 7-5.

Mariners again in a pressure situation came up to bat. Hits by Colin Barnes and Tony Burgess 2 bases, bringing Barnes home, added to the pressure. A hit by pitched ball and a further hit by Chris Keith loaded the bases. Unfortunately Mariners were unable to add to their total. Final score 7-6. A valiant fight, but today a win to Cardinals 7-6.