IT was a historic weekend for the Shoalhaven Mariners, with it marking the first time the club has fielded five teams in the Illawarra Baseball League competition.
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Saturday's action at South Nowra's Ison Park started with the Mariners' third grade clash with the Northern Pirates.
The first innings started evenly between the teams, with Pirates' Cooper
Bennett and Gianni Gazzola having single hits while Mariners' Bruce Jones had a double to centre-field scoring Mariners first run of the day.
The second innings saw James Lee shut the Pirates out with some sharp pitching - as the hosts led 3-2.
Following this, the Mariners stayed strong in the field, only allowing the Pirates on run in with Mariners having hits from Bruce Jones, Matt Moore and Tiaan Vanse Van Rensburg, bringing the score to 7-3.
The Mariners kept the Pirates scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings while the hosts advanced their lead with single hits to James and Antony Lee and doubles to Matt Moore and James Lee - which sealed a commanding 14-3 victory.
Pitching duties were shared between James Lee (four innings with eight strikeouts, 86 pitches and 48 strikes) and Callum McNicol (one inning with 18 pitches).
This win was followed by the second grade fixture between the two sides.
For the first six innings of the tight contest, neither side could record a run - due to the pitching duel between Mariners newcomer PJ Barbaro and Pirates' Lachlan Crawley.
In the seventh innings, the Pirates worked hard to get around the field with Hayden
Freeme having a single to left field, bringing in the visitors' only run of the game - which also proved to be their only hit.
Freeme also came into pitch the last innings where Mariners forced the issue by getting around the bases with some solid batting from Jackson Mannix and Lee Lawson, to help bring some runs, securing the hosts a 5-1 win.
PJ Barbaro pitched 6.2 innings with eight strikeouts while throwing 100 pitches for
50 strikes as Jackson Mannix finished the last batter by throwing two pitches.
The following day, all three of the Mariners lower grade sides travel to Dapto's Hector Harvey Field to take on the Panthers.
In the sixth grade first innings, it was encouraging to see the Mariners hold their own
against the Panthers, thanks to a handy hit from newcomer Martin Heffernan, who ran around and scored the visitors first run.
Ray Goulden started the pitching duties for the Mariners, as third baseman Chris Keith sharp fielding restricting the Panthers to just two runs.
From there, that's where the wheels feel off for the Mariners, with a lot of unforced errors allowing the Panthers to pile on the runs.
But every error made was a learning curb for a developing squad, as the Panthers won 22-6.
Hats off to young Cameron Goulden who was thrown into the catcher's role and did an outstanding job.
Hits went to Martin Heffernan and Ray Goulden.
In fifth grade, the Mariners faced off against a far more experienced Panthers outfit.
The game didn't start well for the Mariners, as their first three batsmen fell in quick succession.
Thankfully strong pitching from Geoff Fulop restricted the Panthers to just one run.
The next time Mariners got to bat was a lot more promising with numerous nice hits and good pitch selection from the team, which allowed them to put five runs across the plate.
Panthers responded with hits of their own, to regain the lead.
After that, the Mariners were only able to trouble the scorers one more time where Panthers bats started to fire, hitting the ball in all directions.
Pitcher Geoff Fulop battled hard on the mound all game but the Panthers were just too good, running out winners 20-6.
Hits went to Andrew Smithson, Geoff Fulop, Perry Alpen and Chris Keith, while Fulop had 101 pitches for 68 strikes and three strikeouts.
Finally, in fourth grade, the Panthers dominated from the outset, as their pitcher Joshua Lenard shut the visitors bats down, only allowing one hit through the first three innings.
With the game getting away from the Mariners, the team showed what they are capable of having a solid innings, bringing in six runs.
Relief pitcher Zac Douglas for Mariners also did well in difficult conditions, especially considering it he'd been away from the game for years and coming back to pitch for his first game.
Simon Levy also had a solid game in the field, by catching a number of sharp catches, in the 17-7 defeat.
Hits went to Mitchell Burgess (two), Patrick Mannix and Stuart Raymond, while Patrick Mannix (41 pitches, 22 strikes and one strikeout) and Zac Douglas (70 pitches, 42 strikes and two strikeouts) manned the pitching mound.
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