The King’s Birthday weekend provided the perfect opportunity for 15 Pakenham Pumas to take part in baseball tournaments in Geelong and Tamworth.
The State Winter Championships took place in Geelong, while the Tamworth Annual Baseball Tournament is always a highlight on the calendar.
Representing the Dandenong Baseball Association (DBA) in the State Championships, the ladies played two games on Saturday, winning both against Geelong Blue (8-6) and MWBL (21-0).
It was then an early and very cold start to Sunday, winning back-to-back games against Bendigo (12-6) and Geelong White (10-7).
These two wins meant the DBA finished top of the table and qualified for the semi-finals against MWBL Green.
Some quick runs scored by MWBL meant the DBA girls had some work to do.
But through some great hitting and amazing footwork the girls were able to come back with 13-12 win to secure a spot in the grand final.
It wasn’t to be for the DBA this year; some errors in the field, and not being able to compete with Geelong’s big hits and aggressive base running, meant that the runs on the board were gaining fast.
Geelong took out the top spot with a 10-1 victory.
Among the highlights over the weekend for the ladies were:
• Carni Dowsett being amazing behind the plate and also getting some awesome hits.
• Felicity Clissold leading off almost every game and getting those strikeouts up on the mound.
• Jo Blackler did awesome on first base and had some great hits.
• Jess Moulding did well in left-field and had a few great hits.
• Tuhi Ngaheu was an amazing EO and helped with line ups, fielding changes, uniform and so much more.
The DBA seniors had a great weekend, starting off on Saturday with winning games against MWBL Diamond Valley (11-1) and then Bendigo (7-0).
Sunday started off with a 6-10 loss against Geelong, before backing up with an 8-3 win over MWBL Ringwood.
The last game of the day was against MWBL City, with the score unknown.
Monday started with a 5-8 loss to Geelong, but with three wins and three losses this meant that the guys made it to the semi-finals, playing for a spot in the grand final against MWBL City.
In a hard-fought match, the guys went down 6-2 just missing out on the last game of the tournament.
Highlights for the guys were:
• Dillan Collier caught six out of seven games and had some great hits.
• Max Hunter started on the mound in two games and did an amazing job.
• Hiroki Goke played great defensively and had the most hits for the team.
• Max Vetter had some quality at bats with high OBP and was a great defence player.
• Rohan Hector had a couple of great hits and caught one game.
• Lachlan Collier was the team’s Bat Boy for the tournament.
• Hiroki Won MVP for the DBA team
Over in Tamworth, Pumas current, past and a Life Member got together to represent the KC Gallopers in the annual Tournament.
The Gallopers went through the tournament undefeated and took away the flag with a convincing 17-5 win.
Scott Dale got the player of the finals and Daniel Taylor, Shaun Fahy and Simon Ferris had multiple hits scoring multiple RBIS.
-Jessica Moulding-
