Windsor Royals 31
Guildford Mavericks 6

Guildford, May 30th, 2004. A day of firsts all round today as the Mavericks put out a team high on enthusiasm, if low on experience. Guildford had a number of fresh faces playing, and a number of more experienced players unavailable. Windsor were the visitors and appeared well drilled from the off. Windsor do however seem to bring rain to Guildford each time they visit, but fortunately the rain didn't persist once the game got underway.

Ross Pennington started on the mound following on from a very impressive complete game performance last week. Unfortunately today wasn't a repeat performance, and he suffered a rough first inning, giving up 9 runs in the inning.

Ben Mullard was hitting lead off for the Mavs, and hit a long single, which would have been a double but for a stumble as he rounded first. Able to make up for this miscue he was able to advance on a wild pitch, and get into scoring position. Ross was able to follow this up with an unexpected bunt, bringing Ben home, and allowing Ross to reach first safely. These were to be the only runs scored in the inning, although the Mavs' newer players were able to prolong the recent pleasing trend of Mavs' bats coming alive. This had been an area requiring improvement earlier in the season, so the improvement in recent weeks has been encouraging.

Ross tightened up his  performance very well for his second inning, throwing far fewer pitches and allowing only 3 runs to score. A short inning at bat for the Mavs in the bottom of the 2nd. Duncan struck out to start the inning, having first worked the count full. Next up Gavin showed good concentration, getting a long double down the left field line, on an 0-2 pitch. Unfortunately this good work didn't lead to a run as he was caught stealing third. Ben was up again for the third batter, and third out with a long fly to right field.

Ben came in to replace Ross at the top of the third inning, and proceeded to put together a painful inning of work as he struggled to warm up and find his location. All told the damage was 11 runs given up, although there were two strike outs in there somewhere. The main culprit was the number of walks given up, an area Ben is aiming to improve on as he gets more game time on the mound.

The Mavs' third inning at bat added another run, as Julius got on base following a double. Jamie got his second hit of the game, and Frank got his first hit of the game in his first start for the Mavs. Ben managed to get out of the fourth inning with far less damage than in the third, striking out two and a simple put out at first for the final out, allowing only three runners on base, and no runs to score.

Another short inning for the Mavs with the bat. A strike out started the inning, but then Duncan showed good patience at the plate, to get a walk, following a full count. Gavin then 'took one for the team', as he was hit by a pitch, and got on base. Unfortunately Ben then grounded out into an inning ending double play, as a combination of unsure footing and not running all the way through first helped Windsor out.

Ben stayed in for his third inning, but the very long inning thrown earlier didn't help, so although getting it over the plate, the Windsor batters were able to pick their shots. A single, followed up by a two run homer, started the inning which was to yield four in total. As the Mavs continue to play together, and the newer players get more game time the defence will tighten up, and keep innings such as this shorter.

The fifth was the best inning of the game for the Mavs with the bat, as three runs came home in total. Dean Thoefoanes led off the inning with a single, eventually converting this into a well earned run. By this time Jamie had taken up station behind the plate as umpire, so Karl came in to bat at number 4, hitting a two bagger first time up, and coming into score. The final run of the inning was scored by Frank, following a double of his own.

Top of the sixth saw a third pitcher take the mound for the Mavs, as Karl shook off a few years' rust and took to the rubber. Karl throws very hard, but the rust showed at times, keeping both the catcher and the umpire on their toes. Despite this Windsor only managed two runs in the inning.

Bottom of the sixth also saw a new pitcher for Windsor. Ben was first up to face him and managed to eke out a walk having worked the count full. A stolen base followed, but unfortunately this would be the furthest a Maverick advanced all inning, with only Jamie getting on base afterwards, following a second walk. Windsor again only managed two runs with Karl on the mound in the top of the seventh, both the result of walks, as they struggled to adjust to his speed following the more sedate pace of Ross and Ben.

By now there was little doubt the game would be called under the league's 'slaughter rule', as the score had been one-sided for some time. The Mavericks did little to prolong the game in the bottom of the seventh, as Windsor's new pitcher put together a useful inning of work. Giles reached first on a dropped third strike, but this was followed by a ground out to second, and two strike outs for Windsor for their pitcher to end the game on a high.

Maverick MVP: Julius Miller

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