The Mavericks
rounded of
an excellent season by crowning themselves as Southern Single A division
Champions. The claimed this title with a superb victory over the
Chelmsford Clippers. Although all the players entered the game
optimistic, they knew the task would not be easy and revenge was very
much in the mindset of the Mavericks who had suffered an 11 to 8 defeat
earlier on in the season to the Clippers.
The
Clippers came up first to bat against the Mavericks ace Kevin Zanes. As
nearly all his opponents during the season have done, they struggled to
muster much in the way of offense. The Mavericks came into bat having
only surrendered one run to the Clippers bats. At the plate the
Mavericks looked in great form from the off. They took the lead in the
bottom of the 1st 3-1 and never surrender that lead until the game had
finished.
Zanes
came back out in the second with all guns blazing, shutting down the
Clippers with just 10 pitches, thanks to some great defence who did not
commit an error all game. Every ball that left the Clippers bat was
turned into an out by the Mavericks defence and Chelmsford seemed to
realise early on that the Mavericks were playing like a team who
deserved to be called Champions.
However it was in the bottom of the second that Chelmsford realised just
how good the Mavericks form was. Having sized up the Clippers pitcher
during the first inning the Mavericks began to tee off against him in
the second. Guildford batted around, bringing nine men across the plate.
Meanwhile Clippers pitcher struggled to get outs. Pitches outside of the
zone were left alone, and this good plate discipline put several runners
on the bases. When the pitches did come across for a strike, the
Maverick bats blasted the ball to all parts of the ground.
From here on a victory looked assured for the Mavericks, although this did not lead them to taking their feet off the gas. The defence looked sharp when called upon, including a number of good plays from shortstop John Kristensen, and the mavericks bats continued to fire. The baserunning was also sharp, stealing 10 bases off the Clippers catcher.
As
the Mavericks inched towards the 7th inning, they continued to build on
their lead. First baseman Matt Bruce
collected 4 RBI’s on four hits,
spearheading the mavericks offense, however it was most definitely a
team effort with every player driving in at least one run. Every player
also secured at least two hits and scored a run. Zanes continued to
dominate on the mound, striking out 9 and only allowing one further run
leading to the 7th.
Match Report by Stuart Ellis and stats by Phill Nathan
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