v
Richmond Dragons
Starting Line-up: P John Kristensen,
C James Cumper, 1B Mike Burdett, 2B Dave Jones,
SS
James Guerra,
3B Tim Matthies, LF Stuart Ellis, CF Rob Shaw, RF Thom Doggert
Bench: Rob Wheeler, Brian Kendal, Ben Stobart, James Shaw
The
Guildford Mavericks took part in their first baseball game of the 2010
season. A nine
inning friendly against the Richmond Dragons, in the first week fixture
of the Herts Spring League. With weather conditions fairly mild and an
ever expectant chance of rain, the first pitch was thrown just after
10am.
In the first inning the Mavericks took an early lead
off a base hit from Dave Jones with James Guerra crossing home plate.
Two batters later after a Rob Shaw single, Mike Burdett was able to
round third and reach home. Richmond however were able to bounce back in
the
bottom of the inning and pick up a couple of runs themselves. In the
second inning Richmond scored again with three
more
runs, before Guildford answered in the third with Thom Do
ggert
RBI, who was thrown out trying to stretch it to two. Trailing 5-3 after
the Mavericks started to make some defensive changes, with Mike coming
in to pitch, John going to short, James G. to first and Rob W. in to
catch.
Richmond proceeded to tag some runs onto their total
as Mike struggled with his control, and errors were made defensively,
whilst at the plate their pitchers were able to keep us off balance and
prevent any Guildford rally. Due to time constraints agreed for this
league, the sixth inning became the last, and
a
couple more changes were made to get players into the game. Stuart Ellis
came into pitch, Ben Stobart went to left and James Shaw into right.
Stuart quickly managed to strike out the first two batters, he then
dealt with the third after a weak ground ball hit toward the third base
side.
Final score 15 to 5 Richmond win.
Regardless of the outcome, I believe the team played well and had we reached the 9th inning, the score may have been closer. These pre-season games that we are taking part in provide us with an excellent opportunity to try people at different positions. It also allows an opportunity for new players to practice in game type situations. Although we made some mistakes there are also a lot of positives we can take away from this week. Stuart having not pitched before did an admirable job in relief off the mound, Thom got a decent hit which could’ve given him an extra bases, James Cumper and Tim Matthies both played well in their defensive positions. Let’s hope this individual player development may carry into next weekend’s games.
Rob Wheeler
Head Coach
