PL2 v Curtin

UWA 6 v Curtin 7

06/11/11 - UWA got off to a promising start scoring 1 in the top of the 1st. The game was tight all day with Curtin jumping to a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the 2nd. It remained that way until a couple of Curtin errors put us back up 6-4. With the game in the balance Stivey gave up 3 hits early in the 6th to concede the lead and victory to Curtin 7-6. UWA have a lot of work to do if they want to play finals. 4 hits is not going to win you a game in PL2's.

Box Score

PL2 v Carine Cats (Preliminary Final)

UWA 5 v Carine Cats 11

27/03/11 - They were not much of a team. Spare parts, discards and off-cuts; the dreamers, the angry, the bloodied and the over-enthusiasts; not young enough to be groomed for the future but not old enough to be relegated veterans, they were banished to the no-man’s land of Provincial Reserves 2. Written off by the rest of the Division, maybe by their own club, and perhaps even by themselves, they could justifiably feel themselves to be a contemptible little team. Nothing was expected of them as the eyes of all those around turned to the possibilities of the Provincial League finals campaign and the faded glories of the reunited AA team of yesteryear in the grade below.

There were like the 1914 men in so many ways. Referred to by their enemies and by their allies as “that contemptible little army”, volunteers all, they turned the tide of the French retreat at Mons and, those that survived, wore that name with pride well beyond Armistice. And so it was with this team, turning the tide after Christmas with a touch of not always so quiet arrogance, leavened by still more discards and spare parts from above and below that they did not in truth need, they discovered how to win against the teams that had rolled them so easily in the first half of the season. They won, and kept on winning as the teams around them wavered – enough for them to surprise themselves, the Club and the League by finishing third at the end of the regular season.

The story could have ended there. They had surpassed their own expectations and certainly those of their club-mates and the rest of the League, and the mistaken expectation was that they would revert to type and fade into history at the semi-final. Momentum, though, is a peculiar thing; as is courage. Once those are in your favour it is so hard to contain them. That the men in green trounced Rockingham in the semi-final is now a matter of historical record, the first finals win in PR2 or C grade since 2006/2007 and only the second since the halcyon days of 1991/2.

Perpetual motion machines are a scientific myth, and, unless more impetus is injected, all momentum will fade. Like the Old Contemptibles, though, courage can sustain someone far longer than should rightfully be expected of them. Witness Thom Nelligan who could not get out of the third inning the week before and yet blasted five innings past a vaunted Carine line-up and would perhaps have held more had the gloves behind him stood up as much to be counted. Witness Ricky Fang in probably his last ever outing for University deal with the occasional wayward pitch and bat and run as only a gritty courageous catcher can. Witness Tony Hyams who fed off the heckling from the opposition crowd to pound the ball to all parts of the ground. Witness the reunited infield of Wilson, McNeil and Pascoe consistently putting the ball in play and pressuring an oft-times fragile Carine field. Witness the speed of Oppelaar and Buckley, the rookie and the journeyman, taking the extra bases and being able to produce something out of nothing. Witness the versatility of Shirley and Pellerano, the latter reeling in the years to discover the hitting stroke he had once possessed and the latter rediscovering the love of playing the game as well as administering it.

But even that much courage was not enough to save the inevitable fade in momentum. The University bats may have made a louder sound than their gloves, but not by enough. Fielding mistakes, both with the glove and the ball, proved costly and gifted Carine too many runs for the C Grade Contemptibles to make up. And yet, as Tom Krause once said “Courage is the discovery that you may not win, and trying when you know you can lose”. That sort of courage, this team continued to show in spades.

Box Score

PL2 v Rockingham (1st Semi Final)

UWA 15 – Rockingham 6

20/03/11 - On the 22nd of January 1879 B Company of the 2nd Warwickshire Regiment of Foot stood to arms as the garrison of a small post known as Rorke’s Drift on the Mzinyathi River, the border between British colony of Natal and the Zulu Kingdom. With them were a collection of supply and commissariat troops, convalescing soldiers from a variety of regiments and a few random survivors from the massacre at Isandlwana barely a day before. Commanded, by dint only of his seniority of appointment, was a detached Engineer Officer, Lieutenant John Chard, 156 men, with their backs to the wall and nowhere to run to, faced an estimated 4,000 Zulu warriors who had run all day to follow up on the crushing defeat they had just inflicted on Lord Chelmsford’s Army.

Like the Warwicks, the University PR2 began their semi-final against Rockingham with the knowledge of the shock defeat of their sister team, the defending PR3 League Champions, earlier that morning. Despite finishing a surprise third at the end of the regular season, they were widely viewed as a rag-tag collection of players who would provide little trouble to the invaders from the south. The initial red onslaught in the first innings threatened to prove the critics right, with University conceding a cheap run before Tom Nelligan discovered the fury within him and set the rest of the batters down in order. The biggest man in the line-up then took a pitch before Tony Hyams opened his shoulders and took the Rockingham starter deep over the rightfield wall. Nelligan was still white hot in the second and again unhittable, and although the men in green did not capitalise on all their scoring opportunities, they added three more runs for a 5-1 lead.

Chard’s men defended a small compound formed by a hospital, store and native kraal, ringed by a jury-rigged wall of mealie bags and boxes. The first wave nearly swept them off the north wall and waves of Zulu impis continued to break on the defenders throughout the day. In the evening Chard realised that the hospital could no longer be held and ordered a withdrawal toward the store and kraal. A few Warwicks, many of them Welsh, and a collection of the walking wounded conducted a desperate fighting withdrawal – literally bashing a hole in the wall of each room as they collected more convalescents and battled away from the rampaging Zulus. Nine of the eleven patients survived the escape as did all of the able-bodied soldiers; a truly remarkable feat.

The game and the battle was in the balance when, nearing the hour mark, Nelligan struggled in the third and not even the acrobatic Ricky Fang or the whispering talents of the deputised coach for the day, PR2’s own version of John Chard, could bring him back under control. Runs began to leak and, with more baserunners threatening, the veteran Andy McDonough was brought into the game. University failed to score in response, and a hung curve in the next inning gave Rockingham their first taste of the lead since the game’s commencement. Like the Warwicks, with their playing lives on the line, the offence and the defence stepped up to the next level. Shane Wilson speared a key line-drive, Brendan Buckley reeled in the years and covered the outfield with blistering pace, and the delightfully over-excitable Alex Pellerano took a number of key graceful catches late in the game. Buckley and Fang both shone with the bat in key clutch hit situations, and it was the timely ignition of players such as Kyle Oppelaar and his bunt, McDonough and his smoked line-drive, and the aggressive base-running of Chris Pascoe and Mark Shirley that set up these RBI opportunities up. Chard’s outlawyering of the Rams and the elegant words of wisdom from Nathan Rogerson, the team’s very own Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead lookalike (at least his impossibly young Michael Caine film version), were a suitable counterpoint to these efforts.

The massive, but piecemeal attacks on Rorke’s Drift came close on several occasions to defeating Chard’s men but they ultimately prevailed, with the Zulus finally disappearing into the bush at dawn. When Chelmsford’s relief column arrived they found exhausted men who had not slept, and who had fought for their lives for nearly ten hours. The defenders were virtually out of ammunition and almost all were carrying a wound of some description. And yet they had to bury but 17 of their comrades. Official tallies of the Zulu dead range between 350 and 875.

Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded for gallantry at the Battle of Rorke’s Drift, the second-most earned in a single day in the history of British and Commonwealth forces, and the 7 won by the Warwicks is the most ever received by a one regiment in a single battle. The disaster at Isandlwana may have prompted some glorification of Rorke’s Drift by the Imperial General Staff, but there can be no denying what men are capable of when their futures hang in the balance. UWA may have left their blood on their home soil, courtesy of the greatly missed Matt Fouhy, but they stoutly defended their home ground for a magnificent 15-6 victory.

Box Score

PL2 v Rockingham

UWA 16 v Rockingham 6

06/03/11 - Consistency. That one word sums up how the PL2 UWA Whips were able to knock off the Rockingham Rams for the second time this season. Three BIG innings, steady defense and sound pitching were also key ingredients to the 16-6 victory, which secured the fourth spot in the ladder for the Whips.

After a rollercoaster of a season that was drawn out over more than five months, the Whips finished the regular season on a high note with Sunday's win. Thanks to the right arm of veteran pitcher Andrew McDonough, and timely hitting throughout the line-up, UWA got off to a quick start by scoring five runs in three of the first four innings. This proved to be more than enough, but for good measure, the fellas added a single run in the fifth inning. This 16-run outburst put plenty of distance between UWA and Rockingham and the Whips never looked back.

Patience at the plate was much more prevalent today as the Rockingham pitchers were forced to go deep in the count against the UWA bats. Every Whip starter collected at least one hit during the five-and-a-half-inning match-up, but there were a few players who made even more of a mark. Shane Wilson and Scott Barrell each had three hits and Ricky Fang and Brendan Buckley collected a pair of hits as well. In addition to his eight-strikeout performance on the mound, McDonough contributed to his own cause with two, 2-RBI knocks.

With another week still to go in the PL2 regular season, the Whips will have to wait a fortnight for their next opponent. Next Sunday’s bye allows the squad to prepare for the first round of the playoffs, where it is likely they will face the Rams of Rockingham yet again.

Box Score

PL2 v Balcatta

UWA 4 v Balcatta 2

20/02/11 - With the PL2 season entering its third-to-last game, the UWA Whips were in a must-win situation against the Balcatta Bears, who’ve been hibernating comfortably atop the ladder. Entering Sunday’s game, the Bears were undefeated with a 13-0 record, but the Whips arrived at McGillivray Park with intentions of changing that mark. Excellent pitching, consistent defense and timely hitting led to the 4-2 victory for the home squad and now puts the Whips in a position to battle for a home final.

Andrew McDonough toed the slab for the Whips and threw an absolute gem. McDonough allowed just two runs while throwing 98 pitches in eight innings of work. Defensively, the Whips were sound. At the dish, a bit of ‘small ball’ and some big hits produced the four runs that were enough for McDonough and the Whips to seal the deal.

Although the Bears struck first, with one run in the second inning, UWA answered with two runs in the fourth frame when Kyle Oppelaar’s triple brought home Andrew Symes. The next batter was Shane Wilson and he delivered an RBI single that brought home Oppelaar to push the score to 2-1 in favor of the Whips. Scott Barrell’s fifth-inning single proved pivotal as he came around to score and move the lead to two runs. The sixth inning padded the lead yet again as Barrell’s run-scoring, infield single put the score at 4-1.

At this point, the game was in the hands of the ‘Mound Doctor,’ and McDonough didn’t disappoint. Like a good surgeon, the right-hander, who also collected two hits for the UWA offense, carved up the Balcatta lineup in an efficient, industrial manner. A single Bear crossed the plate in the last inning, but that wasn’t enough. The PL2 Whips won the game by a final score of 4-2 and thus put an end to Balcatta’s undefeated season.

Now boasting a 7-6 record in the PL2 ladder, the Whips hope to collect another win on Sunday when they hit the road to take on the Carine Cats in a 9:30 a.m. match-up.

Box Score

PL2 v Curtin

UWA 31 v Curtin 2

06/02/11 - PL2... Where to start? Well with coaches Reid and Madden on hiatus, the reigns were left to McNeil - the first and as it turns out only bad move for the day. After a few too many Shandies the night before, McNeil showed utter distain for his position of authority (rumor has it he has had a bit to do with administration of the club lately) by sleeping in and not making to the game until 9:35am. Step up to the plate - coach Thom Nelligan. And what a debut it was...

The first inning saw us go through the lineup against some wayward Curtin picthing... but our intent and appraoch were solid. The bottom of the first was the start of the Mark Shirley show - making all three outs on pop flyballs to 3rd base. The form continued in the top of the 2nd when Shirls joined the bomb squad on what looked suspiciously like a check swing. This really brought the UWA bats to life with the rest of the team either going yard (Pascoe and Hyams) or bouncing over for ground rule doubles. Special mention to Ricky Fang, who crushed a ball over the left field fence with loaded bases to show us all that his bat still has something in it, despite the distinct appearance of a lead pipe with a handle.

Pascoe stayed in control on the hill for the whole game, even though he probably threw less than 50 pitches through 4 innings.

We get a rest this week but need to make sure we hit the track hard for a big game against Balcatta at home in two weeks time. Good luck to Heat in the ABL Championship and anyone betting against me at Mouse Racing... be there!

Box Score

PL2 v Kelmscott

UWA v Kelmscott

30/01/11 - For the Provincial League 2 Whips, the third time was the charm on Sunday. After tying the Kelmscott Bulldogs to open the 2010-2011 season, and then dropping a one-run heartbreaker to the ‘Dogs, the guys in green desperately needed a win over the blokes in blue. The PL2s brought veteran pitcher Dave Stivey down from the PL1s and this move proved to be pivotal for the home team.

Stivey pitched the Whips to victory while allowing just three runs in five innings of work. After a ten-pitch, scoreless first frame, his offense put up five runs. The early lead was led by Kyle Oppelaar’s RBI sacrifice fly. Although Stivey allowed one run in the second inning, he struck out two Bulldogs and helped himself with the aluminum by adding an RBI sacrifice fly of his own. After giving up two runs in the third dig, the Whips came back in a big way and put up seven runs in the bottom of the frame.

This massive output featured RBI hits from Ricky Fang, Oppelaar and a wall-scraping three-run home run from Chris Pascoe. Alex Pellerano, Mostyn McNeil and Shane Wilson also added hits in the inning. Thirteen runs was more than enough as Stivey held Kelmscott scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings to secure the win. The 13-3 victory moved the PL2s to 5-6-1 on the season and gave the Whips their first triumph over the Bulldogs this year. UWA will be back in action next weekend as they take on the Curtin Brewers in an away game. The Sunday match-up begins at 9:30 a.m. at the Curtin University South Oval in Bentley.

Box Score

PL2 v Rockingham

UWA 18 v Rockingham 4

16/01/11 - Turning the calendar and starting fresh in 2011 was exactly what the UWA PL2 squad needed. Thanks to a massive offensive output from everyone in the lineup, and stellar pitching, the Whips cruised past the Rockingham Rams and took Sunday’s road game by a final score of 18-4. The win gives the Whips their first victory of the second half of the season. The scoring brigade began in the top of the first frame when UWA’s shortstop, Mostyn McNeil, provided some Presidential Power as he crushed a three-run home run over the left field fence. The round-tripper was McNeil’s second against the Rams this season and third overall. Tony Hyams added an RBI single and the nine-run-inning gave the Whips a comfortable lead to head out for the bottom of the first inning. After starting pitcher Chris Pascoe struck out the first two hitters of the inning, a walk led to a two-run home run, and Rockingham tallied one more run to push three across in the first “dig.” After a rough first inning, Pascoe settled in nicely and allowed just one more run during his five innings of work. Pitching ahead in the count and attacking the strike zone were certainly the keys to Pascoe’s success. The right-hander struck out four Rams and held the home team to three scoreless innings. At the dish, the Whips continued amassing runs in the second inning as three more UWA baserunners crossed the plate. Thom Nelligan led off the inning with a single and a Jeremy Faux single put runners at first and second with no one out. Ricky Fang executed a perfect sacrifice bunt and moved Nelligan and Faux into scoring position. Kyle Oppelaar drove home both runners with a two-out, two-RBI double down the left field line. Shane Wilson added an RBI single and after one and half innings, the Whips led 12-3. Even with the big lead over a confident and capable Rockingham team, the Whips never slowed down and added six more runs in the top of the fourth inning to push the lead to 18-3. The fourth “dig” was highlighted by Matt Fouhy’s RBI single and Wilson’s two-run single. Nelligan also collected an RBI and McNeil tallied his third hit of the day with a single. After the 18-4 victory over Rockingham, the PL2 Whips move into next week’s match-up with the Willeton Tigers with a lot of momentum. The two squads will meet on Sunday at McGillivray Park at 9:30 a.m.

Box Score

PL2 v Carine Cats

UWA 4 v Carine Cats 18

09/01/11 - The PL 2's showed their rust after a long break with a loss to Carine on Sunday. Thom Nelligan started off strong on the mound, but errors behind him made it tough to keep the team in the game. I look forward to seeing how the team responds with a huge game next week at Rockingham.

Box Score

PL2 v Curtin

UWA 17 v Curtin 3

05/12/10 - The month of November was anything but kind to the Provincial League 2 Whips, so when December rolled around, a new leaf was turned over. Sunday’s match-up against the Curtin Brewers got the PL2s back on track as they smashed the home team 17-3.

It was a slugfest for the Whips, who got on the scoring track early with three runs in the first frame. Thom Nelligan’s 2-run single plated Shane Wilson and Tony Hyams and UWA didn’t look back as the line-up produced runs in each of the five innings played. The second inning also featured a three-run attack, which was led by Hyams’ 2-RBI triple and Mostyn McNeil’s RBI single. McNeil added another RBI hit in the four-run third inning that stretched the lead to 10-2.

A Mark Shirley RBI single in the fourth inning produced the only run in this frame and a six-run fifth inning capped off the scoring binge. Nelligan collected another RBI hit and Wilson plated another Whip with a single, but the fifth inning was led by Kyle Oppelaar’s 3-RBI triple.

On the other side of the ball, left-hander Jeremy Faux pitched four strong innings while holding the Brewers to just three runs. Nelligan threw a scoreless fifth inning and the Whips notched another win on the young season with a 17-3 victory. The PL2s will be back in action on December 19 when they take on the Balcatta Bears.

Box Score