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

PL2 v Kelmscott

UWA 5 v Kelmscott 6

28/11/10 - The PL 2 squad lost a heartbreaker on Sunday by the score of 6-5. The Whips trailed 4-2 in the Top of the last inning when the offense awakened to take a 5-4 lead. The lead was quickly cut to 4-3 on a Paul Phatara RBI single. A Kyle Oppellar walk was followed by a Mark Shirley sacrifice bunt. Consecutive hits by Mostyn McNeil, Chris Pascoe, and Tony Hyams gave the Whips the lead. In the Bottom half of the inning, Kelmscott scratched 2 runs across the board without making solid contact off of releiver Chris Pascoe. Starter Jeremy Faux showed command and confidence while allowing 4 runs in 4 strong innings of work.
The Whips look to get back on track next week on the road against Curtin.

Box Score

PL2 v Willetton

UWA 16 v Willetton 4

21/11/10 - The UWA Provincial League 2s took a step in the right direction Sunday when the club handed the Willetton Tigers a BIG loss. The visiting Whips crushed the Tigers 16-4 to get back on the winning track after three consecutive losing weekends.

The Whips, now 2-3-1 and fourth in the PL2 standings, jumped out to an early lead by putting up 11 runs in the top of the first inning. A one, two, three bottom of the first from Jeremy Faux set the tone and got the offense back in the dugout and the rest was history. This massive offense output put the game virtually out of reach for the home team, but UWA continued whipping Willetton with the bats as the Whips tallied five more runs in the late innings.

Captaining the ship this weekend were veterans Andrew McDonough, Mostyn McNeil and Tony Hyams. Chris Pascoe and Matt Fouhy posted multi-hit games for the Whips and every UWA hitter who entered the batter’s box contributed.

The Whips will look to continue their winning ways this Sunday when they travel to Kelmscott to take on the Bulldogs in a 9:30 a.m. start.

Box Score

PL2 v Rockingham Rams

UWA 6 v Rockingham Rams 9

14/11/10 - After losing a heartbreaker last weekend on the road, the Provincial League 2 UWA Whips were back on familiar turf as they hosted the Rockingham Rams on Sunday. The end result, however, was no different as the Whips dropped another close game, this time losing 9-6.

After spotting the Rams four runs in the first inning, the Whips battled back and evened the score at 6-6 in the middle innings. American Alex Pellerano made his UWA debut and but was relieved by left-hander Jeremy Faux in the second inning. Faux worked out of a no outs, bases loaded jam and kept the Rams from putting the game out of reach.

Offensively, the Whips were led by some presidential power as Mostyn McNeil clobbered his first home run of the season. The six runs, however, simply weren’t enough to take the home game against the Rams. Another bright spot for the Whips came in the form of a masked man, as catcher Ricky Fang was back in action with the PL2s. After spending last weekend with the PL1s, Fang’s defense was still solid and provided the foundation for the Whips between the white lines.

The PL2s will return to the diamond Sunday when the Willetton Tigers host the Whips. The 9:30 a.m. game gives UWA an opportunity to rebound with a victory after consecutive losses.

Box Score

PL2 v Carine Cats

UWA 4 v Carine Cats 8

07/11/10 - The UWA Provincial League 2 squad embarked on its first road trip of the young season when the Carine Cats hosted the Whips. After a rough start in the first frame, the Whips trailed 4-0 but battled back to even the score before the 4-4 tie went by the wayside and the Cats snuck off with an 8-4 victory. Thanks in large part to Chris Pascoe’s right arm, and bat, the Whips were able to tame the Cats during the middle innings until some defensive mishaps gave the home team the lead again. Shane Wilson’s move from the infield to Pascoe’s battery mate proved to be seamless as he handled the catching duties nicely for the entire game.

With limited numbers for this weekend’s match-up, the Whips made some defensive moves and gave plenty of players a chance to get into the action. Along with improved baserunning from Kyle Oppelaar, steady defense from UWA President Mostyn McNeil, the Whips were also led by Tony Hyams’ bat.

In the end, it was the little mistakes that came back to haunt the Whips in Sunday’s PL2 game. The Whips will look to rebound after two consecutive losses when the Rockingham Rams come to the UWA Sports Park for another PL2 battle at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, November 14.

Box Score

PL2 v Balcatta

UWA 4 V Balcatta 5

31/10/10 - Halloween is known as a day in which kids and grown-ups alike bite into candy and other sweets to satisfy their sugar fixes, but at UWA Sports Park on Sunday, nails were being bitten as the Balcatta Bears and the UWA Whips dueled on the diamond in a nerve-racking match-up that resulted in a 5-4 Provincial League 2 victory for the visiting team.

The pitching efforts from T”h”om Nelligan and veteran journeyman, Andrew McDonough, held the powerful Balcatta line-up to just five runs, while offensively the scrappy Whips battled and stayed even with the Bears throughout the game.  A few baserunning blunders didn’t help the Whips’ chances of producing runs, but on the flip side, sound defense from Ricky Fang, Kyle Oppelaar and Shane Wilson kept the Bears’ bats in-check.

Chris Pascoe, Tony Hyams and McDonough produced in the middle of the Whips’ batting order and provided leadership in a game that featured close plays from start to finish.  Ultimately, this Provincial League 2 game featured timely hitting from both sides, but it was the Bears who prevailed and handed the Whips their first loss on the young 2010-2011 season.  On Sunday UWA will travel to Carine for its next PL2 game.

Box Score

PL2 v Curtin

UWA 12 v Curtin 3

17/10/10 - After tying the Kelmscott Bulldogs in last weekend’s opening game of the 2010-2011 season, the UWA Whips Provincial League 2 squad showed up ready to compete on Sunday.  This week’s match-up brought the Curtin Brewers to UWA Sports Park and a well-played game sent the visitors home with a 12-3 loss and provided the Whips with their first victory of the fresh season.

Thanks to a presidential promotion that brought Mostyn McNeil into the PL2 line-up, the Whips jumped out to an early lead on the Brewers and never looked back.  Along with the leadership from Mostyn McNeil and Shane Wilson, UWA pitching dominated the Curtin line-up as T“h”om Nelligan and Jeremy Faux kept the Brewer bats in-check to the tune of just three runs.

Improved baserunning and sound defense certainly aided the Whips in Sunday’s win as catcher Ricky Fang once again took control of the pitch-calling and the dirty work behind the plate.  Tony Hyams’ aggressive attitude, and verbal commands, on the base paths undoubtedly set the tone for anyone within an earshot as he demanded for Curtin’s third baseman to, “Get out of the way!” as he approached the base in an attempt to score.

The PL2 Whips performed well in their second week of competition and there is no doubt that the upcoming bye week will allow for deep, strategic thinking about the following weekend’s game.  In the meantime, however, the University of Western Australia Baseball & Softball Club will travel back in time to the 1980s and enjoy a celebratory weekend dedicated to Generation Y.

Box Score