Div 5
It was another high-scoring affair at Penistone Park on Sunday, with the Carine Cats Div 5 powering through to an 11–9 win over the Joondalup Outlaws.
We jumped on the board early in the first thanks to a pair of solid hits – Dek sending a shot down the right field line to score one, followed by Adam with a double to centre to bring in another.
Joondalup responded with a big second inning, putting up seven runs to flip the scoreboard 7–2. They added another in the third to stretch their lead, but the Cats weren’t done yet.
A huge top of the sixth saw us pile on seven runs off six hits, swinging the momentum firmly back our way. A bases-loaded walk helped bring in two, and consistent pressure at the plate helped us lock in the 11–8 lead. Joondalup added one more late, but it wasn’t enough.
Danny had a standout day with the bat, going 3-for-4 including a solo home run to centre in the sixth. Adam and Dek also collected three hits apiece, while Flanno and Ben added multiple knocks of their own. Adam added two stolen bases to his tally, and the team turned two crucial double plays in the field to keep Joondalup in check.
I started the game on the mound and threw one and two-thirds innings before handing the ball over to Dek, who pitched the final four and a third. He kept things tight through the middle and back end of the game, giving up just two runs and helping us stay in control.
It was a great all-round performance – timely hitting, aggressive baserunning, and solid defence getting the job done. Another one in the win column for the Cats.

Div 7 Black hosted the Blue Cats for the second Derby of the season. In typical fashion it was another even, well played game with lots of hits and great plays from both sides.
Peeky got the start, and while he had to battle in the third inning, he managed to persevere and turned in his longest ever showing, getting through 4 innings.
On the defensive side the Black Cats had some outstanding plays with Nick and Aidan combining twice to spoil attempts to steal second base, but the real highlight came on an innings ending 5-4-3 double play perfectly executed between Mooney, Paddy and Jono. With outfield hits at a minimum great catches to the two fill in’s – Dec in RF and Max in LF – kept the outs ticking over.
On the offensive side the Black Cats got the bats going early with a good opening dig, and while the middle two innings proved less eventful the bats came alive again in the fourth allowing the Black Cats to build enough of a lead to sit out the final offensive side in the fifth inning.
Against good pitching and stiff defensive the Black Cats were aggressive offensively and spread the hits through the entire lineup. With a few of those hits hitting dead zones on the diamond between fielders, the Black Cats were able to build momentum for the win, 11-6, to even the Derby tally for the year.

Div 7 Blue travelled to the away dugout for this weekend’s grudge match against the “Black Ba***rds” (BBs).
Three up, three down in the top of the first was not the ideal start, before the home team got runners on base and moved them around—courtesy of young Aiden, who obligingly hit our catcher in the glove.
Not concerned by the 4–0 deficit, the virtuous Blue Boys generously turned two walks at the top of the second into another three up, three down inning to keep the game moving.
Not to be outdone in the race to the bottom of the barrel, the BBs gave up the bottom of the dig in just eight pitches—even after Peeky stepped into a pitch to convert his strikeout into a hit-by-pitch (HBP).
Top of the third, and after another two walks delivered by Chris “The SCUD” Peek, the Blue Boys finally got the bats working, piling on five runs to take the lead.
In the bottom of the third, the BBs levelled the score after their coach—failing in his attempt to convert his at-bat to an HBP—eventually drove in the tying run with a double up the middle off a wild pitch that strayed middle-middle.
Top of the fourth, and the Blue Boys regained the lead with some disciplined base running, as the SCUD continued to fire missiles with reckless abandon.
But the bottom of the fourth brought the ultimate injustice: the BBs unleashed their Div 5 “ring-in,” who drove in the winning runs after a series of undignified “bloops” filled the bases.
Five runs was a hill too far, and the Blue Boys put their bats away and retreated to the nearest English pub to discuss the virtues of moral victories and the successes of meetings gone by.
P.S. The game was played in excellent spirits, with Sean calling a good game and maintaining a consistent zone. ;) …
But seriously, another instalment in a fascinating rivalry between these two Div7 teams. The Blacks were just too strong today out hitting us 12 to 4 and giving up only two unearned runs compared with seven conceded by the Blues. Shout outs to Peeky for a solid outing in the circle, and to Nick for a BOG performance batting 1000 and catching two runners stealing. Great game guys, Carine Black win 11-6.

Div 8 travelled to the lawless Nollamara to play the bandits. It was a much improved effort from the guys but we still went down 4-9.
However all the guys had Fabs in our thoughts as he was hit in the head by a batted ball while coaching from first base early in the game. The bandits were great and arranged for him to be driven to his wife who then got him urgent care. He will have a bad headache and concussion.

Div 9
So the streak came to an end, but we gave them a scare.
Last time we played they run ruled us in very short order.
This time they scored 16 again but we scored 14 instead of 1.
The game started them scoring 2 runs on a number of walks and some interesting running including stealing home on a throw back from the catcher.
Carine also scored 2 in the first on a few walks and a single to Spilcker.
They didn’t score in the second on the basis of Luke taking a great catch in foul territory and then a contentious call (not to us) with a runner tagged off the bag at second.
Three hits to us and a couple of walks and errors meant we scored 4 in the bottom of the second.
Ellenbrook scored 5 in the next on a number of hits to the outfield and then were put out by a catch each to Maxie and Geoff.
Three up three down left us behind by one at the end of the third.
A fly catch to Sean and then a double play from Elmo with a tag at 2 and a throw to 1st got us out of the fourth with them scoring 3 on a number of hits.
Seven runs in the bottom of the 4th put us back in the lead on a number of errors and a few hits.
The lead changed again with them scoring six in the 5th on 5 hits and a hit by pitch.
Unfortunately we couldn’t get the 3 we needed and only scored 1 after a double to Luke so in the end we went down by 2 at the bottom of the 5th.

U14’s
On a grey overcast morning, a slightly undermanned group of junior cats (We only had 8) packed the lunch boxes and made the long trek to Rocky Ora’s home ground.
The cats started with good discipline in the box early, putting 6 across in the first. Jordy opened the defense for the cats, with his first ever go at starting pitcher, and only his 3rd game on the plate, whilst Charlie made his debut behind the plate in the catcher’s gear.
Some solid pitching and good teamwork in the field held our hosts to only 3 at the end of the first.
The second saw more team batting, good base running with solid outfield hits to Harrison and Ethan. Defensively, Jordy stole the limelight combining with Kayleigh for 2 outs at 1 from hits back to the middle, and then an out at second to hold the hosts scoreless
The third saw more of the same disciplined team batting from the Cats for another run through the order. On the defense, Jordy asked for and took to the middle for a third innings on the plate, a request he would possibly later regret. With Miguel now behind the plate, he and Jordy combined for one of the stranger dropped third strike out’s I’ve seen in a while. With the 3rd strike being dropped, and the ball going behind Miguel, the runner at third stole home, and whilst the pass back from Miguel to Jordy was clean, they just missed the tag out at home, but Jordy kept going and managed to tag out the batter who was just working out they needed to try and run to first. The next 2 outs were somewhat painful for Jordy, unintentially using his body to stop the ball before converting for the outs – the last out he used his knee.
In an unfortunate twist, limping off after getting the third out, Jordy was the lead off batter for the Cats. With no spare players to swap him out with, he bravely fronted the plate, only to be Hit by Pitch on the first ball. Solid outfield hits to Charlie and Ethan had the cats moving around the bases, before we were back to Jordy for his second at bat of the innings, only to be Hit by Pitch again!. Charlie finished off the batting innings for the cats with his second outfield double base hit of the innings.
Abraham took to the middle for the final defensive innings, with Brodie putting the catchers gear on for only the third time ever. Some ‘interesting’ base running from Rocky Ora saw the runner from first get caught between 1 and 2 before the other runners realised what was going on. in the confusion, we somehow managed to drop the ball on the tag, for the runner to be safe at 2, only for the runner to then overstep the base and be caught between 2 and 3 and deciding to continue to 3. A nice recovery from the cats saw the out finally at made at 3rd.
Whilst Rocky Ora managed 6 in their final innings, it wasn’t enough. The junior cats with the win today 24 – 10.