By Sam Goodwin Sunday 21st October, 2012
The Ryde Hawks remain second on the NSW State Baseball League ladder after salvaging a series split with the Canterbury Vikings in round five. Following a 16-6 defeat on Wednesday night, the Hawks got back to their winning ways with a 5-3 win on Saturday night.
The Hawks were comprehensively outplayed on Wednesday night as the Vikings piled on 16 runs on 20 hits. Ryde’s pitchers had a hard time keeping the Canterbury hitters off base all night, but Stephen Klosowski managed to provide some resistance, allowing just one run over two innings of relief.
Staring at a 16-0 defeat heading into the last inning, the Hawks showed some fight with six late runs. Chris LaGreca and Jake Wilkins provided two RBIs apiece but it was too little too late and the Hawks fell to just their second defeat of the season.
Looking to avoid back-to-back defeats, the Hawks bounced back on Saturday night with a hard-fought 5-3 win. Trailing 1-0 early on, American import Chris Davis tied the score with a home run in the bottom of the second and James Murphy put the Hawks in front with a sacrifice fly in bottom of the fourth.
Starting pitcher Wayne Lundgren limited the Vikings to just one run over the first five innings, but after making way for reliever Luke Wilkins, Canterbury managed to tie the score at 2-2 in the top of the sixth.
Their joy only lasted half an inning however, as Luke Parish (pictured) broke the tie with a two-run double in the bottom of the sixth. Celebrating his 20th birthday, Parish had a perfect night at the plate with four hits in four at-bats.
After Matt O’Neill provided some insurance with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, Wilkins pitched around a Canterbury run in the top of the eighth to secure the victory and earn his sixth win of the season.
The win improves Ryde’s overall record to 7-2 as they prepare to face the first placed Baulkham Hills Kookaburras in round seven after a round six bye.
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