40kgs of Water Weight

After traversing 4 time zones in 3 days, it would have been easy for the Defensive Specialist to bypass game 4 of the Adelaide Bite / Sydney Blue Sox series in favour of a nice glass of red wine and some family time. As loyal readers know, the easy route is not the path the Defensive Specialist typically takes, so the suitcase was simply loaded into the Deep-in-the-Hole-mobile and the long trek to the Blacktown Olympic Park was made. Inside the facility conditions were steamy and potentially stormy which did not bode well for the diehard Blue Sox fans who’d decided to dress up – specifically the dude in a fully body rabbit suit and the character who was using an old shower curtain as a cape and hood. Both chaps had the potential to lose at least 40kg in water weight if the humid conditions did not ease. To make the night even more interesting, the crack sound team decided that Saturday night was “80’s cock rock night”; the Defensive Specialist eagerly awaited the Choirboys Run to Paradise!

Entering the series, both team’s fortunes had been travelling in opposite directions. The league-leading Bite had won 7 out of the past 8 games and were fresh off a 3-1 series win in Melbourne. The Blue Sox had seen their grip on first place loosen as they dropped 4 in a row at home to the Heat last week. Obviously the Heat assault was a wake up call for the Blue Sox because they’d taken it to the Bite and won the first 3 games of the series (albeit in nailbiting fashion with all games being 1 run victories and two of the contests ending in walk offs). Normally when a home team takes the first 3 games in a series, the sweep is almost inevitable but the Defensive Specialist had yet to lay eyes on the Bite and wanted to get a read on their ticker as the playoffs approach. Ticker you ask? Dropping 3 games in close fashion and then playing to avoid the sweep will tell you a lot about the spiritual make-up of a team. True playoff contenders will scrap and fight for any moral victory they can find. Pretenders roll over and start planning their team outing for the conclusion of the series.

What did we have on our hands tonight?

The Blue Sox, sniffing the series sweep and an opportunity to regain first place, sent Wayne Lundgren to the mound while the Bite countered with the imposing Dushan Ruzic. The Bite were also without James McOwen and Quincy Latimore which obviously put a significant dent in their offensive attack. Things looked to be off to an ominous start for Lundgren as Jeremy Cresswell led off with a routine ground ball that became less than routine when it hit the bag and popped straight up for a base hit (in every sense of the word). Lundgren shook it off and retired the next 3 hitters to escape the inning.

Ruzic had his issues in the bottom of the first as Trent D’Antonio started things off with a laser to rightfield. Trent Schmutter then poked a ball into right for another knock and Mitch Denning kept the party going but added his own base hit in that direction (all 3 hits coming in 5 pitches). Alex Johnson grounded into a run scoring 6-4-3 double play that looked to be a momentum killer but Josh Dean hit a screaming line drive past Ruzic that nearly surgically removed his right arm to plate another run.

Both pitchers settled in the second but the Bite took a chunk out of Lundgren in the top of the third. Lundgren walked 9 hole hitter Josh Cakebread (which infuriated the Defensive Specialist) and then gave up potentially the softest base hit in his life to Cresswell who rolled a ball through the 4 hole into rightfield. With runners on second and first, Scott Gladstone singled to left that scored Cakebread. After Cakebread crossed the plate there was an ear piercing noise that instinctively had the Defensive Specialist diving across the children seated in front of him as a means to protect them from the unmistakeable sound of sniper fire!  The Defensive Specialist looked up to see Cakebread sprawled across the home plate area. Fortunately the bullet only grazed him and he left the playing field uninjured with only a slightly damaged ego. Lundgren’s concentration may have been broken after laughing at Cakebread falling over which resulted in him serving up a fastball that Stefan Welch scorched back at him. The ball ricocheted off his pitching hand and carried into right field allowing Cresswell to even the game up at 2-2. After a couple of throws to determine if he still had feeling in his hand, Lundgren continued the inning and retired the next 2 hitters to stem the flow.

There were fireworks again in the 4th inning but not of the run scoring variety. Instead, fans at Blacktown Olympic Park were treated to an impromptu fireworks display from across the road that carried on for a good 15 minutes.

Sydney took it to Ruzic in the bottom of the 5^th as Mark Holland led off with a walk and was driven in by a scorched Andrew Graham double down the left field line. After a strike out, Bite Manager Tony Harris went to the pen to put a lefty on Blue Sox lead off hitter Trent D’Antonio. Jackson Lodge promptly walked D’Antonio and then surrendered a single to Trent Schmutter that scored Graham and allowed both runners to advance on the throw to the plate. With the infield in, Denning grounded out to short leaving runners on second and third with 2 out and right hander Johnson coming to the dish. With the base open and a two run ball game the Defensive Specialist expected an intentional walk or at least an unintentional intentional walk where Lodge would pitch extremely carefully to Johnson in order to get a lefty lefty match up on the next hitter Dean. Instead, Lodge went right after Johnson who smacked a ball into left for a 2 run double.

Sydney 5-2

Lundgren’s night came to an end in the top of the 6^th when he was replaced by Todd Gratton after getting 2 outs. For Lundgren the night’s line was 5.2 innings, 4 hits, 2 earned runs, 3 BB and 3k’s. No further runs were scored in the contest from the 6^th but that doesn’t mean there weren’t a few interesting events: 

• -      Trent D’Antonio had a defensive shocker in the top of the 7^th by contributing an airmailed (emailed for generation Y) throw and a booted ground ball.

• -       Josh Dean fielded a ground ball and then barely beat the hitter Tom Brice to the base while simultaneously colliding with closer Dae Song Koo who was attempting to cover the base. Blue Sox Manager Glenn William’s sphincter undoubtedly tightened, as his dominant closer lay hunched on the ground obviously in discomfort. Fortunately he shook it off and finished the game off for a Sydney win and series sweep. 

The handy series sweep put the Blue Sox back on top of the table in equal first place with the Perth Heat. For Adelaide, the sweep dropped them to 3^rd position with a big series against the Bandits coming up next week. Much to the Defensive Specialist’s delight, the Bite showed some heart with a severely depleted line-up to keep the contest close. Manager Harris will be setting up a shrine to the Baseball Gods and praying that crucial components Latimore and McOwen heal in time for their series next week and more importantly the playoffs.

Utter club nutter Trent Schmutter

In terms of the Deep in the Hole Player of the Game it’s a toss up between utter club nutter Trent Schmutter or Alex Johnson. Since Johnson punished the Bite for pitching to him with a 2 run double, the Defensive Specialist will bestow the honour upon him despite his insistence on continuing to wear David Ortiz P.I.M.P shoes that do not look good on a white man.

White men handle with care