Reigning premiers dominate first round

THE Falcons batting line-up showed plenty of power in the opening round of A grade matches in the Bendigo Baseball Association season.The reigning premiers dominated play against an undermanned Strathfieldsaye Dodgers.Mark Reed achieved Dodgers’ only safe hit for the contest.Falcons racked up 22 safe hits and 19 runs.The Dodgers showed a lot of courage against a club that has dominated the competition for a decade.Strathfieldsaye Dodgers 0 0 0 0 0 0 (0) lt Falcons 4 3 2 4 5 1 (19)Pitchers - Falcons: Michael Peters 4 innings, 9 strike outs, 0 walks. Sheldon Christie 3 innings, 7 strike outs, 1 walk. Strathfieldsaye Dodgers: Jason James 3 innings, 0 strike outs, 2 walks. Aaron Sherriff 3 innings, 4 strike outs, 5 walks.Safe hits - Strathfieldsaye Dodgers: Mark Reed. Falcons: Michael Peters 4, Sheldon Christie, Shaun Osborn, Paul Bingham 3, Gary Vandermaat, Lonnie Attard, Jason Harriage, Troy Waterman 2, Brad Muns.Last season’s runner-up, Shepparton Colts headed across to Bendigo to face Scots.In the first innings, Scots’ pitcher Ash Wilkie restricted Colts to just three runs.Travis Frost was in hot form pitching for Shepparton Colts.The Colts batters struck back in the second as 13 batters went to the plate.Shepparton scored eight runs from seven hits.Scots’ coach Darren Taylor achieved a safe hit which was followed by another by Aaron Petri to score the first run.Colts scored five runs over the next two innings before rain stopped play as Shepparton led 14-1.Safe hits - Colts: Aaron DiFede, Caleb Fox, Brayden Tracey, Cameron Stuart 2, Piers Gillet, Brayden Cecchin, Travis Frost, James Bray, Rhys Taylor, Tom Grinter. Scots: Aaron Petri, Darren Taylor.Best - Colts: Travis Frost, Brayden Tracey, Brayden Cecchin, Rhys Taylor. Scots: Darren Taylor, Wayne Petri, Jake Coates, Jonathan Taylor.In B grade, Shepparton Colts scored a 23-1 win against Scots.Colts scored eight runs in the first innings from five safe hits, which included a triple by coach Colin Basham.Young pitcher Zac Sheppard overcame a nervous start to hold Scots scoreless through the first two innings.Best players for Colts were Corey Jenkinson, Scott Dougan and C. Osborne.Scots’ best players were Trevor Theobald, Jason Crawford and Tamara Saggers.Bendigo East celebrated a two-run victory against Strathfieldsaye Dodgers.A newcomer for East, David Simpson struck a magnificent home run.Strathfieldsaye Dodgers 2 8 1 7 (17) Bendigo East 3 4 10 2 (19)Pitchers - Dodgers: Gary Ahdore two innings, Chris Egan two innings. Bendigo East: Sam Wilson two innings, Brendan Aikman two innings.Safe hits - Dodgers: Gordon Yode, Gary Ahdore, Scott Baxter, Tom Pithie, Chris Egan, Graham Weeks. Bendigo East: Don Mitchell, Peter Cameron, Leigh Schintler, Brendan Aikman, Matt Gould, Doug Hunter, David Simpson, Geoff Clow.In the all-Falcons clash, B1 beat B2, 16-9.Falcons (B2) 0 3 4 2 0 (9) lt Falcons (B1) 8 0 6 0 2 (16)Pitchers - Falcons B1: Brad Muns 3 innings, 5 strike outs, 8 walks. Jayson Strahan 2 innings, 2 strike outs, 1 walk. Falcons B2: Warren Attard 3 innings, 3 strike outs, 5 walks. Josh Monti 2 innings, 2 strike outs, 3 walks.Safe hits - Falcons B1: Brad Muns 3, Seb Smith, Terry Smith, Shaun Osborn, Seb Costello, Dane Roy, Frank Dackerty, Jason Harriage, Alex Lockwood 2. Falcons B2: Troy Waterman, Warren Attard 2, Andrew Jones, Nick Thornton, James Plowright, Lachlan McLean.In the under-14 competition, Bendigo East scored a 20-1 win against Strathfieldsaye Dodgers.A home run by Nick Wingrave on debut was among many highlights in East’s run.Star pitcher Kane Tieman conceded just one run in two innings and Wes Hopcott achieved a shutout.Dodgers’ Robert Waller caught a hard hit line drive and made the double play at second.Falcons beat Scots, 18-1.