Howdy,
What a glorious day on Sunday for the Club’s annual Past Players’ Day, an event gaining momentum, with many coming together, enjoying a beer and reflecting on past achievements together with the usual stories of the lighter side of baseball. Thanks go to Leigh Norman for rounding up the troops and to the helpers that made the day a success.
Division 1: Always a tough competitor, Henley pushed us all the way before we managed a 4-2 win.
Bas Nooij set the tone for the Cardinals with a first innings bomb over the left field fence. Austin Gallagher followed in the fourth with his monster over the right field fence, giving us a 2-0 lead.
Henley bounced back in the fifth and levelled the score when our pitcher Tom Fitzgerald became a little wayward giving up a hit and four walks. The Cardinals recovered in the bottom of the fifth when leadoff batter Bryce Allen singled, Jack Platten singled and Sean Maple drove both home with a double to right field.
From there the game became a routine three up three down with the Cardinals winning 4-2.
Our hitters were Mike Bishop 3, JacK Platten, Bryce Allen 2 each, Bas Nooij and Austin Gallagher
1 each
Our pitching saw Tom Fitzgerald start for 4.2 innings for 3 hits, 4 strikeouts, 6 walks, 2 runs. Greg Mosel pitched 2.1 innings for 2 hits, 1 strikeout, 0 walks, 0 runs. Jason Lott finished with 2 innings for 0 hits, 3 strikeouts,0 walks, 0 runs.
Division 2 battled away but did not give up scoring 4 runs in their last at bat before going down to Henley 9-6.
Division 3 started with a 5 run first innings and were still in the game at the bottom of the fourth, but unfortunately it all fell apart with Henley banging on 14 runs and finishing the game 20-5 up
Division 6 although depleted slightly took care of Adelaide with a comfortable 12-3 victory. We witnessed another father and son combination with Tom Waltham and son Sam playing together for the first time - great to see.
Division 7 kept battling away but couldn’t close the gap and lost to Adelaide 17-7. Clay Glen is still playing then doubling up as the Division 6 umpire.
Women’s League: The ladies were ‘over the moon’ after their first-up win over Golden Grove in a tight game, coming away with a 8-6 win. The team showed the benefit of dropping down to Division 2 where they will be more competitive. Highlight of the game was starting pitcher Tracey Robinson’s
2-run bomb in the third. The champers never tasted so good. Well done!
Senior League: The boys had the day off with a bye
Junior League Kensington had the cut lunch and water bag trip to Southern Districts, but unfortunately went down fighting and lost 16-9.
Junior League Cardinals had a great tussle with Sturt but just fell short and lost 5-4
Our Junior League teams comprise a large number of first year players at this level and will be tested by some of the dominant teams of second year players. Stick together guys it will be your turn next season
Little League D1 just fell short going down 13-12 against Souths after a great tussle all game
Little League D2 scored a huge 20-11 win over Woodville. A great effort from a team of players who mostly are having ago at baseball for the first time
Minor League are improving as the season goes on and the team had a convincing 13-8 win over Northern Districts
Pee Wee League with up to 6 players playing their first game had a great win. We’re not allowed to record the score according to the rules, but you can bet the team knows who won and who lost and what the score was.
Player Life Membership: With a number of past and present players in the clubrooms after the game it was a great opportunity to present Ben Onofrio with his Player Life Membership badge. Ben’s contribution as a player over the past 20 years has been nothing but outstanding.
Ben, a Kensi boy through and through, progressing from Tee-Ball and working his way up through the junior grades and in three consecutive years Ben was selected to represent South Australia in the Under 14, Under 16 and Under 18 Championships - quite an achievement.
His Division 1 career started at the age of 15 under the then coach Shayne Bennett in the 2003/04 season, also a premiership year.
From the age of 14 till 18 Ben attended the SASI Development Program and was selected in the Under 18 Schoolboys Team that travelled to South Africa. He also attended the MLB Under 18 Academy in Queensland for two years in the off-season.
As a junior Ben was awarded the coveted A ‘Murph’ Stokes Medal in 2004/05 and was the Club’s Division 1 Batting Champion in 2009/10. He has played in seven premierships - one under Shayne Bennett and six under Leigh Norman.
Ben notched up 400 Division 1 games with the Cardinals. He has been one of the Club’s great players over the years patrolling the outfield mostly at leftfield, playing first base or in the line-up as a designated hitter. Ben had an amazing ability to enter a game, with very little practice in his later years, due to his Adelaide Giants commitments, and produce one of his classic right field home runs.
Congratulations Ben on being awarded Player Life Membership of the Kensington baseball Club
Find Out What’s Been Happening! Get onto the Kensington Facebook page and catch up with all the goings on last Sunday.
The Division 1, 2, 3 will need to pack their lunch this coming Sunday when they venture to Peregrine Park to take on Southern Districts. Games are at 10.00, 12.30 and 3.00
Pee Wee League: Our youngest Cardinals team.
Who will be the Division 1 players of the future?
See you at the ballpark - somewhere!
Cheers for now,
Arthur Mac
