Sitting high in the scorers’ box, tools of recording in hand, I felt like a general from 100 years before with a perfect view of what was happening and complete powerlessness to affect it in any way. Like many of the tragic battles of the Great War, it began with a masterful but overly optimistic plan that not only did not survive first contact with the enemy, but even more tragically did not survive until warm ups were due to commence.
Organisational skills and/or a sense of responsibility to their teammates failed several men’s baseballers in the lead up to game time, and with B Grade haemorrhaging players, D Grade started to struggle for numbers before their battle had even begun. The Women’s Auxiliary Corps through named scorer Rose Burnfield bravely stepped into the breach, accompanied by the weary bepinked Caitlin Rooker, to ensure that D Grade had 9 players with which to take the field. This lasted an innings before Ben Rosenstreich damaged tendons in his right knee as he turned awkwardly and was carried from the field hors d’combat. In a display of unexpected chivalry reminiscent of the 1914 Christmas Truce, Wanneroo leant UWA a player to ensure we had enough to at least make the player numbers even in the contest. Sadly that was the only time we really would be even throughout the game.
The game started well enough for the team in green, with stand-in captain Justin Mann and Burnfield both getting hits. Troy Jansen was too keen and erased Mann on the back of a weak infield chopper, and, after an Andrew White strikeout, University were suddenly looing shaky. The Wanneroo starter, however, was yet to find his rhythm and location, and the bottom half of the order showed some grit and helped to manufacture three runs before designated runner Mann was thrown out at the plate reminiscent of the infamous “Camel Play’ at Parry Field in the late 1980’s.
And then Wanneroo began hitting.
And seemed not to stop.
They finished after they had been through the order twice and scored 15 runs, all earned.
University scratched out a fourth run in the second, with Burnfield again proving to be a class above most others and Tyrone Handley showing his growing confidence with that bat.
Jansen on the mound for UWA started to show more variety in the bottom of the second, despite there being no real prospect of the visitors making a contest of it. Two errors on the first two hitters confirmed the latter sentiment, and Wanneroo added 10 unearned runs as Jansen was then taken to the fence several times.
UWA were out of their third innings too cheaply, and Jansen, clearly a masochist, took the mound in the third inning for still more punishment. I have never been more grateful to an umpire offering me time and game with an incomplete innings in progress.
We conceded 30 runs, one of the club’s half dozen largest runs against totals in 45 years with an approach and execution that would not look out of place on the Somme or at Passchaendale. The courage and the willingness cannot be faulted, but in the end we must be smarter and better if we are to prevail in such games.