Rob Laidlaw

WITH a record nine runs in the final inning, Gawler Rangers salvaged a 14-14 draw with East Torrens in division two baseball at Karbeethan Reserve on Sunday.
It was an amazing batting display by Gawler from a position where a win looked almost impossible, to a point where a draw felt like more than a moral victory.
Trailing 5-14 going into the bottom of the seventh and final frame, Jamie Diener led off with a double, Josh Lands walked and Steve Vanpoorten ran out an infield hit to load the bases.
Stepping up to the plate was Rick Leonard, who already had three hits for the game, and he promptly smashed the ball over the leftfield fence for a grand slam home run to close the gap to 14-9, with still no outs.
Nathan Schreier and Jake Rodda had back-to-back doubles for another run, while Zac Ainsworth kept the rally going with a single.
Another two runs scored when the next two batters, Rhys Argent and Noah Okeil, reached on errors to make it 14-12.
Diener hit a sacrifice fly to centre-field to score the next run, before Lands reached on an infield hit, and although thrown out at first base, Vanpoorten batted the 14th Gawler run in with a runner still on third base.
The dangerous Leonard came to the plate with the winning run on board, but was walked, which proved to be the right decision when the next batter was retired to end the game as a tie.
Although starting well, Gawler’s division three team lost 6-11 to East Torrens.
Diener started on the mound for the Rangers, and over the first three innings conceded one hit for six strikeouts, and also belted a home run.
Gawler’s women had a brilliant come-from-behind win against West Torrens to secure a finals spot with just one minor round remaining, against Adelaide at home on Friday.
Trailing 5-6 in the fourth inning against the Eagles, Gawler seemed to make a winning push with five runs in the bottom of the frame, highlighted by Laura Helbig’s three-run home run.
West Torrens responded with five runs of its own in the top of the fifth and final dig to grab a 11-10 lead and put the Rangers back under pressure.
Not to be denied, Gawler scored the equalising run on Ashley Filko’s RBI single, before Sarah-Jane Jameson’s walk-off, run-scoring hit for the winner as the Rangers emerged victorious 12-11.
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RESULTS:
Division two: Gawler Rangers drew East Torrens 14-14 (hits: Rick Leonard 4 (gshr), Zac Ainsworth 3, Jamie Diener 2, Jake Rodda 2, Rhys Argent 2, Josh Lands, Steve Vanpoorten, Nathan Schreier);
Division three: Gawler Rangers | East Torrens 6-11 (hits: Travis Schreier 2, Jake Rodda 2, Rhys Argent, Jamie Diener (hr), Gavin Ainsworth);
Division six: Gawler Rangers | Sturt 1-22 (hits: James Mussared 2, Craig Lee 2, Brenton Pike, Ben Lee);
Division seven: Gawler Rangers | East Torrens 0-11 (hits: Leah Stirling 2, Richard Stirling, James Mussared);
Women’s division two: Gawler Rangers d West Torrens 12-11 (hits: Sarah-Jane Jameson 2, Naomi Oxford 2, Laura Helbig 2 (hr), Leah Stirling 2, Ashley Filko);
Under-17: Gawler Rangers | GGCD 4-16;
Under 15-2: Gawler Rangers | Goodwood 9-11 (hits: Jay Young 2, Bailey Murray-Billing 2, Keian Curthoys-Davies, Deakin Filko);
Under 13-1: Gawler Rangers | Indians 0-4 (hits: no hits);
Under 13-2: Gawler Rangers | Northern Districts 6-15; U11 lost to GGCD 9-4.