Rangers D2’s finish Winter 2014 with a bang

It’s been a funny season for the Rangers D2’s. Certainly they know that five victories and a draw from their thirteen games and a fourth place finish could have most certainly been improved upon. But, in the end, it was a marked improvement for a team that had posted just two victories in their previous Summer and Winter campaigns combined.  Even more telling was that four games were determined by margins of 3 runs or less, give or take a rain out and finals weren’t out of the question.

The season certainly hadn’t been without it’s challenges either, numerous injuries had often plagued the lineup and the D2’s would certainly like to send a shout out to their partner team the Sydney Twins for helping out when needed. But most pleasing was the resurgence of confidence in the players with seven players posting averages above .400 and a mighty tussle for the batting title ensuing with Rangers veterans Rick Yeates, Grant Lacey and Brad Rockwell sitting atop the statistical achievements for the season.

At the end of the day, without doubt, the real soul of the team was as always, Mr Jeff Watts, who fronted up to those cold training nights, often minus his players, ran the team, kept us happy and put together a very decent season himself. To our scorers, Linda and Paigan, unsung heroes who selflessly gave up a day of their weekend, a feat more impressive given our “home ground” was George Kendall and of course Brad Rockwell who help us toast our victories when not drowning our sorrows post game.

In the end Rangers posted 21 runs in their final game against a hard charging North Ryde RSL to give a glimpse of what could be in store for the season ahead.

The final Game Cahnger report is as follows:

Offenses dominate as the Rangers D2’s outscore Nth Ryde 21-15

Pitchers had a tough day during the game between the Rangers and Nth Ryde, as the two teams put up 36 runs combined in a 21-15 the Rangers win.

The teams combined for 41 hits, including seven extra base hits.

Everything was working at the plate for Rangers in the first with Nth Ryde having no answer as Rangers scored 14 runs. Rangers scored in the first on yet another two-run double by Brad Rockwell, an error, an RBI single by Kevin Dinn, and RBI singles by Steve Graham, Nigel King, Richard Yeates, Grant Lacey, and Richard Ash.

Topping off an already impressive innings, Brad again singled, driving in another RBI which was completed by a Grand Slam home run by Matt Payne who was very much aided by a rampaging Brad Rockwell clearing the plate at home.

Rangers easily handled Nth Ryde pitching as seven hitters combined for 19 hits, 19 RBIs and 18 runs scored. It wasn’t all their own way, with a  potent Nth Ryd lineup mounting quite a comeback. Rangers, however, survived Nth Ryde’s surge and put up three runs of their own in the second. Rangers scoring on an RBI single by Richard Ash and a two-run double by Dinn

Six runs in the top of the fifth helped Nth Ryde close its deficit to 17-13. An RBI single by Chum Mo, an RBI single by Jason Leong, an RBI single by David Forbes, and a three-run home run by ALex Langley set off Nth Ryde rally. Rangers stopped the rally after Lacey got Peter Dowling to fly out.

Rangers increased their lead with four runs in the fifth. The inning looked promising, as Matt Raymond singled, scoring Jeff Watts to kick things off. That was followed up by Richard Yeates’ single, bringing home Matt Raymond. In the end, Grant Lacey brought home the save of the back of a fantastic grab from Rick Yeates and two innings of very solid pitching.

Grant Lacey and Brad Rockwell picked up 4 hits a piece, whilst Brad Rockwell, Matt Payne and Kevin Dinn combined for 13 RBI’s. Steve Graham put up 3 quality innings on the mound notching up the most first pitch strikes of any pitcher as well as topping the strikeouts for either team. At the end of the day, it was very much a team effort, something that the D2’s will hope to continue at the ballpark in 2014/15.