Soccer, Baseball and Swimming

Stingrays continue to go well / Cardinals bring Chiefs first defeat in Illawarra baseball / Wollongong’s Hurley takes two titles in Australian swimming / Wollongong’s youth soccer teams finish in style / Wests Cardinals Fenwick to coach Australian youth baseball team

Illawarra Stingrays continue to go well

Well the club continues to do well even though there were some tense moments over the weekend. The pressure has started to build on our players and with the announcement last week about the Arrive Alive Grand Final coming to Bulli it has increased the blood pressure.

Wins by 1 nil in both First and Reserve grades saw both teams achieve another milestone. First Grade cannot finish any lower than second even if everything went bad for the Stingrays and reserve grade have consolidated their position with a win over the current leaders Sydney cementing a semi final spot and giving them an outside chance of making the major semi.

The scorer for First grade was Sam Spackman who ended a torrid week after playing in the NSW Combined High School side in Perth in the National titles with Ann Mayo. Sam has gained selection in the Australian team to tour Asia and then Great Britain in January 2010. Ann is in the reserve squad to only just miss out.

Reserve grade scored early through Hannah Minogue and held on to keep their unbeaten record since round 5 intact.

U16's lost 2-1 Jasmina Pearce scoring.
U14's Drew 1-1 Amy Clayton scoring.
U12's Drew 1-1 with Lauren Wilson scoring.
(Report from Rob McKie)

For more stories on the Illawarra Stingrays go to: http://wollongong.sportslive.com.au/index.pl?page=3731.

Cardinals bring Chiefs first defeat in Illawarra Baseball

Premiers Wests Cardinals ended Dapto Chiefs undefeated run this season with a 5-4 result in their round 18 clash of the 2009 Illawarra Baseball League played at Cringila Community Park on Saturday. Cardinals overcame the statistics to register the win being outhit 10-8 and making five errors to Chiefs nil. Chiefs maintained top position on the table despite the loss but have Eagles and Cardinals breathing at their back

The early innings saw Cardinals go on the offensive by scoring four runs in the first three innings. Lee Vlasoff converted Chase Richardson with a two out single in the first and an additional run scored in the second following Paul Trembearth’s triple and Ben Garvey’s RBI double. The two runs in the third again came with two outs retired, Paul Trembearth batting in one run and being advanced on Cam Thompson’s hit before Nathan Grogan registered the conversion.

Chiefs edged back into the game with one unearned run in the fifth and were within a run with two conversions in the seventh. Cardinals responded with one in the bottom of the seventh and contained Chiefs to one run in the top of the eighth and final inning.

Cardinals game winning pitcher, Jamie Simon allowed three earned runs on ten scattered hits in 7.1 innings and reliever Jaryd Sullivan struckout both batters he faced. Chiefs’ starter Aaron Wirth gave up four earned runs on six hits in 3.0 innings while reliever Jarrett Commane allowed no earned runs on two hits in 4.0 innings.

Grogan (2 / 3, 1 RBI) and Paul Trembearth (2 / 4, 1 RBI) topped Cardinals hitting while Aaron Mills (2 / 4), Craig Leighton (2 / 5, 3 RBI’s) and Commane (2 / 5, 1 RBI) were Chiefs best.

In other games the Northern Pirates scored a comprehensive 15-5 win in eight innings over Kiama Braves at Kiama Downs. The Bucs outhit Braves 12-10 Chris Newbold having a good day with the bat with 3 / 3 and 3 RBI’s.

Berkeley Eagles maintained second place on the table with a 12-1 win in seven innings over Shoalhaven Mariners at Berkeley. Kaine Abbott headed the batting for Eagles with 2 / 4 and Justin Caines stood out for Mariners with 2 / 3.

Sunday’s deferred round 11 games saw Chiefs make amends for their loss the previous day with a resounding 18-4 win over Pirates. Chiefs outhit Pirates 15-4, Ben Shepherd batting 4 / 5 with 4 RBI’s and Mitch Thompson batting 3 / 5 with 4 RBI’s. Steve De Gabrielle recorded 2 / 4 for Pirates. Chiefs starting pitcher Matt McCann pitched 5.0 innings conceding three earned runs on three hits.

In next weekend’s games, penultimate round 19 fixtures are scheduled for Saturday, August 15 and the last of the deferred round 11 games will be played on Sunday, August 16. In Saturday’s games Northern Pirates play Wests Cardinals at Thomas Dalton Park, Fairy Meadow, Dapto Chiefs host Shoalhaven Mariners at Hector Harvey Reserve, Dapto and Kiama Braves play Berkeley Eagles at Gainsborough Reserve, Kiama Downs. On Sunday Braves and Mariners back up at Gainsborough Reserve. First grade games commence at 2.00pm. (Report by Frank Booth).
For scores in all grades and minor leagues go to: http://wollongong.sportslive.com.au/index.pl?page=3394

Wollongong’s Hurley takes two titles in Australian Short Course Swimming

Robert Hurley representing Wests Illawarra club has won two titles and taken two bronze at the Australian Short Course Swimming Championships in Hobart. He has just returned from the World Swimming Championships in Rome where he won bronze in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay.

On the opening day of the short course championships he took out the 800m freestyle title and then the 100m backstroke. He later came third in 200m final and then on the fourth day came third in the 400m freestyle. He had been leading at the 300m mark in the 400m event but tired to finish third.

The Australian Short Course Championships are being run from August 8 – 12 in Hobart. For Hurley’s results and those of other Australian swimmers go to: www.swimming.org.au

For other reports on Hurley’s performances during the championship and other stories on his rise to prominence go to: http://wollongong.sportslive.com.au/index.pl?page=1798

Wollongong’s Premier Youth League soccer teams finish in style

In contrast to the previous round Wollongong finished on the winning side of 4 wins and a draw in Premier Youth League last weekend. This was the final preliminary round. The 14s were the only team not to pick up a win but scored its second draw in a row to snatch the 5th play-off position in its grade.

With the 13s win they secured 3rd position for the play-offs. The Wollongong 18s have finished on top of their ladder, while the 16s make the play-offs in third spot. Only the 15s missed out coming 7th.

Results for the round played last week against Sydney Tigers were:

Under 13: Wollongong won 2 nil
Under 14: Wollongong drew 4 all
Under 15: Wollongong won 3 - 1
Under 16: Wollongong won 2 nil
Under 18: Wollongong won 4 nil

Previous SportsLive reports on the Wollongong Premier Youth League teams can be found at: http://wollongong.sportslive.com.au/index.pl?page=3462
More results and the draw can be found at http://www.soccernsw.com.au/index.php?id=78

Wests Cardinals Fenwick to coach Australian youth Baseball team

Jason Fenwick, the head coach of the Wests Cardinals Club, has departed to take up his duties as assistant coach with the Australian youth team that will compete at the Cal Ripkin World Series in Aberdeen, Maryland, USA commencing August 15.

2009 will also see Stephen Black promoted to Head Coach of the team; who hopes to build on the indelible legacy left by Bob Nilsson, who led the Cal Ripken team in the previous eight World Series. Assisting Stephen will be Coaches Jason Fenwick and Phil Balzer, who both bring years of experience to the side. The staff will be supported by Robert Moden, who returns for his third stint as Executive Officer.

There are no Illawarra children in the team although there have been two previous occasions where locals Aaron Tritton and Blake Simon competed. Information on the players and the tournament can be found at the following web site - http://worldseries.ripkenbaseball.com/

What's on around NSW with Sport and Recreation

NSW Sport and Recreation runs programs that will help you get active, improve your fitness or try a new sport. For more details of what’s on in the region go to: http://www.dsr.nsw.gov.au/active/whatson.asp