Rd8 Rangers 12 defeated the Red Bears 11

Rd8 saw the Rangers win ugly against the lowly placed Nth Sdney Red Bears, without the Rangers main strike weapon in "Nath". The Rangers opened up with a virgin pitcher in "Pete". The left armer was thrown the ball for the very first time and although the radar was a challenge, he did remarkably well. There were 5 runs scored by the Red Bears who managed to find a few gaps and stole well around the bases. The first dig for the Rangers started poorly with "Soft Hands & The Rat" getting out cheaply. In stepped the "Skippa" who managed to stall the outs and get a base hit run, which started the come back. The Rangers also managed 5 runs in their first dig. The second dig saw the Rangers bring on the seasoned "Churchy", who stemmed the runs somewhat, but was lucky to stay on the diamond with his continual querying to the umpire as to where his ball passed the plate. You can tell the expecatations from the "Church" were high. The second dig saw the Red Bears out score the Rangers 2-1, but the third dig saw the same but reverse score.

So all even going into the fourth and last dig. "Churchy" was fading, but hanging tough trying not to rub the patch on his thigh which was sticking to his pants. The Red Bears scored well and ran in 3 runs to take a commanding position. Then the turning point. The Red Bears decided to change their starting pitcher, and the Rangers ran in 3 quick runs, tying the match. The Red Bears then decided to change pitchers again, but that didn't help with the fourth run scored quickly after that. A win is a win, but by gees it was ugly.

There weren't many highlights, more wood-chucks. "Ashley's" unforced run to third from second and getting out. "Skippa's" brain explosion from second when he should have tagged up. It lead to a triple play with the batter caught and runners on second and third run out. Who could forget the under-arm throw from "Eka" at SS to "Molch on 2B. It's not easy to tag out when the throw is about 3 feet over the head of our 5' 9" foot second baseman. The Improvement award goes to our catcher in "Barnie" who continues to improve and has even got his throws to second at the required distance instead of just over the pitchers head.

Division II
		Team	Win%	Games	Wins	Losses	F/A	Runs For	Runs Against
		Redbacks	86%	7	6	1	+45	83	38
		Rangers	75%	8	6	2	+42	89	47
		Panthers	71%	7	5	2	+64	97	33
		Marlins	71%	7	5	2	+29	74	45
		Fugitives	67%	6	4	2	+13	52	39
		Phantoms	33%	6	2	4	-15	62	77
		Seasiders	29%	7	2	5	+7	45	38
		Fighters	17%	6	1	5	-42	24	66
		Red Bears	14%	7	1	6	-43	53	96
		Basebuds	14%	7	1	6	-56	37	93