THE Tamworth Pandas wasted little time notching up their first victory in the Tamworth Baseball Association.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After forming earlier this year, the first-ever all girls team proved too good for the Tamworth Warriors in round one of the B Grade season, claiming a 15-13 victory.
The Pandas maiden victory was set up by the tight pitching efforts of captain Natalie Crittle and later 18-year-old Claire Brown.
Read More:
Crittle told the Leader the team was "very excited" to have claimed its first win.
"I think we showed some pretty promising signs," Crittle said.
"Everyone got involved and it was nice to see some of the more inexperienced players such as Theresa Milaor lead the way for us."
Costly errors by the Warriors gave the Pandas an early advantage with the score locked at four runs a piece at the end of the first inning.
Doubles from Alex Rivers and Jacob McArthur helped keep the Warriors in the contest.
However, it was not enough to stop the duo of Crittle (two singles) and Brown (two singles and a double) from guiding the Pandas to their first-ever win.
Crittle said she hoped the team would continue to improve throughout the season.
"Winning this game took a team effort and we were all pretty excited afterwards," she said.
"Hopefully we can continue to improve as we go along and notch up more wins."
In the round's other B Grade action, Armidale Outlaws recorded a convincing 18-4 victory over the Tamworth Cougars.
The Outlaws finished the day with 15 hits while keeping the Cougars to just five of their own.
Ollie Grimble was Armidale's best hitter on the day, finishing with two singles and a double.
It was a similar story for the Cougars A Grade team as they went down 10-2 to the Outlaws.
Cameron Beat registered the first home run of the season as the Outlaws went on to finish with 19 hits for the game.
Paul Wright made a big impact for Armidale, belting three doubles and two singles in his side's victory.
Kris Bird was the Cougars best on the day, striking out eight batters during a five innings stint.
Bird was also influential with the bat finishing with two singles.
The Gunnedah Giants rounded out the A Grade action with a 15-6 victory over the Tamworth Warriors.
Grant Sipple was named the Giants best player, striking out ten players for the day.
The players will return for round two action on April 27 after taking a break for the Easter long-weekend.
Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
