Rangers secure victory after final innings blitz
BASEBALL: A heart-stopping final innings has helped the Toowoomba Rangers to their fourth win of the GBL division three season.
Trailing 6-1 heading into the fifth, the Rangers were able to pull out a six-run innings to down the Baseball Queensland U16s Bandits 7-6.
Player-coach Darly Luchterhand said errors proved costly for his side, but ultimately their experience got them over the line.
“We didn’t do ourselves any favours, they scored their six runs off our five errors,” Luchterhand said.
“We scored one in the first to their three, and they scored another three in the third.
“Our experience certaintly helped us in the fifth innings. They’re a state U16 team and that lack of experience hurt them in the end. They stuck it to us though.”
Luchterhand said he hoped the strong finish would be the catalyst for a mid-season revival as a familiar face made a return.
“The bats just exploded and everything seemed to click for us. I’m hoping it sparks us up going forward,” he said.
“Brenton Althaus had two hits and a three-run triple in the fifth. I’m pretty happy with the way we swung the bats.
“Bryan Hipps is a bloke I brought out back in 2010 from San Diego. He’s living in Brisbane now and hasn’t played for a few seasons. I made a phone call and he played yesterday, and chipped in with a few hits.”
The Rangers move to 4-3 with the victory and get a golden opportunity to remain above .500 when they take on the winless Carina Redsox White on the road this weekend.
Sean Teuma
Photo: Kevin Farmer