Bellville ‘ballers seek revenge

NOBODY could beat Bellville in local baseball this summer … until Bothasig did it in the final league match of the season.

Now the two sides will meet again in the best-of-three final after they made it through the post-season play-offs last week.

At the Vangate Sports Complex, Bellville will be out to make amends for that defeat, starting today.

The first game starts at 12.30pm, with the second scheduled for 4pm. Game three, if required, will be played tomorrow at 12.30pm at the same venue.

In the final Bellville will fancy their chances of avenging that solitary defeat, having beaten Bothasig thrice in four regular-season encounters.

Bothasig, on the other hand, will be in a buoyant mood. Psychologically they now know Bellville are beatable, and they will count on ace pitcher Jared Elario to lead their young and inexperienced pitching staff, including Keenan Clarke and Keagan Lazarus. The pitchers will be looking for the support of their hitters led by Benji Smith, Kyle Botha and Dayle Feldtman.

Bellville will look to their hitters, notably Jonathan Phillips, Kyle Ettisch and Charl Cordier, to establish a healthy lead that their depleted pitching staff can defend. Former Bothasig player Bertus Mostert will lead a depleted Bellville pitching roster. They will be without pro baller Callan Pearce, who has returned to the United States, and also Bruce Mclelland. Mostert will be supported by Jonathan Phillips and Dayton Williams.

The outcome of this final is a tough one to call, and the teams could well have to play a third match tomorrow.

In the plate final (contested by teams 5-8 in the Major League) the youthful Crusaders line-up will be hoping to keep their winning momentum and mentality going when they face Westridge Yankees.

Yankees, who are still winless in 2017, reached the final by virtue of VOB defaulting in the semifinals.

Crusaders were involved in a marathon weekend against Durbanville, with Durbanville pipping Crusaders 9-8 in a 13-inning thriller in game one.

Game two was suspended due to bad light after five innings with Crusaders 8-5 up. It meant Crusaders had to make another trip to Durbanville to complete game two at 10am last Sunday, which they won 11-10.

Game three was scheduled at Grassy Park at 2pm. So the trek continued and Crusaders emerged victorious 12-10.