Tygers batters locked and loaded to test Giants’ pitchers

THIS weekend brings to an end the first of four rounds of fixtures in the Baseball Association of Western Province Major League, baseball’s premier competition in the Western Cape.

League leaders Bellville Tygers travel to Kensington to take on debutants Maitland Giants. Tygers’ long and loaded batting lineup; led by SA national players Kyle Ettisch, Jonathan and Anthony Phillips, and Charl Cordier; should really test the Giants pitchers, who have been spearheaded by Canadian Jas Shergill and Jayde Thorne this season.

Giants hitters Brad Erasmus, Thorne and Ryan Samie will also face the in-form SA pitcher Callan Pearce and former SA pitcher Bruce McClellan.

Tygers, though, should have enough ammunition to see off the Giants.

At Vangate Sports Complex, both Athlone A’s and Bothasig Knights will want to get back to winning ways after their 4-0 and 5-2 losses to Bellville and Westridge Yankees respectively.

Athlone’s hitters need to come out of their shell and show better support to their pitching staff who have been carrying them for most of their games. Experienced hitters like Faizel Moosa, Darren Wedel and Alistair Veale should lead by example so the younger crop of Dillan Daniels, Mathew Diedericks and Lee Marks can emulate.

Bothasig will welcome back their four “amigos” (Benji Smith, Dayle Feldtman, Kyle Botha and Brett Willemburg) who toured Mexico with the SA Under-23 team. Bothasig too, would like to show more consistency in their batting department that has been blowing hot and cold.

Bothasig are still without Jared Elario (knee injury) and Dylan Unsworth (Advanced Baseball USA) and will rely on their young brigade of Devon Clarke, Damon Mitchell and Keegan Lazarus to manage their pitching duties this afternoon.

Athlone will go with the experience of Dean Jacobs, Lloyd Stevens and Carl Michaels. This should be a great game for the spectators, as there is no clear favourite.

A buoyant Westridge Yankees travel to face Grassy Park Crusaders after a fairly successful start to the season. Crusaders are still seeking their first win of the season and will make life difficult for the Yankees.

Luwayne du Plessis has been in great form for the Yankees with both bat and pitching, and has been well-supported by his brother Jared and the Ripepi brothers, Kyle and Jayson. Crusaders are hoping to keep it tidy up front with the pitching of Jared Williams, Sergio Thompson and Ashwin Kleintjies, hoping the batters of Chad Beukes, Jamie Mauritz and Warren Adams can complement them.

The Yankees should win this one, but Crusaders could make it tough.

Tonight, VOB host Durbanville at Chukker Road with both teams hoping to go on some sort of winning run to get their season going.

Both teams will be disappointed with the starts they’ve had this season and will be hoping to move up the log sooner rather than later.

Durbanville will welcome the return of coach Darren Smith and four players from the SA U23 team.

Smith, Cameron Fortuin and Damien Perkins will be key in the pitching department, which has been manned by Kevin Townend and Gavin Jefferies.

VOB will be hoping Grant Emmanuel and Paul Bell will carry their batting department to support the pitching effort of Michael Scritten, Grant Robertson and Josh Rich. VOB should win this one, but stranger things have happened in baseball. All fixtures start at 3.30pm except the VOB game which starts at 7.15pm. Promotion League Helderberg v Van Der Stel, Devonshire v Battswood, Milnerton v Thistle.