Baseballers raise awareness of organ donation with Matty's Game

The annual "Matty Game" honours the memory of Matthew Lawry and is traditionally played between Falcons and Scots.

This year Bendigo East and Strathfieldsaye Dodgers were involved as well.

The Strathfieldsaye Dodgers and Bendigo East clubs donned "Matty" jerseys for their games at Strathfieldsaye, and Scots and Falcons division three teams did the same at Eaglehawk during their game.

The division three game held special significance for two of the participants.

Matt Lawry's nephew Charlie Penno played for Strathfieldsaye Dodgers as a representative of Matty's legacy as an organ donor, and his manager Adam Hando, a donor recipient, embodied the difference to life that Mattys legacy can provide.

In division one action, Strath Dodgers edged out Bendigo East 1 10-6 in an entertaining contest.

A five-run fourth inning from Strath Dodgers proved to be the difference between the two teams.

Strath Dodgers' Duncan Lever and East's Kaileb Anglin were the best of the hitters with three each.

Pitcher Simon Tatt led Falcons 1 to a big win over the young Bendigo East 2 squad.

Tatt struck out seven batters in three innings in an 18-2 victory.

Falcons 1 set the tone by scoring nine goals in the opening inning.

Offence was the order of the day in the Dodgers Tigers and Dodgers Devils clash.

31 runs were scored for the day, with Dodgers Tigers winning 20-11.

Dodgers Tigers' 20 runs came off just 21 safe hits and they scored 14 runs in the second inning.

Pitcher Jess Hando was superb for Dodgers Tigers.

Hando took over on the mound after Dodgers Devils scored six runs in the second inning and he restricted his rivals to three runs in three innings and struck out seven batters.

Sam Longford, Steve Skipper and Callum Bolton were the best of the hitters for Tigers, while Kristian Rogers had two for Devils.

In division two, Malmsbury and Falcons played out a thrilling 4-4 draw.

Falcons had control of the game up until the sixth inning, but Malmsbury scored three runs to take a one-run lead.

Falcons managed to even the game in the bottom of the sixth, but neither team could get the winning run in the seventh.

Haymes and Strahan also had two hits each for their respective teams to be the stars of the game.

There was also a draw in division three as Dodgers Hornets and Falcons Blue tied at nine runs apiece.

Falcons out hit the Hornets seven to four, but Hornets made the most of their opportunities.

Daisy Pithie went the distance for Hornets in a very good display, while Falcons used three pitchers, with Chris Cain delivering a vital scoreless inning in the bottom of the fourth.

Andrew Jones was the best of the hitters with three. Evergreen Gary Ahdore was the best for Hornets with two.

Dodgers Tigers proved too good for Bendigo East 15-5.

Dodgers pitcher Dez Mennie dominated this game, going five innings on the mound, giving up only five runs as he struck out eight. He then backed that up with three safe hits in an outstanding performance.

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Scots stormed home to defeat Falcons White 13-11.

Scots trailed by five runs with one inning remaining, but their hitting clicked into action and they scored seven runs to pinch victory.

Nathan Larson and Luke Ruiter were the stars for Falcons with four hits each, while Troy Henderson was best for Scots with three.

In junior action, Falcons defeated Dodgers Devils 17-15 in a high-quality under-16 game.

Dodgers Tigers rallied from an early deficit to defeat Bendigo East 14-4.

In under-14s, Falcons proved too good for Malmsbury 16-9, while Dodgers Devils held off Dodgers Tigers 9-7.

In under-12s, Bendigo East Bulls defeated Falcons 12-3, while Bendigo East Bears defeated Dodgers 18-13.

The final Baseball Victoria Winter Championship series will get underway this weekend in the under-16 division in Gippsland.

The championships will be played over Saturday and Sunday at grounds in Morwell and Traralgon.

Bendigo will be sending a team of 14 players, and will compete in pool two against Diamond Valley, North East and Latrobe Valley.

The team is: Alaric Tibbett (Falcons), Hudson Castle (Falcons), Asha Murphy (Bendigo East), Mason Strahan (Falcons), Cooper Sims (Bendigo East), Nate D'Atri (Bendigo East), Darnell Marks (Bendigo East), Ryan Kinkade (Malmsbury Rangers), Deon Strahan (Falcons), Travis Shanahan (Strath Dodgers), Fabian Gray (Strath Dodgers), Riley Harrington (Malmsbury Rangers), Henry Smith (Malmsbury Rangers), Elliot Harrington (Malmsbury Rangers). Coach: Jay D'Atri (Bendigo East). Assistant coach: Lachlan Dennis (Strath Dodgers). Manager: Trent Jackson (Falcons). Scorer: Brandie Strahan (Falcons).

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