Devils Softball & Baseball Malta

NAIL-BITER FAVOURS THE DEVILS

Devils 5 vs Mustangs 4

Boxscore         Play-by-play

Maltese baseball fans witnessed another exciting game on Saturday, with the Mustangs hosting the Devils to conclude their first round activities in the National League.  Making his first pitching start for the Mustangs was Mark Buttigieg, who fared well against the opposing team’s offense, pitching his best game ever in his young National League career.  Charles Attard, on the other hand, cruised over the Mustangs offense, striking out eleven batters including the last out, which gave him his first complete game (CG) of the season.

The game was a nail-biter from beginning to end.  The Devils scored two runs in the top of the first, thanks to a series of wild pitches by Buttigieg.  However, Buttigieg settled down to pitch three consecutive scoreless innings, with the best feat coming in the top of the third, after retiring the three most dangerous hitters of the Devils’ lineup.  Then the Devils scored two more runs in the top of the fifth, to give them a 4-1 lead.  Entering the bottom of the last inning, the score was 5-2 in favour of the Devils, with Attard pitching a gem.  The Mustangs’ bats came alive as a pair of doubles by Patrick Pace and Buttigieg allowed two runs to cross the plate, bringing the Devils’ lead to only one run.  With two outs and the winning run at second, the Devils’ management intentionally walked the sixth batter to go after the next hitter, who had been struggling against the Devils’ pitching throughout the whole game.  This smart move paid off for the Devils’ as Attard struck out the batter to earn his first victory. 

Both teams played well defensively, with both Pace and Claude Busuttil standing out from the two teams.  Pace had ten fielding chances without committing an error at short, while Busuttil made a couple of amazing catches to keep the Devils in front throughout the course of the game.  The Devils’ fortune has turned around this season thanks to their pitching, as the team is leading the league in Earned Run Average, allowing an impressive 1.08 earned runs every seven innings.

MAVERICKS vs. STING 

Claude Busuttil's 2 for 2 performance not good enough for Sting.

In yesterday's 2nd Division League game the Mavericks beat Sting 8-3 in the 1 hour game which lasted only 2 innings. Pitcher Steve Ritchie got the win striking out 6, walking 3 and allowing 2 hits.

The game had started off well for Sting when 1st batter Claude Busuttil hit a triple to left-field and subsequently scored on a wild pitch by Maverick's starter Steve Ritchie.

Sting also scored a 2nd run on a wild pitch. Yet the Mavericks kept them at two runs with Ritchie striking out 3 consecutive batters to end the top half of the inning.

In the bottom of the inning Sting starter Kenneth Bellizzi suffered on the mound as he immedeatly walked the 1st 3 batters faced, then giving up a 2 RBI single to Mavericks 3rd Base, who advanced to home on defensive errors for the Mavericks 4th and last run of the inning.

In the top of the 2nd Sting scored another run when Ronald Sillick ran home on a 2-out RBI double by Claude Busuttil, who was then left on base as Ritchie struck out Emmanuel Borg.

Jan Degiorgio took the mound in the 2nd inning, however he could not seem to find the strike zone as he walked the 4 batters he faced. Another pitching change was ineffective as the Mavericks soon scored the inning-limit 4 runs and ended the game with an 8-3 win.

[photo : Sting Outfielder Claude Busuttil connects for a double in the 2nd inning.]

Posted by R.T at 2:20 PM

Labels: Report

MELLIEHA NORTHENDERS SHUT DOWN DEVILS TO GAIN FIRST PLACE

Devils 6 vs Northenders 9

Boxscore                 Play-by-play

Last Saturday, the two teams that won their Opening Day encounters faced each other, with the winner eventually climbing to the top of the National League standings.  Both the Northenders and the Devils had key players missing for this game, and a series of defensive errors from both sides erased the possibility of seeing an exciting pitching duel. 

Starting on the mound for the second time this year was Clint Grima, who cruised through the game against the Mustangs the previous weekend; while making his pitching debut for the Devils was the newly-acquired Charles Attard.  The Devils got off to a quick start, as centerfielder Claude Busuttil scored in the first run after a wild pitch in the dirt by Grima.  Mellieha responded with three runs in the bottom of the first; taking advantage of a throwing error, which would have ended the inning without anybody crossing the plate to score.  The Devils then tied the game in the third, as two runs crossed the plate after Mellieha committed another error.  Three errors committed by the Devils’ defense then allowed a couple of runs to cross the plate, to give Mellieha a 5-3 lead.  In the bottom of the fourth, the Devils allowed a couple of runners to get on base, again through errors, which were eventually driven in by third baseman Silvan Busuttil and by Grima, to give Mellieha a comfortable 8-3 lead.  In the top of the fifth, the Devils came back to score a couple of runs to reduce the lead by three. However, Grima kept the Northenders comfy by cruising along the bottom half of the Devils’ lineup.  Mellieha then scored another run in the bottom of the sixth, again due to a fielding error.  A late rally in the seventh was not enough for the Devils, as relief pitcher Michael Bartolo struck out the winning run at the plate, to give the Northenders a 9 to 6 win over the Devils. Both teams combined a total of twenty-eight strikeouts, with Grima throwing fifteen and Attard throwing ten.  Unfortunately, only four of the total fifteen runs were earned, as both teams performed poorly defensewise.

ROOKIES BEAT STING IN THREE INNINGS TO EARN FIRST VICTORY

Sting 4 vs Rookies 8

The Rookies won their first game of the season by beating Sting eight to four in three innings of play.  Starting pitcher Silvan Busuttil kept Sting’s offense off-balance all day, striking out four batters.  The Rookies took advantage of Kenneth Bellizzi’s pitching debut, as the lefty could not settle on the mound during the course of the game.  The Rookies got off to a fast start in the first, scoring four runs

 off a series of wild pitches by Bellizzi, giving them a four-nothing lead.  Busuttil then cruised along the second inning, striking out two batters to keep the Rookies in the lead.  Eventually they scored another four runs in the bottom of the second, which were enough to win the game.  Sting rallied in the top of the third, but their rally was stopped by the Rookies defense to end the game

Game Summary

New Players to join the Devils for the 2008/09 Season

In the first game of the National League the Devils got off to a good start when they beat the Gozo Tornadoes 7-0 on Saturday. During their first game several new pitching prospects for the Devils took the mound at their first try at pitching, with some more innings of experience, these young arms will surely become important backups for the Devils pitchers in the National League.

Thanks to the addition of six experienced Gozitan players to the Devils roster, amongst whom Charles Attard, Steven Galea and Shaun Chircop, the Devils have a very strong team for this years league and seem to be very good contenders for this year's championship title.

Posted by R.T at 12:18 AM

Labels: weekend summary

League is Starting - 27th September 2008 - 15:00

 GO - GO DEVILS

Hey Maltese Girls 

we are organise an international events

Fastpitch Softball 

End of May - Start of June

Already we have teams from Germany and Belgium

If you like to be part?

contact us

Devils & Stings Teams still going