STATE LEAGUE

With Morley stitching up the Minor Premiership on the weekend and South Perth and the Black Ducks jockeying for home team advantage in their semi final series, the only thing to be decided in the State League competition is who will be Morley’s opponent in the other semi final. 

Wanneroo seem to be hanging onat the moment, but Melville Braves are making a late charge.  After Wanneroo swept Wembley and Melville split their double header with Swans,  Melville sit 2 games back of the Giants with 4 games to go.  With Wanneroo holding the tie-breaker, Melville will need to win out and rely on Wanneroo losing 3 games to make the playoffs.  I think that Melville might have left their run a little late this season, so expect the Roo Crew to take 4th spot.

With that all sorted, Morley will take on the Giants and the Cubbies shoud take the home team advantage into the first week of the playoffs against the Black Ducks.

AAA

With Gosnells winning the one game tie-breaker 10-3 against Wanneroo on Tuesday night, the Hawks take the 4th and final spot in the AAA playoffs, and will face the Cubbies at Forster Park this Sunday.  The Cubs have been buoyed by the return of veteran righty Simon Eissens to the pitching staff, backed up by young guns Daniel Copeland, Andrew Lange and Josh and Kane Silvi.  The Cubbies should make it through to the Preliminary Final.

Morley take on the Black Ducks in the other semi final at Crimea Park, in what should be an incredibly tight contest.  With the possibility of both Murphy brothers and Dylan Peac*** having qualified for AAA duties at Swans, the Black Ducks should get up and go straight to the Grand Final.

UNDER 19

After an extremely tight Under 19 season South Perth take on Morley, who won a 3-way tie breaker with Wanneroo and Melville to snatch 4th spot, in a sudden death semi final at Forster Park on Sunday morning.  Morley have had the wood on the young Cubs this season, winning both prevoius encounters this season.  However, South Perth have the playoff experience under their belts and should account for Morley, but only just.

In the other semi, Perth take on the Black Ducks at Kevan Langdon Field.  The impressive Perth side has lost just 1 game this season, thanks to the likes of Chris Lofthouse, Matt Dixon and Nick Stanbuy, while the young Black Ducks have surprised many this season by taking second spot.  Expect to see Perth go straight through to the Grand Final in this one.

Rockingham suffered a rather shocking loss against the Bears a few weeks back, is Rocko getting a little too comfortable at the top? Or are the Bears finally hitting their stride? The Rams have been strong all year and could just be getting bored of the regular season and ready for finals to begin, the game didnt mean all that much to the Rams, so maybe just took the week off.
However the Bears surely built off that win, their bats have been coming together the last 4 weeks, and with a big win against UWA this past weekend, they could be heating up at just the right time. Does their pitching have the depth to carry them over Carine next weekend and keep the winning streak alive?
UWA played a good game against the Bears last weekend, superman Torpy’s decision to throw against the Bears may have cost his team a home playoff game however. I’ll just go ahead and say the Bears may be for real, the Whips were simply out matched. However securing the 4th spot with a little help from the Hornets the Whips are still going into the playoffs with a bit of momentum on their side. With Goldman on the mound UWA maybe have enough pitching to get them past the defending Champs.
Carine is staying quiet but doing the job the past few weeks. With a win over the Bears this weekend they will secure the top spot in the league and home field advantage throughout. Will the legend come out of retirement and throw this weekend? Or will he crack under the pressure and hand the ball off to Hays? My guess is Hays will get the start and do the job for the Cats. He shut the Bears down last time he faced them and I expect him to do it again.

It will be an imteresting next few weeks in the PL league, sure would like to hear some other opinions on how the games will turn out. My prediction…..

Balcatta to beat UWA in a close one
Carine to beat Rockingham
Balcatta to beat Rockingham
Carine to beat the Bears in 2

1 Swan Districts 17 12 4 1 73.5
2 Morley Eagles 17 12 4 1 73.5
3 South Perth 17 10 6 1 61.8
4 Gosnells Hawks 17 8 6 3 55.9
5 Wanneroo 17 7 5 5 55.9
6 Victoria Park 17 7 7 3 50
7 West Stirling 17 7 9 1 44.1
8 Melville Braves 17 4 11 2 29.4
9 Perth 17 5 12 29.4
10 Wembley 17 4 12 1 26.5

South Perth Cubs (2nd, 21-7-2) vs Perth (10th, 6-24) – Friday 6:30pm at Baseball Park, Sunday 3:15pm at Grayden Reserve

The Run Home:

South Perth: West Stirling (BP) – Vic Park/Belmont (A) – Gosnells (BP) – Morley (H)

Perth: Wanneroo (A) – West Stirling (A) – Wembley (A) – Gosnells (H)

The Cubbies are on a bit of a roll at the moment, winning their ast 4 games to charge into second spot, while Perth need at least 1 win to have any hope of avoiding the wooden spoon.  Games between these 2 fierce rivals are always full of fireworks, so expect this wekend’s set to be no different.

Prediction: Considering their form over the last fortnight, it’s hard to go past the Cubbies.

Gosnells Hawks (6th, 14-16) vs West Stirling Indians (9th, 8-21-1) – Friday 9:00pm at Baseball Park, Sunday 3:15pm at Tom Bateman Reserve

The Run Home:

Gosnells: Vic Park/Belmont (BP) – Swan Districts (H) – South Perth (BP) – Perth (A)

West Stirling: South Perth (BP) – Perth (H) – Morley (BP) – Melvile (H)

The Hawks will be without the services of Robbie Adamson for the rest of the season, and with no realistic shot at playoff baseball this season, there seems to be growing disharmony within the playing group, with at least 3 players rumoured to be on the move in the off-season.  Things in the Tee-Pee are not much better, with their manager sacked at the mid-season break and no signs of improvement.

Prediction: Gosnells to sweep, beause they are playing slightly better baseball than West Stirling right now.

Vic Park/Belmont Reds (8th, 8-21-1) vs Morley Eagles (1st, 25-5) – Saturday 3:30pm and Sunday 3:15pm at Forster Park

The Run Home:

Vic Park/Belmont: Gosnells (BP) – South Perth (H) – Melville (BP) – Wanneroo (A)

Morley: Swan Districts (BP) – Wembley (H) – West Stirling (BP) – South Perth (A)

The Reds mave been up and down in their last 5 games, but will need to re-create the magic they produced on December 13 against Morley, which is the last time Morley lost a game.  The Eagles are on a 12-game winning streak and another 2 wins this weekend will almost deliver the minor premiership to Crimea Park.

Prediction: The Eagles to sweep and seal up top spot.

Wembley Magpies (7th, 10-20) vs Wanneroo Giants (4th, 17-11-2) – Saturday 4:00pm and Sunday 3:15pm at Henderson Park

The Road Home:

Wembley: Melville (BP) – Morley (A) - Perth (H) – Swan Districts (A)

Wanneroo: Perth (H) – Melville (A) – Swan Districts (BP) – Vic Park/Belmont (H)

The Magpies seem to be falling apart at the moment, with Brad Williamson stepping aside as manager to ensure the club didn’t go into complete meltdown.  Wanneroo, on the other hand, have lost 6 of their last 7 games and are in real danger of missing the four unless things improve dramaically.

Prediction: The Giants to get things going again with a sweep.

Swan Districts (3rd, 21-9) vs Melville Braves (5th, 16-12-2) – Sunday Double Header 12:30pm at Charlie Hodder Field

The Run Home:

Swan Districts: Morley (BP) – Gosnells (A) – Wanneroo (BP) – Wembley (H)

Melville: Wembley (BP) – Wanneroo (H) – Vic Park/Belmont (BP) – West Stirling (A)

The Black Ducks had a stumble 2 weeks ago, being swept by South Perth and losing 2nd spot, but got right back on track with a sweep of West Stirling last week.  Melville are currently locked in a fierce battle with Wanneroo for 4th spot, but lose some notable firepower in the next wek or so, with Brendan Wise and the Brothers Kennelly returning to the states.

Prediction: Swans to sweep and keep the pressure on the Cubbies.

The regular season for all other senior grades finishes this weekend, with the exception of the Provincial League competition.  I know that the race for playoff spots in the AAA’s is extremely tight, with 6 teams still able to make the top four.  Best of luck to all teams battling for playoff positions!

Team P W L D Win

1 Morley Eagles 30 25 5 83.3
2 South Perth 29 20 7 2 72.4
3 Swan Districts 30 21 9 70
4 Wanneroo Giants 30 17 11 2 60
5 Melville Braves 29 16 11 2 58.6
6 Gosnells Hawks 30 14 16 46.7
7 Wembley 30 10 20 33.3
8 Victoria Park 30 8 21 1 28.3
9 West Stirling 30 8 21 1 28.3
10 Perth 30 6 24 20