Suiside keep hopes of second place alive as Rams make hard work of double-header win

With top spots already decided it was all about who could take second spot in the penultimate round of the Geraldton Softball Association. Suiside kept their hopes alive winning by the mercy rule 18-6 against a rather depleted Rams side. Suiside had the perfect start, sett up six runs after their first at-bat through a combination of safe hits to Liam Meharry, Jack Garland and Seth Devlin, plus the forcing of errors saw Dylan Percy and Jaxen Meharry also cross the plate. Rams managed to hang in there until the fifth inning when Garland launched one over the fence in a nine-run sixth inning to seal the game. Coach Dylan Percy was contented with his team’s efforts against the top-placed side. “I am really pleased with all of them, all round the team was solid and everyone played a role,” he said. Suiside will play Martians to decide who takes the second spot in the ladder after the completion bye this weekend. In the women’s Rams won both their games against Martians and Suiside, giving them the second-place spot on the ladder. Their first game against Martians ended at the bottom of the fourth inning with an 11-1 mercy rule win with Rams dominating form the first at-bat, with Sally Denton and Stevie Usher both in great form. Rams were cruising in their second game, after initially trailing by two, a nine-run innings at the top of the fifth put them in complete control. Suiside narrowly avoided the mercy rule with one run but still trailed by six heading into the last dig. But Rams made hard work of the win with some defensive errors seeing Suside close to one run with bases loaded, but Rams held their nerves to get the final out and breathe a sigh of relief 12-11. Rams player Sally Denton said she was happy with the teamwork shown during both games. “We as a team were on a mission to secure that second position on the ladder and are feeling confident for the upcoming finals games,” she said. “We strive under pressure and our teamwork is on point.” Rams will take on Marlins in the elimination final next week with the winner going straight through to the grand final. Pi’s won their game against first-placed Marlins in convincing style 13-3 but Rams’ double wins see them finish in third spot. Coach David Sutton said he was disappointed to finish third but backed their form going into the final. “Unfortunately, we dropped to third on the ladder due to Rams winning both games in their double-header, but if we can maintain our current form, we will be a threat to all the teams in the finals,” he said. In other games, Martians Red lost to Rams Blue 20-4 in division two while Rams defeated Martians Black 14-2. In the women’s Martians Red lost 32-1 to Pi’s who also crushed a severely depleted Rams side 45-2.