The Bellingen Brewers had two wins from two previous meetings against Coffs Harbour in A grade, but couldn’t make it three from three on Saturday, falling to the Allstars 9-5.
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Once again the junior Brewers got the day started on the right foot with a 17-9 win over the Allstars. With Bellingen holding a narrow 8-7 lead, James Cecil came on to pitch for the Brewers and held Coffs to a single run while Bellingen scored five times in each of the final two innings. Cam Rutherford had three hits and made a highlight reel play at shortstop for the Brewers.
The Brewers found the going tougher against the Allstars in B grade. They came back from 2-0 and 4-1 deficits to level the score 4-4, but the Allstars answered with a five-run outburst and held on for a 9-5 win.
The A grade feature followed a similar pattern. After falling behind 3-0, Rob Kozik drove in two runs for Bellingen with a two-out single to narrow the gap to 3-2.
After the Allstars added a run to extend their lead to 4-2, Terry Booth singled home Cooper Bake-Smith with two out to cut the Coffs lead again to one run, 4-3.
Brewers pitcher Juaques Kruger kept the Allstars off the scoreboard the next inning, but Bellingen missed a golden opportunity to level the scores in their next at bat, as Hunter Bake-Smith controversially was called out for failing to slide on a successful steal of second base. That play seemed to lift the Allstars, who piled on five runs in their next at bat to lead 9-3 going into the final inning of play.
But Bellingen fought back once more. Cooper Bake-Smith led off the inning with a single, Matt Erskine doubled, and Booth drove them both in with his third hit of the day. Two walks loaded the bases and brought the tying run to the plate, but Bellingen could not score again as Coffs held on to win 9-5.
There is a break in play next week, with many association players heading north to play in the annual Tamworth baseball carnival. The Brewers will be back in action in two weeks against the Woolgoolga Bluesox.