Jason Carelse, captain of Athlone A’s, said earlier this season that the plan was to close the gap between them and the seemingly unbeatable Bothasig Knights and Bellville Tygers.
The two giants are the always heavy favourites for the Cape Town Baseball Federation honours.
The slow but steady build up by Athlone A’s is doing exactly what the captain promised.
The Athlone side’s weekend results will play a massive role in boosting their confidence. They took down the Bothasig side with a 7-6 scoreline. And in doing so, making sure they enter the conversation for league honours. The win took them to 24 points, level with both Knights and Tygers. Due to superior points differential, Knights are on top of the standings, with Athlone second and Bellville Tygers third.
With this weekend’s win, it’s fair to say Athlone are not only in the same league as the Knights and Tygers, but are serious contenders and maybe now the baseball community can talk of a big three in the division.
It had initially looked like Tygers were running away with the league having drawn the first blood when they beat Knights earlier in the season. A reverse fixture saw Knights winning against Tygers. Enter Athlone A’s who have made the league even more interesting with their current run of form.
Fourteen games have been played so far with seven remaining. None of the pack leaders can afford any slip ups. The three teams will still meet in the last round of the league and that is when the scores will be settled.
Tygers were in their usual rampant mood at the weekend and made the most of the slip up by Knights to ensure they kept up with the pace.
At home they made light work of Westridge, winning 15-0. Westridge, back in the major league after a season in the promotional league, have managed six points this season in the 14 games they have played. Not a bad return for a side that was just recently promoted. The seven games remaining will be important for them as they seek to end the season on a high.
In a high scoring affair, VOB Macaws ran out 17-16 victors against Maitland Giants.
VOB are sitting pretty in fourth place with 16 points, far below the runaway leaders and safely ahead of Giants at fifth. Durbanville Villains lost 4-14 to Helderberg Pirates at home and remain at the foot of the eight-team log with one win this season.