Gareth Donnelly
2 Apr 2022
11-0 Win
A new chapter in Mariners Baseball began on Saturday as the newly formed Vikings stepped into the world of Irish baseball.
The first opponents in this historic match were the Ashbourne Stags, and early on it was a bit of pitching duel, as young James Kelly squared off against Elvis Mader, returning to the diamond after a year away.
The Mariners finally tagged on a few runs in the 3rd and 4th, and then sat back and watched the dominance that was James Kelly.
Through 6 innings he struck out 12 and gave up just 1 hit, as his fastball consistently found the strike zone. When he eventuality handed the ball over to Lisa Lyness for the 7th, he also handed her a shutout to protect.
The Vikings tagged on the necessary runs to force a potential mercy rule, and the resident of Wicklow town duly obliged by shutting down any potential comeback.
On the offensive side, Finbarr Duggan had the hit of the day in his Mariners debut, as the new Viking right fielder cracked a base hit on the first pitch he saw. John Marcus also had a day, as he ended up on base all 4 times he came to the dish, knocking in 4 RBI’s in the process.
The Vikings will be used as a stepping stone for the Mariners cadets as they become old enough to play in the senior league, but on Saturday for various reasons only 1 previous cadet was present, and so the Moms and Dads had to do their bit, and they absolutely did. Onwards and upwards for this young, but not so young, new team.