Rob Laidlaw

GAWLER Rangers lost 6-8 to Northern Districts in division two baseball on Sunday, although a three-run final inning put a scare in the opposition.
The story of the game, and an unfortunate recurring theme, was again too many Rangers errors, with five miss-cues costing six unearned runs.
Jamie Diener smashed a solo home run in the second frame to give Gawler an early lead, but an error opened the door to two runs for North in the third dig.
Rangers fought back in the fifth inning with a run to tie the ballgame up at 2-2, after Steve Vanpoorten doubled and came home on Rick Leonard’s single.
North scooted ahead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth, with one caused by an error, to lead 4-2 before that margin was reduced in the sixth when Noah Okeil hit a RBI double.
In the bottom of the sixth, another error proved costly and handed North three unearned runs from the four it scored, to go 8-3 up.
A feature of Gawler’s season has been its ability to keep fighting games out, and with hits to Vanpoorten, Nathan Schreier, Leonard, Diener and Jake Rodda, the Rangers closed the gap with three runs, but ran out of gas and could not pull any closer.
Leonard’s performance on the mound was a bright spot for Gawler, as he pitched five innings, conceding three hits for 11 strikeouts, while surrendering just one earned run.
Unfortunately the Rangers women lost its semi-final to Adelaide Angels 13-9.
Gawler started well, scoring three first inning runs, with Sarah-Jane Jameson’s two-run home run the highlight.
Laura Helbig had a RBI double in the third frame, while in the fourth, Jameson had another two-run dinger, and Naomi Oxford, Helbig and Farrah Preston had RBI hits.
All Gawler teams are out of the finals now, while the division two and three teams have one more game each, at home this Sunday against Goodwood.

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RESULTS:
Division two: Gawler Rangers | Northern Districts 6-8 (hits: Rhys Argent 2, Steven Vanpoorten 2, Nathan Schreier 2, Rick Leonard 2, Jamie Diener 2 (hr), Jake Rodda, Zac Ainsworth, Noah Okeil);
Division three: Gawler Rangers | Northern Districts 0-12 (hits: Travis Schreier 2, Nathan Schreier, Tyler Strong);
Division six: Gawler Rangers | Woodville 9-21 (hits: Ben Nottle 2, Brenton Pike 2, Josh Mayfield, Jimmy Hope, James Mussared, Richard Stirling, Paul Casson);
Division seven: Gawler Rangers | Woodville 6-9 (hits: Theo Stirling, James Mussared, Ben Nottle, Jimmy Hope, Richard Stirling, Trevor Norley);
Women’s division two: Gawler Rangers d Adelaide Angels 13-2 (hits: Farrah Preston 3, Sarah-Jane Jameson 2 (2 hr), Naomi Oxford 2, Laura Helbig 2, Tracy Filko);
Under 17: Gawler Rangers | Sturt 2-24 (hits: Tyler Strong 2, Joash Cedamon, Nick O’Connor, Jayden Larsen-Smith, Brooke Walton);
Under 15-2: Gawler Rangers | East Torrens 8-12 (hits: Travis Varcoe, Ethan Hale, Bailey Murray-Billing, Joash Cedamon);
Under 13-1: Gawler Rangers | Kensington 0-13 (hits: Cadel Carter 2);
Under 13-2: Gawler Rangers d GGCD 16-7;
Under 11: Gawler Rangers | Adelaide 0-12.