Rangers A-grade goes down, B-grade claims special contest

BASEBALL: The Rangers have headed back to the drawing board after suffering their second defeat in three weeks.

Phil Vanderneut (left). Picture: Kevin Farmer

BASEBALL: The Rangers have headed back to the drawing board after suffering their second defeat in three weeks.

Early signs were promising in their road clash with Pine Rivers, before the scoring prowess of the Rapids came to the fore with an 8-3 victory.

The defeat pushes Toowoomba to a 3-2 record for the season among a huddle of teams pushing for a spot in the top four.

Captain-coach Luke Ardill said they were made to pay for crucial lapses when the game was on the line.

“Our first few innings were really good and we were able to keep them to zero,” Ardill said.

“Our defence was really good. Then a couple of calls went against us and it got to us.

“We started to drop our heads. We got frustrated and they were able to get a roll on. Our defence lapsed and we made a few errors while they kept their composure and capitalised.”

The Rangers had a 2-0 lead through the first four innings, before eight runs in the fifth and sixth from Pine Rivers put the game out of reach.

B-grade kept its unbeaten streak alive with a dominant 16-9 defeat of the Southern Stars.

The two sides played for the Nathan Drewes Memorial Trophy, honouring the former player of both teams who tragically passed away last year.

C-grade suffered its first loss of the season in division six, falling 5-4 to the Redlands Stingrays in a tight encounter.

Originally published as Rangers A-grade goes down, B-grade claims special contest