Highlights of the Round
Henry Feutrill, Year 12
Highlight 1 – Written by Tom Wallwork – Hayden’s Darlot ton
With all boys competing hard there were so many great highlights to choose from. Tenacious tweeners in the tennis, sizzling smashes in the volleyball and even a bizarre moment in the 3rds cricket match where 1st gamer Ollie Macnamara in an absolute certain runout opportunity hit the stumps with ball in hand but not hard enough to dislodge the bails, resulting in a not-out for the astounded Aquinas batsman. This incredible act saw Ollie christened with the nickname ‘Stumps’ by the rest of the team. However, this moment couldn’t edge out – pardon the pun – what occurred in the 1sts cricket last Saturday.
Let’s set the scene. A Darlot ton, something all Scotch 1sts cricketers dream of. After Captain Hayden Henschel won the toss and elected to bat, Scotch lost an early wicket which brought Hayden to the crease. Anxious to get off the mark, with Aquinas boys chirping in his ear, Hayden hit one uppishly towards point, but to Aquinas’s disgust and Scotch’s pleasure he was dropped on 0. And, boy oh boy, would they pay. Hayden quickly got off the mark with a 2 and then unleashed a series of imperious strokes peppering the boundaries on Memo Oval. Hayden eased to 50 and then really flashed the blade in a swashbuckling performance – the standout a huge 6 over midwicket. The nervous 90s saw a series of singles taken and on 99 Hayden was just one run away from his second Darlot ton. With a classy nudge into the leg side Hayden brought up the 100. To quote Anthony Hudson from the 2006 Grand Final, “Who would have thought the sequel would be just as good as the original.” A real Captain’s knock that, in the end, fell short of 150, but there’s always next week.
Highlight 2 – sent in by Noah Cooper- Johnny Gattorna’s catch – written by Henry Feutrill
With every week at Scotch, there are always going to be some amazing moments and some low lights. This week was no different. Special mention to Angus King who made 95 in the 1sts cricket this week hitting about an 80 metre six while he was at it. Also, in the 1st cricket Sebastian Carmichael, a Year 10, managed to back up 4 wickets in his 1sts debut last round with another 5 this round. Great bowling.
However, the highlight of the round has to go to Johnny Gattorna in the 9As cricket last Friday. On a long Friday afternoon on a sticky Wesley cricket pitch, the Scotch boys were having a tough time out there in the field. After 3… mediocre balls, what seemed like a relatively stock standard over already had six runs coming off it. The Scotch boys needed a spark. Enter Johnny Gattorna. As a half volley outside Off is bowled, everyone was expecting more runs. But not Johnny. A thick outside edge catches everyone by surprise. But not Johnny. He leaps to his left, as he taps it up and falls to the ground, the Scotch boys groan thinking it’s over. But not Johnny; he sticks out his right paw with the caught ball in his hand. To paraphrase Michael Slater “Wesley chips it, Scotch takes it. That is a blinder from Johnny Gattorna and another game changer for Scotch.”
Highlight 3 – Bill Eastman – Saving tennis match – Sent in by Jack Cook Written by Henry Feutrill
After a disappointing loss last week, the Scotch boys had moved to 1-4 in the season. This was a must win affair. With one set left to play, the game was still undecided. Lose the set, Hale wins, win the set, Scotch wins. Enter Bill Eastman. He knew what he needed to do. The problem was Bill was already down 5-4 40-15. Now if you don’t know tennis let me translate- utter shambles. If Bill lost one more point, he was done. One missed shot and Scotch move to a 1-5 record in Tennis. In a massive 20 shot rally Bill is fighting for survival. To quote Jack Cook “Bill was scrambling more than my eggs that morning.” At the 10th shot Bill hits a forehand slice that has Mr Bradley ready to lose it, but it lands safely. Eventually, Bill hits an impeccable forehand winner on the 20th shot. But it still wasn’t over. After three more impeccable rallies all in Bill’s favour, somehow, he managed to tie it up to make it 5-5. After holding his serve Bill is now up 6-5. Only one more set to win. Bill turns into prime Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djocovic all at the same time. Hitting fast pace shot left and right, Bill hits a pearler forehand winner to go up 40-30. One more point for victory. The Hale player serves, the stadium holds its breath; it’s a fault. The entire team prays for an early Christmas gift of a double fault. It doesn’t happen. Bill isn’t fazed and unleashes a forehand at the body that the Hale player can’t deal with. Bill had done it. Won the game for Scotch. “The miracle on grass”-courts.
Highlight 4 – sent in by Alex Jackson – Written by Henry Feutrill – Will Parker’s basketball standout shooting performance.
This week saw some amazing highlights. First, the fourth’s cricket team named “mediocre fourths” set up their season very nicely with their first win in months – helped by self-proclaimed “captain” Lachie Young, who provided 32 fizzy drinks and 0 runs. The tennis teams also seemed unstoppable not losing one game on the weekend. While the 1sts cricket saw plenty of great innings including more runs from Josh Griffin who got 70 odd as well as Hayden Henschel who also made around 70. In the 1sts basketball Alex Jackson caught fire with four nice 3 pointers; however, the highlight of the round must go to another 1st’s 6 basketballer… Will Parker.
While Lebron may have got the all-time scoring record in the NBA this week, this certainly wasn’t the most important basketball achievement. This comes from none other than Will Parker. Now, Will had been working incredibly hard to make it into the 1sts team. Week after week Will was getting buckets in the 2s and was waiting and waiting for a chance to prove himself in the 1sts. Well… his chance was last week against Guildford. All the boys wanted him to perform… and he did. Helping Scotch to a very nice 20-0 run to start the game, Will splashed a very nice 3 in the first quarter. But he wasn’t done there. This was only the start of the best basketball debut in Scotch history. In the 2nds quarter Will caught fire even more. CORNER 3… BANG. Quick pass back out to Will. Bang another 3 pointer. Will was on three 3 pointers. But he wasn’t done there. Alex puts up a 3 won’t go rebound mark back out to Will his 3-pointer bang. That was four 3s for Will. But he wasn’t done there. Another 3 saw Will produce an incredible five debut 3 pointers. An incredible achievement Will.