Welcome to Mike Rielly
Baseball....
Mike Rielly (MNZM)
Meets Governor General
Today Mike was invited to Government
House to Receive his Member of the NZ Order of Merit Medal. He received this by the Governor General Of New Zealand on behalf
of Her Majesty The Queen. It was an amazing experience!
Day 5 - Friendly Game - NZ 7 beat Indonesia 2
On the final day of the tournament we had a friendly game against Indonesia.
We have beaten them the last 3 years so they were looking for a win against us. We had a couple of kids out with
a stomach flu (Sean and Ben) and it sounds like Jaz came down with it during the game. It was a good close game - until
the 6th inning. Reede started us off scoring a run in the 1st inning. Reede then proceeded to pitch a complete game.
In the top of the 6th inning we scored 6 runs to put the game away. Indonesia came back to score 2 (unearned runs)
in the bottom of the inning but it was too little too late.
A great job by the team winning 5 of our 7 games on
tour. This team has a very bright future! I am very proud to have coached this group of players, they all represented New Zealand well.
Day 4 - The Phillipines 8 beat NZ 5
We played
another barnstorming game today which could have gone either way. Jimmy was our starting pitcher and he went 3 2/3 innings
giving up only 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 9. He did not give up an earned run but our fielding was not as
tight as yesterday and we gave up 6 runs in the first 4 innings (5 of them in the 4th inning). Our batters actually
gave us the lead today in the first inning with Reede getting a hit and scoring on a couple of errors in the field. In
the second inning we threatened to score again but just could not get a run home. In the third and forth innings we
again scored runs with Jimmy and Ben getting RBIs - but we again left too many runners in scoring position. After 4
innings we were down 6-3 but the players did not give up. Sam Harvy came on and pitched very well for 2 1/3 innings
and gave up 2 hits, 2 walks and 2 runs while striking out 7. In the bottom of the 6th we really turned the game on its head
scoring 2 runs and with no one out and the bases loaded we had our 2,3,and 4 batters coming up. While they all hit the
ball hard we could not get the runners on base home - which would have tied the game. Anyway, it was good to see the
team battle so hard right up to the end of the game.
Day 3 - NZ 2 beat
Singapore 1
The
NZ Little League team are on a roll here in Indonesia. We beat Vietnam yesterday 18-0 and today we beat Singapore 2-1
(in 8 innings). Singapore had 7 Japanese players and 5 US players on the team. We heard their coach tell another coach
that they would trash us today - which was great motivation for the team. Anyway, Sean started the game for the NZ team
and pitched 5 2/3 strong innings. He gave up 4 hits and 1 unearned run and struck out 10. It looked like he had the ball on
a string and bamboozled the batters with a mix of sliders, slerves, change-ups and a good fastball when needed. Our second
Pitcher Reede Fowler was just as good and finished the last 2 1/3 innings to get the win. Both our pitchers were just amazing
under the pressure and really kept us in the game. The batters and fielders worked hard the whole game. Matthew, Jimmy,
Sam Harvy, Josh and Sam Hollings all got hits. In the field Sam Hollings, Jimmy, Reede and Sam Harvey all made great plays.
Our Catcher, Zac, also made some great plays behind the plate and did not let one runner steal second base.
Singapore
scored first in the 3rd inning. Sean hit a batter with 2 outs - he went to second on an error and scored when the lead-off
batter hit a single. We came back in the 4th when Sam Harvey hit a triple to lead of the inning and Ben hit a long fly ball
to get him home. Both teams had chances to win the game in the next few innings. In the 5th inning we got Jimmy to second
base but could not get a hit to get him home. In the 6th inning we got Zac to second base with one out - Sam Hollings hit
a liner into the outfield but Zac was thrown out at the plate. In the 7th Singapore got a runner to 3rd with 2 outs but Sam
Hollings made a great play to get the 3rd out. In the bottom of the 7th we got Jimmy to second base again but could not get
him home. At last in the 8th inning Josh lead off with a single to right field and then the pitcher walked Zac and Sean
to load the bases. Sam Hollings almost finished the game with a hard line drive to 3rd base but then Taylor came to bat and
was walked on 4 straight pitches and with bases loaded Josh came home to score the winning run.
What a game!! A
real team effort and great coaching from Mike and Blair with great support by manager Brian (on this birthday!! - what a birthday
present). We will be talking about this one for a while.
Tournament Day 2: NZ 18
- Vietnam 0
Day 2 was another scorcher here in Indonesia. The NZ team arrived at the ground at 10:15am and
still looked very tired from the HK game the day before. By this time the temperature was about 35. Reede was the starting
pitcher for NZ and did a great job getting 2 ground outs and a K in the first inning. In the bottom of the 1st we scored 10
runs with Reede, Javarn, Jimmy, Zac, Josh and Sam Hollings all getting base hits. This was followed by a couple of walks
and a 2 base hit by Jimmy to get them all home. In the second inning Jaz pitched a perfect inning with 3 straight outs and
our batters put on 4 more runs with Sam Hollings, Ben, Reede, Jimmy and Jaz all getting hits. Elliot then pitched a perfect
3rd inning with Taylor closing out the game in the 4th for a 18-0 win to NZ. Our first win in 2 years. We play
Singapore tomorrow at 8am and are looking forward to another good performance - and are hoping for much cooler weather.
Cheers ....Mike
***************
Day One of the Tournament
The Opening Ceremony was to 8.00am and all the teams were there.
We were up at 6.00am for breaky and then on the bus, there was some local cultural
dancers and full walk by of the teams.
Then back to the hotel for the team and a light throw and soft toss as we had an off day the day before. I went to scout the Philipines who beat Vietnam. Then
to our game we started Jimmy Boyce and hit took use to
0 - 1 down after 3 innings. We then used Sean , Sam Harvey and Sam Holling with all staying under the 20 pitch and no days rest. Things slipped in the
fourth and we gave up 5 runs. The final score was 7 - 0 to
Hong Kong but the New Zealand team played so well and I am very proud on them all.
We
play Vietnam tomorrow and are ready to go.
Cheers
Mike
*****************
Day 3
No practice today so we got to the game at 2.15pm , the traffic is a major with so many motor bikes and it never stops.
Takes an hour to go 10km.
We were the home team and Sean Akroyd started on the mound , he pitched 3 innings and
gave up only one hit with strike outs the way he got most.
Hitting was hard due to the lack of pace but the team
made the adjustments with Zac Goldschmidt and Jarvarn Woolston showing the way. We won the game 16 - 3 and will be playing
them in the tournament later in the week.
A good day for all and Indonesia , the hosts, tommorrow.
*******************
Day Two
Up at 6.30am for breakfast and on the road by 7.30am for a 8.00am practice.
It was 27 degrees at that time of the day. Practice went well
with 15 min on and 10 off due to the heat. Lots of fluid in the breaks as all were getting overheated.
We then went to a local mall for lunch and the air con , it was great.
The game was at 2.00pm against the Surabya All Stars , we batted first and got two runs.
The innings only ended due to a great catch by the centre
fielder of a Sam Holling gaper. Some good pitching from Jimmy Boyce got
us to the 4th innings up by 10 - 0 and the hitting went on with triples to Taylor Simmons and Josh Goodwin and a in the park home run to Sam Harvey. The team played well with all getting hits and
some good game time.
Just the start and it gets harder tomorrow with Vietnam at 3.00pm.
Thanks
Mike
******************
Little League
in Surabaya!!!
Monday ... NZ time
Team arrived fit and well , big 10 hour 30 min fight to Singerpore
and then 2 hours more. We are in the Hotel and just need to get all set up and rested after the long flight. No
on field today so just a run on the Hotel tennis court to get us use to the heat. Cheers....Mike
QUEEN'S
BIRTHDAY HONOUR .....
Mike would like to thank, whoever nominated him for the Queen's Birthday Honour
Award. As published in this mornings NZ Herald, Mike has received the following Honour. Member of the New Zealand Order
of Merit, for Services to Baseball.
This is absolutely AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BRAVES WIN..
BRAVES WIN!!
It was finals day for the ABA junior
grades. The unbeaten Central City Braves, put their 15 and 0 record up against their fellow club mates ... the PHILLIES! With
some awesome pitching from Jimmy Boyce (Braves) and Reede Fowler (Phillies), the game went to the bottom of the 5th, tied
3 all. After a Jimmy Boyce double, Eli Hackney-Rose drove him home for a 4-3 lead. Matt Boyce came into close for the Braves
at the top of the 6th. He started the innings with 2 walks, he then struck out 2 players, then gave an intentional walk to
Phillies MVP, Reede Fowler, who had a great day with the bat, then took the final out with another strike out. And thats how
you play Finals Baseball. GO YOU BRAVES.... WELL DONE BOYS!!!!!
