League Table
| P | W | L | D | GB | Pts | |
| Greyatones Mariners | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | ||
| Kerry Green Sox | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Ryland Raiders | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Clondalkin Cardinals | 2.5 | 0 | 1.5 | 0 | ||
| Cork Druids | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Cork Patriots | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Cavan Comets | 0.5 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 |
Cork Blitz June 2008
| P | W | L | D | GB | Pts | |
| Group | ||||||
| Greystones Mariners | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | |
| Clondalkin Cardinals | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| Ryland Raiders | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| Group | ||||||
| Kerry Green Sox | ||||||
| Cork Druids |
| Date | Home Team | Away Team | ||
| Group | ||||
| 06.2008 | Greystones Mariners | 3 | Ryland Raiders | 1 |
| 06.2008 | Greystones Mariners | 4 | Clondalkin Cardinals | 2 |
| Semi-Final | ||||
| 06.2008 | Greystones Mariners | 7 | Cork Druids | 6 |
| Final | ||||
| 06.2008 | Greystones Mariners | 2 | Kerry Green Sox | 3 |
O’Malley Fields 10th Anniversary Blitz (Clondalkin) July 2008
| P | W | L | D | GB | Pts | |
| Group | ||||||
| Greystones Mariners | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | |
| Cork Druids | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| ClonCavan Cardinals | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| Group | ||||||
| Ryland Raiders | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | |
| Kerry Green Sox | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Date | Home Team | Away Team | ||
| Group | ||||
| 07.2008 | Greystones Mariners | 4 | ClonCavan Cardinals | 1 |
| 07.2008 | Greystones Mariners | 6 | Cork Druids | 5 |
| Group | ||||
| 07.2008 | Ryland Raiders | W | Kerry Green Sox | L |
| Final | ||||
| 07.2008 | Greystones Mariners | 2 | Ryland Raiders | 2 ^ |
| Note (^) : Time Expired – Greystones won as they were ahead going into the last innings |
Tralee Little League Tournament 6 September 2008
| P | W | L | D | GB | Pts | |
| Group | ||||||
| Kerry Green Sox | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | |
| Greystones Mariners | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Cork Patriots | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| Group | ||||||
| Ryland Raiders |
| Date | Home Team | Away Team | ||
| Group | ||||
| 06.09.2008 | Kerry Green Sox | W | Cork Patriots | L |
| 06.09.2008 | Kerry Green Sox | 15 | Greystones Mariners | 2 |
| 06.09.2008 | Greystones Mariners | 9 | Cork Patriots | 2 |
| 3rd Place Playoff | ||||
| 06.09.2008 | Greystones Mariners | 7 | Ryland Raiders | 7 ^ |
| Final | ||||
| 06.09.2008 | Kerry Green Sox | W |
| Note (^) : Time Expired – Ryland won as they were ahead going into the last innings |
Home Venues
| Team | Home Field |
| Clondalkin Cardinals | O’Malley Fields, Corkagh Park, Clondalkin, D22 |
| Cork Druids | |
| Greystones Mariners | Charlesland Leisure Comlpex, Co. Wicklow |
| Kerry Green Sox | Tralee |
Report
__________________________________________________________________________
New rules were brought in for the year, including stealing bases once the pitch had crossed home plate, but no stealing home. It took some time for the players to get used to the new rules, but they enjoyed them once they got into the swing of it. There were three competitive Blitzes for the season, in Cork, Clondalkin and Tralee, with a development blitz in Greystones providing a pre-season warm-up.
Cork Blitz – June 2008
The first competitive Tournament of the season was the Cork Blitz, and Kerry Green Sox were again the winners, defeating Greystones Mariners in their third visit to the Cork Blitz. Ryland Raiders took an early one-run lead in their game with Greystones, however, they would be shut-out afterwards by Greystones pitcher Cian Bonardio. The Mariners then scored three runs of their own to win 3-1 with some timely clutch hitting. The second game for the Mariners saw them again give up an early one-run lead to the Clondalkin Cardinals before coming back to score 4 themselves, with their starting pitcher Mark Treacy keeping the Raiders runless until they added a second close to the end. The Cardinals appeared to have got another, their runner evading a tag at home plate, however he missed the plate, and the Greystones catcher made no mistake the second time, the game finishing 4-2 to the Mariners.[2]
In the Semi-Finals the Greystones Mariners were pitted against old friends and rivals the Cork Druids. The Cork Druids scored six runs off pitcher Carrig Byrne, including one home run, however, the Mariners scored two runs in the bottom of the first, and after Byrne shut down the Cork offense in the second inning, the Mariners replied with five of their own to take the lead, with time up, the match finishing 7-6 to Greystones.[2]
The Final matched Kerry Green Sox with the Greystones Mariners, with the Mariners taking the lead, unlike all their prevoius games. This time, however, it would be the Kerry side who would come up with the come-from-behind victory. Greystones took an early two-run lead in the first inning, and despite Cian Bonardio shutting Kerry out in the bottom of the first they came back to score three runs to win the game 3-2.[2]
O’Malley Fields 10th Anniversary Blitz – July 2008
Clondalkin was a cold, wet and windy setting for the 10th Anniversary Blitz of the opening of the O’Malley Fields. Greystones Mariners would win this one, making up for the loss in the Final of the previous Blitz. Mark Treacy pitched in their opening game with the combined Clondalkin-Cavan team, giving up only one run, whilst the Mariners would get two in each of their two innings for a 4-1 victory. Adam price and Carraig Murphy pitched for the second Mariners match against the Druids. Greystones responded to a two-run first innings by Cork with five in the bottom of the first before Cork tied it up with three in the second. Conor Rubalcava then scored the winning run after a mis-field.[3]
In the other group Ryland were the surprise winners, defeating the top team all season, Kerry Green sox, to reach the Final.[3]
The pitcher rotation for the Mariners continued in the Final with Brian Coronella coming on, shutting out the Raiders in innings one, with a huge catch by second base Carraig Byrne and susequent tag ending what looked like a big score for Ryland, leaving two runners on base. The game, however, was very close, with Greystones managing just the one ru in their first innings. The scores went back an forth, the Raiders equalising in the top of the second, Greystones going 2-1 up the bottom of the second, and Ryland again equalising in the top of the third. Greystones were unable to get the go-ahead run, however, time elapsed and there would be no fourth inning, and so the Umpire ruled Greystones had wn, as they were ahead going into the last innings.[3]
Tralee Little League Tournament – 6 September 2008
A muddy Tralee was the setting for the final tournament of the year. It had rained hard the previous nigt and the conditions were difficult for everbody. Kerry defeated the Patriots from Cork in their opening game, and they were ruthless in despatching Greystones in the second game. Six runs under the mercy rule in the first innings, and a further nine saw them convincing 15-2 winners over the Mariners. The Mariners responded well, defeating the Patriots 9-2 to go into the Third Place Playoff. [4]
Cian Bonardio was starting pitcher for the Mariners in their 3rd Place Playoff against Ryland Raiders. Ryland shut out the Wicklow team in the first innings and put three runs on the board in the bottom of the first. Greystones got one run in the second and the Raiders got two to go 5-1 up.Greystones then notched up six runs under the mercy rule at the top of the third before Ryland equalised. Again the teams were tied as time expired, however, this time Ryland won as they were ahead going into the last innings.[4]
Kerry Green Sox won the Final comfortably, and the Little League Title.[4][5]
Players
Winning Pitchers
| Blitz | Winning Pitcher | Team |
| Clondalkin | Brian Coronella / Mark Treacy / Carraig Byrne | Greystones Mariners |
References
___________________________________________________________________________
Websites
Baseball Ireland (2017) Baseball Ireland Logo Car Sticker [Internet] http://www.baseballireland.com/images/carsticker.jpg [Accessed 1 May 2017]
[1] Greystones Mariners – Wayback Machine Internet Archive (2018) News 6 June 2008: Greystones Mariners U13 Blitz 2008 [Internet] Available from: http://web.archive.org/web/20181006081920/http://www.baseballireland.org [Accessed 3 February 2018]
[2] Greystones Mariners – Wayback Machine Internet Archive (2018) News 8 June 2008: Mariners U13s Impress in Cork Blitz 2008 [Internet] Available from: http://web.archive.org/web/20181006081920/http://www.baseballireland.org [Accessed 3 February 2018]
[3] Greystones Mariners – Wayback Machine Internet Archive (2018) News 22 July 2008: U13 News Update! [Internet] Available from: http://web.archive.org/web/20181006081920/http://www.baseballireland.org [Accessed 3 February 2018]
[4] Greystones Mariners – Wayback Machine Internet Archive (2018) News 16 September 2008: Mariners U13s show real spirit in muddy Tralee [Internet] Available from: http://web.archive.org/web/20181006081920/http://www.baseballireland.org [Accessed 3 February 2018]
[5] You Tube – Vlado Macko (2013) Adam Macko – Ireland’s Baseball Little League Semi-Finals and Playoffs 2013 – through my eyes [2:25] [Internet] Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAHTCKaOIzY [Accessed 4 December 2017]
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Richard Conville & Mark Giblin
About this document
Researched, Compiled and Written by Enda Mulcahy for the
Eirball | Irish World Sports Archive
Last Updated: 5 July 2019
(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2019
You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved.