Tuatara first baseman Jared Walker (Photo SMPIMAGES.COM / Baseball.com.au)
A double home run performance from stand out Jared Walker has sealed a 6-3 win for the Auckland Tuatara over Geelong Korea last night at QBE Stadium in Albany. It comes after a close 3-1 series loss to the Adelaide Giants last week, in a match up of the two league-leading teams.
The first baseman blasted two consecutive bombs over the right field fence, with his first coming in the first innings to wipe out a two run deficit that the Koreans had run up at their first turn at bat. Sung-Won Ju had opened the scoring, while Ju-Hyung Kim got home on an error from shortstop Yonny Hernandez.
Walker then brought home Josh Morgan with his homer, with the duo quickly becoming known as the ‘Bash Brothers’ once again dominating the Tuatara’s scoring.
In the third, the middle of the batting order combined once again, with Walker sending a home run to the almost identical spot over the fence to bring Hernandez in as well and make it a 4-2 game.
Hit the replay button!!! Walker’s second blast of the night gives the @AucklandTuatara their first lead!
— Australian Baseball League (@ABL) January 2, 2020
Watch on @kayosports in Australia: https://t.co/qUTS3FUUuP #ABL pic.twitter.com/R3ZUxPdCPE
The run kept coming in the fifth, with Andrew Marck and Jonny Homza getting themselves into scoring position. Marck came in off a Kent Blackstone sacrifice fly, then Hernandez drove Homza in with an RBI single.
Walker was only a couple of feet away from a third home run in the fifth, denied only by the outfield fence. He recorded a double to make it a perfect day at the plate.
Tuatara starting pitcher Kyohei Muranaka got through four innings of solid work before being relieved by Emerson Martinez. Lucas Jacobson came on the claim the final three outs in the last innings.
Walker, who is a prospect for the Los Angeles Dodgers, said that his batting heroics came down to ‘trusting himself’.
“I hit the ball hard and got it where I needed to. I stuck with that in the second at bat”
The win keeps the Tuatara on top of the Northeast Division, however it’s a tight race to the playoffs at the end of this month. Right now there’s only 2.5 games separating the Tuatara from the fourth placed Sydney Blue Sox, so every win is crucial from here on in.
The Tuatara and Geelong Korea meet again tonight at QBE Stadium for the second of their four game series, starting at 7pm.