by Bruce Bowering
In a big week for Baw Baw Squash Club winter competition semi finals were played on Thursday night.
There was also an annual general meeting in which all office-bearers retained their portfolios, and the biannual inter-club tournament against the Mulgrave Country Club was held the following evening.

In the elimination final, Stars, who finished fourth, clashed with Scorchers who were fifth.
The first match was dominated by Joel Sargeant, who has developed the ability to place the ball high and deep on both sides of the court.
This placed his opponent, Catherine Wallace, under pressure right from the start. She has good court coverage but having to move forward and rush her shots, or watch the ball sail over her head to die in the back corners, produced shots that enabled an easy follow-up from Joel.
In the end he got the Scorchers off to a good start with a 15/6, 15/4, 15/8 victory.
The following match also was resolved in three sets with evergreen Peter Young clearly in control against Russell Jackson.
Russell's good depth in the first game gave him a competitive edge but that faded as Peter got into the game. His drop shot and volley skills, together with crisply hit strokes, exploited Russell's lesser speed around the court. He won the first game 15/11.
Russell's control deserted him as Peter applied the pressure.
Peter's serves to Russell's backhand, especially, drew several errors or loose returns that were easily dispatched.
Unfortunately for Russell he could not regain his rhythm and his opponent was able to capitalise in taking the next two games 15/6, 15/6 to level the rubber for the Stars.
Scorchers held a slender five-point lead going into the next match which proved more even.
Dave Dzur, for the Stars, is ranked several places higher than Anthony Walker, but you wouldn't have been able to tell in the very even first set which Anthony won 15/13.
The pressure was on Dave, who had to lift to give the Stars hope going into the final match.
He did so by finding his range with his trademark drop shots and his ability to move his opponent around. This drew errors from Anthony and enabled Dave to steady, but not dominate, the rest of the match.
In a competitive effort Anthony kept Dave honest in the remaining three games, but Dave's experience prevailed 15/11, 15/11, 15/9.
As in the previous match there is a significant difference in ranking between Chris Cameron, for the Scorchers, and Daniel Meyer.
For his team to have any hope of progressing Daniel effectively had to win two games, which seemed unlikely given Chris's strong results during the competition.
Things were going well for Chris in the first game as he controlled the rallies. He won it 15/8. The team's point score was then level and the result looked like a foregone conclusion.
However, Daniel regularly plays twice a week against higher ranked opponents and won the last handicap competition, so he is a player on the rise.
The placement of his shots in the second game, as well as his retrieval skills brought him back into the contest. It also drew uncharacteristic errors from Chris.
Chris repeatedly tried to play drop shots into the backhand front court. These are usually good value, but Daniel kept picking them up and driving the ball away from Chris.
The pressure caused Chris to miss the drop shot on occasions as well. This was all Daniel needed in order to win the second game 15/10. The rubber was still alive.
Stars could still win if Chris won the next two sets but Daniel would have to reach 13 points in each.
It was not needed because Daniel continued the momentum of the second game and won the third 15/13 with great squash.
With the rubber settled he slackened off and conceded the remaining games to Chris 15/5, 15/2. Stars progress 2/8/166 to Scorchers, whose season is over, 2/7/182.
The qualifying final was played between Hurricanes, who finished second, and Strikers who were third.
It progressed like the other final with the first two matches being over in three sets.
In the first match Phil Henderson was far too strong for Steve Andrews. Steve was quite rusty after being unavailable on many occasions in this competition, but Phil's performance was very impressive.
It is his first season and he has taken great strides in his development. He is a very tall man and has the great advantage of being equally competent with the racquet in either hand. This makes it very difficult for his opponent to get the ball past him.
So it proved for Steve who relied on outright winners to get points.
This was not enough as Phil's reach and mobility enabled him to pick up and deliver winners. Ultimately, it was a convincing victory for Phil 15/9, 15/5, 15/6.
The Hurricanes were off to a flyer, but trouble was ahead for their next contestant, Matt Jehnsen, who was up against the ever-improving Al McArdle.
Matt moved from a four to a three in this competition, but he has found the going tough.
Unfortunately, he does not yet have the penetration in his shots to beat players at this level. So it proved to be against Al who is rapidly improving.
Al is gradually reducing his youthful impetuosity and crafting much more thoughtful rallies. His court speed enables him to get to most balls, which gives him time to place the ball effectively instead of rushing his shots.
In this match, because of Al's court coverage Matt was unable to find a way to put Al off his game and succumbed in straight sets 15/7, 15/6, 15/4.
With just three points the difference the contestants in the next match were more evenly matched.
Keith Morris needed to have a big win for the Strikers as the Hurricanes had the dominant Mike Griffith in the following match.
It was not to be, though, as his opponent, Karl Ross, who is playing twice a week, is continually expanding his skills.
Karl got off to a flying start winning the first seven points, mostly off Keith's errors. He easily took the first game 15/8.
Keith got his game together in the second with particularly tight straight drives or drop returns off the serve to his forehand.
His confidence returned and, with better placement of his shots, drew errors from Karl. He took the second game 15/13 to keep the Strikers' hopes alive.
In the remaining games Karl capitalised on Keith's struggle to return serves to his backhand, which led to free points or easy winners off his next shot.
Both players moved very well and it was an entertaining match to watch, but it was Karl who prevailed with 15/11, 15/13 wins in the next two games.
Having seen what occurred on the other court Mike Griffith was in no mood for compassion. He had a job to do in winning at least two games and he did it in imperious fashion.
Unfortunately his opponent, Scott McArdle, was off his game which allows little room for error. He hit several shots into the tin not always as a result of pressure from Mike.
Nothing he did seemed to work and Mike's domineering display rocketed his team into favouritism for the premiership. Final scores 15/3, 15/3, 15/4.
Hurricanes 3/9/165, face Stars next week, and Strikers 1/4/122 take on the top team Renegades.
In a great initiative the club a few years ago established a twice-yearly contest between Baw Baw Squash Club and Mulgrave Country Club.
This gives local players a valuable opportunity to play unfamiliar opponents while enjoying a convivial social event.
Mulgrave were the holders of the perpetual trophy but Baw Baw managed to wrest it back with a 723 points to 563 points win.
Scoring is unusual with all matches played as three games to 20 points each and the winner getting the most points.
The overall team result is simply the team with the most points overall. Best players on the night were Mike Griffith for Baw Baw and Warren Engler for Mulgrave. The clubs thank Barry and Peter Cain for their organisation of these events.