It's finals time and Sunshine, Geelong, Blackburn and Cheltenham are putting in their best efforts to make it through the VSBL Division 1 Firsts semi-finals. The opening night semi-finals saw Sunshine and Blackburn enjoy shutout victories to take 1-0 series leads. Saturday's games are now do-or-die for Cheltenham and Geelong as finals continue.
Cheltenham Rustlers 0 v Blackburn Orioles 5
Cheltenham and Blackburn took the field at Mulgrave Baseball Club, with Andrew Jones starting on the mound for second place Blackburn and Lars Liguori throwing for Cheltenham.
Liam Hopkins and Ben Leslie wasted no time, getting back-to-back singles to open the game but Liguori settled things down.
It was on to the top of the second, when Hopkins made a fantastic diving catch to record the first out. Jones gave up a base hit to Conor Myles but he picked him off at first to end the inning. In the bottom of the second Cooper Goodman got on base on an error, moving around thanks to a beautiful bunt by Charlie Collins. A single from Dave Dicker and a double by Nick Rossell opened the scoring. By the end of the inning, the Orioles had a 3-0 lead after Hopkins' RBI groundout and Ben Leslie's RBI infield single.
Solid defense played a part in the third as Jones kept Cheltenham off the base paths. Blackburn added two more runs in the bottom of the third, with a lead-off single from Jacob Evans, followed by a bunt by Ryan Berg and Charlie Collins' RBI single. Collins went to second on a passed ball and Dicker came back up to bat, getting the job done with an RBI double.
Liguori reached on a single in the fourth but he was picked off by Jones, and despite getting on base with a huge double, Cheltenham's Andrew Gribbin was left stranded without scoring. Jones' terrific pitching performance continued, shutting down any Rustlers' scoring attempts quickly and efficiently.
Liguori had his first three up, three down inning in the fifth, and the game would stay scoreless for the rest of the night. Mac Turley doubled to left field in the top of the sixth and a walk by the next batter had runners in scoring position, but Cooper Goodman and Luke Hughes made some great defensive plays to sustain the shutout.
Andrew Campbell appeared in relief for Cheltenham, giving up a walk to Rossell to start things off but settling in from there on out. Blake Hodgson took the mound in the seventh for Blackburn, giving up an infield single to Ben Fierenzi but quickly getting in the groove with a strikeout and a double play.
Scott Mitchinson was tasked with getting the final six outs for the Orioles, and he succeeded as Cheltenham was left searching for offence. Liguori led off with a hit by pitch in the top of the ninth, and a walk to Gribbin looked like a Cheltenham rally could be in the works. Mitchinson faced the pressure just fine and got a fly ball and two ground balls to end the game on a high note.
Ben Leslie went 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Dicker went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Rossell went 1-for-3 with a double, stolen base, walk and an RBI.
Blackburn now has a1-0 series lead, with game two scheduled to start at 2pm on Saturday.
Blackburn now has a1-0 series lead, with game two scheduled to start at 2pm on Saturday.
Geelong Baycats 0 v Sunshine Eagles 2
In a great effort by both sides, two runs made all the difference for Sunshine.
Riley Barr hurled eight scoreless innings for Sunshine ahead of Jeremy Young closing out the shutout victory, which gave the Eagles a crucial 1-0 advantage in the semi-finals series.
Sunshine had a 1-0 lead after the bottom of the first when Bryce Aldridge smashed a two-out double and Rory Meddick singled to score him.
The game continued quickly and quietly until Sunshine scored one more in the sixth, thanks to a lead-off walk from Josh Byrne who later came around on Meddick's ground ball.
Barr scattered four hits and three walks along with four strikeouts across eight impressive innings, while Geelong's Sam Gibbons gave up just two hits in six innings. Gibbons struck out seven as his Baycats offence struggled to break into the game, collecting only four hits and three walks. Kelli Zablan had half of Geelong's hits while Tyler Luther-Wilson and Josh Davies had one apiece.
The series continues at Sunshine from 2pm on Saturday, with the Eagles hoping to go one step further than they did last year as a grand final spot is on the line.
Riley Barr hurled eight scoreless innings for Sunshine ahead of Jeremy Young closing out the shutout victory, which gave the Eagles a crucial 1-0 advantage in the semi-finals series.
Sunshine had a 1-0 lead after the bottom of the first when Bryce Aldridge smashed a two-out double and Rory Meddick singled to score him.
The game continued quickly and quietly until Sunshine scored one more in the sixth, thanks to a lead-off walk from Josh Byrne who later came around on Meddick's ground ball.
Barr scattered four hits and three walks along with four strikeouts across eight impressive innings, while Geelong's Sam Gibbons gave up just two hits in six innings. Gibbons struck out seven as his Baycats offence struggled to break into the game, collecting only four hits and three walks. Kelli Zablan had half of Geelong's hits while Tyler Luther-Wilson and Josh Davies had one apiece.
The series continues at Sunshine from 2pm on Saturday, with the Eagles hoping to go one step further than they did last year as a grand final spot is on the line.