With fresh new series getting underway over the weekend in VSBL Division 1, there were plenty of close matchups and surprise results. Now with just one week to go teams are looking to finish off 2019 strong and head into 2020 with some much-needed momentum.
Division 1 Firsts - Round 16
Upwey Ferntree Gully Tigers 2 v Sandringham Royals 10
The Royals are on a roll! After putting up a strong fight against table-toppers Sunshine, including a 3-2 stunner after a pitcher's duel last weekend, Sandringham put on a strong showing on Saturday.
Sandringham opened with three runs in the first and another three in the second as the Tigers floundered, struggling to get any offense started. The Royals scored two more in the third and one in the fourth for a 9-0 lead before the Tigers finally managed to get some scoring put together. Upwey Ferntree Gully brought two runners home in the fifth to avoid the shutout, although it wasn't enough to stage a comeback.
Sandringham scored one more run in the bottom of the seventh as the team went on to collect 14 hits on the day while giving up just five to the Tigers. The Royals made two errors in the field while the Tigers made one.
It was a great outing offensively for Sandringham, as Declan Ferguson, Zak Skinner and Jack Wills all had three hits on the day. Skinner had four quality at-bats with three RBIs, while Wills knocked in three runs of his own.
Justin Swanton was responsible two RBIs in support of Upwey Ferntree Gully. Sean Meldrum and Donovan Hendricks split the pitching duties for the Tigers, with each throwing four innings. Cody Anderson had another terrific start for Sandringham, going the whole nine innings with 24 first-pitch strikes and 14 strikeouts.
Sandringham keeps climbing the ladder, now tied with Blackburn at 8-8, while Upwey Ferntree Gully is 6-6-1. The Tigers host the final game of the year this upcoming weekend.
Cheltenham Rustlers 4 v Geelong Baycats 14
The Baycats have won six straight after a dominating performance at home on Saturday, keeping the Rustlers under control as the Geelong baseball community enjoyed a special Hawaiian-themed round before the holidays.
Cheltenham put up a good fight early, scoring three in the opening frame off of Rudy Jaramillo before he settled into things. Luckily the Baycats' bats were right there to back him up, leveling the score at 4-all after the second inning. From there on out Geelong dominated, keeping the Rustlers off the base paths while slowly but surely getting things moving offensively.
Geelong scored two in the bottom of the fourth before a few quiet innings, leading into the seventh inning when the Baycats created a huge eight-run frame. Tyler Luther-Wilson, Jordan Baumann and James Wood all had three hits on the day, with three RBIs for Baumann, three for Lewis Weldon and two for Josh Davies. Kobe Greenhalgh took three walks to keep getting on base for the Baycats, too.
The Baycats collected a total of 16 hits while holding Cheltenham to just six. Andrew Campbell and Ben Fierenzi took on pitching duties for the Rustlers, although Geelong's Jaramillo outlasted them with seven innings of work, 23 first-pitch strikes and nine strikeouts.
Geelong is 11-5 in second place while Cheltenham is 7-9 going into Round 17.
Photo: Geelong Baycats Baseball Club - Facebook
Melbourne Demons 4 v Essendon Bombers 1
The Bombers have let some games slip lately, losing their past two whereas Melbourne has broken a three-game losing streak with this upset win over Essendon.
Melbourne managed to get two hits and a run off Essendon's Michael Formisano across four innings. Gareth Formisano pitched 2.1 innings, allowing three hits and one run, while Luke Abels took the loss, giving up two runs to the Demons.
Essendon's Liam Bedford hit a triple that turned into a run in his first outing for the club this season. He was supported by Scott McIntyre who had two hits including a double, as did G Formisano with Cody Rodwell also recording two hits.
Essendon has a 9-7 record while Melbourne is 6-9 looking ahead to round 17. Ahead of this weeks game at Melbourne, Essendon will want to stay within the top four however the Demons will be hoping to win the series.
Blackburn Orioles 11 v Fitzroy Lions 4
A big six-run first inning to the Orioles was enough of a lead to begin proceedings in this game as the Lions never caught up, even after scoring three of their four in the sixth where Blackburn also scored the same amount.
The Lions' first run came in the second inning but it was quickly cancelled out by the Orioles in the third. Blackburn took the lead to seven following a single runner score in the seventh.
Blackburn accrued 13 hits for the day, Cooper Goodman (two doubles) and Ryan Berg each having three, Goodman along with three RBIs. Nick Rossell and Jacob Evans brought two runs in also. Charlie Collins and Evans (one double) tallied two hits. Berg, Liam Hopkins and Harrison Smith were the top run-scorers with two each.
Evans pitched five innings for the Orioles for four strikeouts and 13 first-pitch strikes, not allowing an earned run to cross home plate. Blake Hodgson earned the save from 3.1 innings out of the bullpen, restricting the Lions to three hits.
James Little pitched five innings for Fitzroy and he too managed 13 first-pitch strikes as they got batters on the back foot early. On the bats for Fitzroy, Gavin Juchnivcus was the top hitter with three hits, a third of his side's total hits for the game.
Blackburn could end the year in the in the top four with a win next weekend at home to the Lions who could also move up a spot.
Berwick City Cougars 4 v Newport Rams 3
Newport was down by four runs as the game entered the bottom of the seventh, the Rams producing three runs with more chances to win in the following two innings.
The Cougars defence didn't let another run slip through as they finished with a one run win, their fifth for the season while Newport will hope to go one better and record win number five against Berwick next weekend.
For the Rams, their runs came from David Land, Keenan Spence and Tyler Comben but it was Nathan Smith who was perfect at the plate, gathering three hits from three at bats.
On the pitching side of things for Newport, Jason Jarvis pitched the full eight innings giving up eight hits but just one earned run. Jarvis had four strikeouts and didn't give up any walks but was still credited with the loss.
Matthew West got the win for the Cougars when he didn't give up any runs from three hits with four strikeouts over six innings. Craig Barnett got the save from 2.1 innings where he didn't give up any hits, nor runs.
Cain Bumpstead had two hits that included a double but it was Jordan Bradley, Nick O'Shea, John King and Aiden Willis who each recorded one hit that subsequently turned into runs for each of them too.
Waverley Wildcats 4 v Sunshine Eagles 1
It was Sunshine who drew first blood in this Sunday matchup but that was where the Eagles' offence stopped as Waverley ensured as few runners got on bases as possible.
The Wildcats evened the scores in the third before going ahead by two runs the next inning. Waverley scored once more in the ninth, leaving the Eagles with four runs to win however the away side was able to control the batters.
Andrew Russell got the win for the Wildcats as he pitched seven innings giving up one run on one hit with zero base on balls and eight strikeouts. Jamie Papanicoloau got the save as he gave up one hit and struck out two in one inning where 14 of his 17 pitches were strikes.
Papanicoloau had two hits for one run with Jacob Sheldon-Collins and Reece Longstaff each having one-hit, one-run games. Mohi Kahui was the other beneficiary of a run scored.
Adam Irons took the loss for the Eagles as he gave up five hits and one earned run throughout six innings. Griffin Weir was the relief and pitched three innings for three hits and one run.
Jordan Young made it on base with a double which turned into the Eagle's only run of the game. Bryce Aldridge got three hits while Nikau Pouaka-Greco got two hits in the game.
The win over Sunshine sees three teams now sitting on 11 wins, bridging the gap and setting the Wildcats and Eagles up for a great game this weekend upcoming.
Division 1 Reserves - Round 12
Upwey Ferntree Gully Tigers 8 v Sandringham Royals 7
Both Upwey Ferntree Gully and Sandringham exhibited strong offensive outings, culminating in the Royals falling just shy of victory. Bryce Taylor impressed in his first start back for Upwey Ferntree Gully, while Chad Hendricks and Mitch John both had two hits and Riley Light doubled.
Sandringham led 2-1 after the first inning and it remained that way until Upwey Ferntree Gully scored three in the fourth, backing that dig up with another two in the fifth.
Sandringham tied the scores again with a four-run inning at the bottom of the fifth before the Tigers managed an extra two to lead once again.
The equation for the Royals was to get three at the bottom for a win however, Jason Garland on the mound with a tight defense didn't allow it to happen as the Tigers improved their record to 8-2, sitting second. The Royals will go into the final round of the year with a 3-7-1 record.
Cheltenham Rustlers 8 v Geelong Baycats 4
Two four-run offensive innings propelled the Rustlers past the Baycats on Saturday, their fourth win in a row and Geelong's third consecutive loss.
Cheltenham never trailed in this match as four runs were scored in the fourth, the Baycats getting to within one as the sixth came to a close. The Rustlers doubled their score in the seventh, prompting the need for a massive fightback from Geelong, but were only able to cut the deficit by one.
Emerson Rickard gave the Baycats a quality start to the game but was struggling for support across the rest of the diamond by allowing a few unearned runs.
Harper Rickard and Dion Kirchner picked up two hits each, as did Will Brennan who continued his good form as the catcher while Connor Hughes hit a triple.
Cheltenham now take a 9-3 record into the next week while Geelong will want to climb back up the ladder after sliding two places in the past month.
Melbourne Demons 4 v Essendon Bombers 5
Essendon stole the game from Melbourne in the sixth inning after the Bombers lead for the entire game
The Bombers scored their first two runs in the third and doubled that lead at the top of the sixth but giving credit to the Demons, they rose to the challenge and came away with the walk-off win with five runs at the bottom.
Three of Essendon's last four games have resulted in one-run margins, indicating that the Bombers are always in the contest but will be hoping they can get away from Melbourne next weekend as each team look to improve on their six wins for the year.
Blackburn Orioles 12 v Fitzroy Lions 0
The Orioles provided their first shutout of the year in this round 12 matchup against Fitzroy to see them remain in top spot heading into the final round of the season.
The offence was started in the second when the Orioles brought five across the plate, followed by three in the fourth and four more throughout the final two innings.
The dominant pitching performances of Sam Buccello and Pat White was covered well as they hardly troubled the Fitzroy batters, backed up massively by Mitch Whiting at short stop.
In similar fashion to Blackburn's lineup last week, every starter got a hit or an RBI with Owen de Vries right in the mix with a couple of hits, as well as to Whiting. Cal Vance, David Dicker, Tom Kerr-Chapman and Tim Holland all had great at bats that kept the lineup ticking over regularly.
Berwick City Cougars 10 v Newport Rams 2
The Cougars left it late but it worked out for them as they ran away with a eight-run win over Newport.
The Rams, as has happened a few times this season, were very much in the game on the weekend, trailing by one heading into their fifth dig after tying the scores on two separate occasions.
In the sixth and seventh though was when the Cougars did the most damage with four and three runs respectively while limiting the Rams hitters.
Newport will be hoping to close out the year with a win next weekend as the Rams travel to Berwick in round 13.
Waverley Wildcats 9 v Sunshine Eagles 4
Each team started their first dig well, recording three runs each but it was largely Waverley from there.
Triple two-run digs in the following innings was more than enough to keep the margin rolling along, even if the Eagles scored one in the third.
Sunshine is on a six game losing streak, hoping to break that whereas the Wildcats haven't lost since Round 5.
Division 1 Thirds - Round 12
Upwey Ferntree Gully Tigers 11 v Sandringham Royals 4
Sandringham led 2-1 after the first inning of this game against Upwey Ferntree Gully but could only muster up two more runs for the game (singles in the fourth and sixth).
The Tigers got the lead back in the third with two runs, and again in the fifth by scoring another two. Their biggest offensive action came in the sixth though when they scored six, putting the result beyond doubt.
Upwey Ferntree Gully sits just outside the top four with a 7-3-1 record and will want to finish the year in the top four with a win over Sandringham this weekend who could jump a few places also with a win themselves.
Cheltenham Rustlers 4 v Geelong Baycats 8
The one dig that allowed Geelong to breeze through to a four run win was at the bottom of the third when the Baycats took four runs across the plate.
Besides that, it was an even affair with each team cancelling out the other, the scores tied at one apiece after the first and the Rustlers advancing to a two-run lead at the top of the third before playing catchup.
The Baycats improve their season record to 8-2-2, still in second thanks to a sizeable runs for tally, while Cheltenham is sixth at 5-5-2 as the two teams square off again next weekend.
Fitzroy Lions 4 v Blackburn Orioles 9
Another game that was tied as the first inning came to a close, the score being 2-2, Blackburn taking charge as the game wore on.
The Orioles took their lead in the third with two runs and never looked back, scoring a further three in the fourth as the Lions managed one.
In the final inning, the Lions again scored a solitary run with the Orioles ending the game with two more added to their score.
Gerard Kingston pitched a solid game, working well with catcher Mitch Flett. Those two were well supported by the field, none more so than short stop Brendan Kane who made some diving plays to save a few runs. Kane, along with Hayden Roe each recorded four hits on a dominant hitting display that prompted other batters to drive in the runs.
The Orioles are 9-1-2 on top of the ladder and won't want to let their position slip when they take on Fitzroy next week who, at 3-8-1 are hoping to end the year on a high.
Melbourne Demons 6 v Essendon Bombers 7
The Bombers claimed a walkoff win in the sixth to record their eighth win (and fourth in a row) of the season to still sit within the top four. The Demons unfortunately have lost four in a row as slip to seventh with a 5-6-1 record.
In this matchup though, the Demons got the first run in in the first and added two more in the third before at the bottom, Essendon tied things up.
Melbourne penciled in another three runs at the top of the sixth as the Demons were feeling good about their chances however they couldn't contain the Bombers who went on to drive in the four runs they needed.
Melbourne will be hoping for vengeance this weekend and turn the result around as the team's clash in the last fixture of the year.
Sunshine Eagles 1 v Waverley Wildcats 11
Waverley got proceedings underway with a four-run bottom first inning before consecutive three-run digs helped the lead grow to double digits.
Sunshine scored one run in the fourth but it was quickly cancelled out by the Wildcats at the bottom.
The Wildcats look to finish the year strongly as they remain inside the top four whereas the Eagles will want to see their second win come through to end the year well for the club.
Berwick City Cougars 10 v Newport Rams 7
Some quickfire one and two-run innings from Berwick were enough to beat Newport on Sunday as the Rams mustered their seven runs within the first three innings, highlighted by a four-run dig in the second.
Newport led until the fourth inning when the Cougars were able to shut out their opposition, the lead even getting out to three runs as the second inning concluded.
The Rams will be looking to maintain their leads next weekend as each team has two wins for the season so far and a third will provide a bit of relief to each side.
Division 1 Fourths - Round 12
Cheltenham Rustlers 3 v Geelong Baycats 13
Geelong has exhibited some strong offensive displays within the last fortnight and this week was no different.
Cheltenham was leading 2-1 after the third dig and took that lead until the fourth as the Baycats scored seven runs in that inning. The Rustlers added one more to their total but Geelong, displaying strong batting abilities scored another five to take the game.
Geelong's Jake Warren and Jake Elderfield lead the way with the bats, each going three-for-three. Jackson Viney and William Fitzgerald picked up two hits each as each player had quality at bats. On the mound, youngster Adam Jirik got the start on the mound and was great over four innings, allowing two runs.
It was a game that Cheltenham let slip as the Rustlers were on a win streak of three and now hold a 6-6 record while the Baycats are 4-6-1 and looking to see more offense in the new year.
Upwey Ferntree Gully Tigers 1 v Sandringham Royals 11
The Royals put together their most complete game of the season and finished the game strongly with five runs in the fourth and three runs in the fifth as before that point, the Royals led 3-1.
The Royals now have the edge over the Tigers as they sit ninth with a 4-6-1 record. The Tigers will want to get their fourth win of the year as they're one spot down from Sandringham.
Fitzroy Lions 2 v Blackburn Orioles 7
Two good displays of batting in the first and fourth innings from Blackburn produced three runs in each as they cruised to a big win over Fitzroy.
The Lions got the runs on the board first with one in the first and the other in the fourth.
Blackburn's Hamish Govenlock winded back the clock and provided another quality start on the mound, well supported by John McBride to close out the game. All of the Orioles hitters had good at bats throughout the game.
Blackburn is firmly entrenched in the top four with a week to go before the break while Fitzroy will be searching for the third win of the season when the two teams square off next round.
Essendon Bombers 2 v Melbourne Demons 9
In the battle of the top-two and each team having similar fortnights, Melbourne prevailed to now extend the gap between them and Essendon by two games.
A large sum of the Demons runs came in the final dig of the game where they scored four in the sixth as Essendon was behind by one after their third inning.
The Bombers will hope to bridge the gap in the final game of the year and take some momentum into the second half of the season.
Sunshine Eagles 4 v Waverley Wildcats 6
Sunshine remained competitive and on track but ultimately fell to Waverley in this fixture.
The Eagles tied the scores in the third after back-to-back one-run digs to the Wildcats prior.
The Wildcats then had three runners make their way around the bases in the bottom of the third, the Eagles pressing in the fifth to cut the deficit by one run to stay in the game. Waverley added an extra to their own total in the fifth too and shut the Eagles out in the final dig.
With the win, Waverley has managed to gather enough wins for the year to remain in the top four while Sunshine is 4-6-1 as the Eagles push to turn things around and record their first win since Round 5.
Berwick City Cougars 13 v Newport Rams 0
The Cougars shut out the Rams as they improve their winning percentage to 50 percent, leaving Newport on the bottom of the ladder still heading into the final round of the year.
Four runs in the first and eight runs in the third was more than enough to cover the Cougars in this big win where they'll look to do the same against the Rams next weekend, whereas perhaps there's a win for Newport around the corner as the break draws near.