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Round nine of the 2019/20 VSBL featured some close midweek matchups as Sunshine bounced back from Sunday's loss and Berwick climbed to second place. Sandringham and Fitzroy go for the sweep this weekend!

Upwey Ferntree Gully Tigers 1 v Berwick City Cougars 1 

After a wash out over the weekend, these two teams were happy to get a competitive midweek game in. It was a close matchup with strong pitching on both sides. 

Donovan Hendricks handled things for the Tigers, covering five innings with just three hits and one run allowed in the bottom of the third. That run was a solo homer to centre by Berwick's right fielder McClain Bradley for his first big fly of the year. 

Upwey Ferntree Gully's lone run came in the fifth, with Hendricks taking a walk before Staci Rogers had a bunt single and Michael Oxworth hit a ground ball, allowing the runner home to score on a wild throw. 

Justin Swanton and Pete Schroeders continued their strong infield defense for Upwey.

Berwick City is now second place on the ladder with a 4-3-1 record, with a handful of 5-4 teams hot on their heels. Upwey Ferntree Gully is 3-3-1 heading into this weekend's home game. 

Donovan Hendricks handled things for the Tigers, covering five innings with just three hits and one run allowed in the bottom of the third. That run was a solo homer to centre by Berwick's right fielder McClain Bradley for his first big fly of the year. 

Upwey Ferntree Gully's lone run came in the fifth, with Hendricks taking a walk before Staci Rogers had a bunt single and Michael Oxworth hit a ground ball, allowing the runner home to score on a wild throw. 

Justin Swanton and Pete Schroeders continued their strong infield defense for Upwey.

Berwick City is now second place on the ladder with a 4-3-1 record, with a handful of 5-4 teams hot on their heels. Upwey Ferntree Gully is 3-3-1 heading into this weekend's home game. 

Cheltenham Rustlers 6 v Blackburn Orioles 7 

Cheltenham won 7-3 on Sunday, but Blackburn scored the deciding run late in the game to get a big win on the board. 

After a big effort on Sunday, Rowan Johnstone took the ball once more for Blackburn before handing things over to Blake Hodgson. Cheltenham managed six hits and five earned runs against Hodgson, but Blackburn's offense stayed right in the game and prevailed in the very end. 

Blackburn led 2-1 after the first before Cheltenham tied things up in the top of the third. Blackburn responded with two runs in the bottom frame, but a big fourth inning for the Rustlers saw them take a two-run lead. With the game 6-4 in favor of Cheltenham, Blackburn battled through the last at-bats. Ryan Berg came in clutch with a two-run double to tie the game, and a passed ball put Blackburn in front for good. 

Ben Leslie and Liam Hopkins also had doubles in the game for Blackburn, while Jacob Evans sent a homer flying over the fence, his first of the season. Leslie also took two walks to get on base for the Orioles while Evans had three RBIs. 

Cheltenham's Lars Ligouri, Mac Turley and Sam Michael led the team with two hits apiece. Andrew Gribben and Conor Myles also had hits for the Rustlers. Myles pitched three innings for Cheltenham, giving up four hits and two walks with four earned runs. 

The series is split ahead of Sunday's game at Cheltenham. 

Melbourne Demons 5 v Waverley Wildcats 1 

The Wildcats walked away from the weekend with a big 8-1 victory, but they couldn't repeat their success in the midweek meeting despite holding Melbourne to just three hits.

Waverley did have a 1-0 lead through the second before Melbourne tied things up in the third. It remained a close ballgame until the top of the fifth, when Melbourne broke through with four runs. Waverley struggled to respond and Melbourne closed out the game in the bottom of the fifth to record win number four. 

Oliver McMahon hit a three-run homer, his first of the season, while Tim Sullivan and Jarryd Rogers had the Demons two other hits, both singles. 

Winning pitcher Andrew Case pitched five innings with five strikeouts and just two hits and one unearned run allowed. 

Darcy Longstaff threw for Waverley, giving up five runs - four of them earned across four innings. Jacob Sheldon-Collins and Ben Aslett had Waverley's two hits of the night. 

Waverley is 5-4 on the ladder while Melbourne is 4-4, with the Demons hosting game three on Sunday.

Sunshine Eagles 7 v Geelong Baycats 2 

The ladder-leading Eagles lost a heartbreaker on Sunday, but they got back to their winning ways in this midweek game. 

Nikau Pouaka-Grego smashed a home run over the fence for Sunshine while teammates Jeremy Young, Jordan Young, Adam Irons, Jason Tutt, Bryce Aldridge and Joshua Byrne also had big hits. 

Jeremy Young threw eight innings, giving up five hits and two runs while striking out five. 18 of his first pitches were strikes as he carries a 1.66 ERA into round 10. 

Sunshine scored four runs early before the final three came in the last two innings. Geelong's two runs came in the bottom of the seventh, with Troy Snarey and Tyler Luther-Wilson knocking in runs. 

Sam Gibbons threw six innings for the Baycats with five hits, four runs - three of them earned - and five strikeouts. Lachlan Hockey came into pitch for two innings to close out the game, striking out three although he did give up three earned runs on four hits. 

The series is split 1-1- with Sunshine hosting Geelong on Saturday.

Essendon Bombers 0 v Sandringham Royals 1

Sandringham won the first game 15-7, but both teams were a lot stronger defensively in this midweek pitcher's duel between the Royals' Cody Anderson and the Bombers' Michael Formisano. 

Sandringham loaded the bases in the bottom of the first but Formisano managed to get out of it before settling into the game. The tight scoreless contest continued until the bottom of the fourth, when the Royals scored what would end up being the only run of the ball game. 

Anderson gave up just two hits in seven innings of work with nine strikeouts in his best performance so far this season, while Formisano covered 5.2 innings with three hits and three walks, one unearned run and six strikeouts. 

Cody Rodwell and Darby Sexton were the only Essendon players to get hits on the night, while Jack Wills had two hits for Sandringham. 

The 4-5 Royals go for the sweep this weekend as the 5-4 Bombers host.

Newport Rams 2 v Fitzroy Lions 14 


Fitzroy dominated this game from the get-go, racking up 14 runs in a much different game to Sunday's 1-0 victory for the Lions. Pitching was a strong point for both sides in game one but Newport's pitchers started to struggle against a Fitzroy team that seemed to finally start clicking in full force. 

The Lions had their best game of the year offensively, with half of their total runs scored for the season coming in this midweek game. Fitzroy goes for the sweep this weekend at Newport.

Newport Rams 2 v Fitzroy Lions 14 

Fitzroy dominated this game from the get-go, racking up 14 runs in a much different game to Sunday's 1-0 victory for the Lions. Pitching was a strong point for both sides in game one but Newport's pitchers started to struggle against a Fitzroy team that seemed to finally start clicking in full force. 

The Lions had their best game of the year offensively, with half of their total runs scored for the season coming in this midweek game. Fitzroy goes for the sweep this weekend at Newport.


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