The 2019/20 VSBL Division 3 season featured a big round seven as Springvale continued to dominate in the firsts while Ormond Glenhuntly Gold made a big impact in the reserves. There's 12 games left in the regular season as these teams look to go all the way.
Division 3 Firsts
Ormond Glenhuntly Blue 4 v Chelsea Dolphins 8
A strong all-around team performance propelled Chelsea over Ormond Glenhuntly Blue, with the Dolphins improving to 3-4 while the Hunters slipped to 3-3-1. Ormond Glenhuntly Blue remains in third place ahead of fourth place Chelsea.
Brendan Robinson was Chelsea's winning pitcher on the heels of his complete game performance, tossing nine innings with eight hits and four runs - three earned - allowed. He struck out six in his first pitching performance for Chelsea's Division 3 firsts.
Robinson was backed up by bursts of offense from Shane Jeffrey, who had two singles and a double for 3 RBIs, bringing his total to 10 on the season. Scott Kerr and Trent Wilford had RBI hits while Steve Tourisakis and Daniel Wong contributed singles.
The Hunters carried a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the second, but it was then that Chelsea tacked on three runs to take over. From there the Dolphins scored four in the third and another in the fifth. Ormond Glenhuntly got two back but it wasn't enough as Chelsea came away victorious, enjoying the nice feeling of back-to-back wins before a round eight matchup at North Western. Ormond Glenhuntly Blue plays fellow Hunters on Sunday.
North Western Titans 0 v Pakenham Pumas 10
The Titans suffered their first shutout loss of the season to the Pumas. Pakenham racked up the runs with four in the first and two in the second. A further three across the last innings sealed the deal while a quiet day at the plate for North Western let the Titans down.
Pakenham has won four straight for a 5-1-1 record in second place while North Western sits tied for last with Ormond Glenhuntly Gold, both with one win on the season. Pakenham faces a big test against Springvale this weekend, a team that beat them 12-2 in round three, while North Western takes on Chelsea.
Springvale Lions 15 v Ormond Glenhuntly Gold 2
The Lions are leading VSBL Division 3 with no signs of slowing down anytime soon. After this game, Springvale has scored a crazy 96 runs while only allowing seven.
Lucas Anderson started for Springvale, throwing a no-hitter with seven strikeouts to bring his ERA to just 0.60 across four appearances this season. Lucas Price also pitched, covering two innings in his first time pitching for Springvale's top nine, with two runs - one unearned allowed on two hits.
Anderson also hit a double while Scott Baillie collected an RBI with two singles, bringing his hit total to 15 on the season with a batting average of .517. He's had a hit in all seven games so far, proving to be a great contributor for Springvale.
Matt Cameron collected his eighth RBI of the year while Neal Cavanagh smashed his first homer along with three other hits for 5 RBI's, increasing his batting average to .440. Price had two singles and a double for 3 RBIs, while Adam Thatcher and Rydge Hogan also batted runs in and Tim Hanson had a single.
Eight of Springvale's runs came in the first inning before a quiet stretch. The Lions managed two more in the sixth while the Hunters broke through and got on the board in the seventh. Springvale tacked on five more runs in the eighth to sweeten the victory, staying undefeated ahead of round eight's visit to Pakenham. Ormond Glenhuntly Gold faces Ormond Glenhuntly Blue this upcoming weekend.
Division 3 Reserves
Springvale Lions 5 v Ormond Glenhuntly Gold 8
In this highly-anticipated matchup between the two top teams in the reserves, Springvale lost an undefeated record with a comeback by Ormond Glenhuntly Gold. The first meeting between these teams back in round two saw Springvale win 10-6, but the Hunters bounced back in thrilling fashion on Sunday.
The Lions took a 4-1 lead early, but the Hunters put up seven runs in the fifth to take back the game and get their sixth win of the season. Springvale and Ormond Glenhuntly Gold are now tied for first on the ladder at 6-1, with the Lions playing the Pumas next and the Hunters playing their fellow club members on the Blue side.
North Western Titans 2 v Pakenham Pumas 17
The Pumas were hitting the ball left, right and centre in this game, racking up the runs to finally get their first win on the board. Now 1-4-2, Pakenham sits in fifth place with North Western still winless at the bottom.
Pakenham scored three in the first and six in the second while keeping North Western off the bases. A further three runs across the third and the fourth helped the Pumas add to their lead. North Western did score two in the fifth, but Pakenham answered with five more for a defiant victory.
Pakenham faces the tough task of Springvale this weekend while North Western hosts Chelsea.
Ormond Glenhuntly Blue 18 v Chelsea Dolphins 12
Pitching was not a strong point for either of these sides in Sunday's game, as both Ormond Glenhuntly Blue and Chelsea enjoyed hits galore in a high-scoring matchup. While Chelsea named Alex Rakic as the player of the day, the Dolphins did fall behind early. Ormond Glenhuntly Blue was leading 14-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth, when the Dolphins finally got their bats moving to bring 10 runners home.
The Hunters added four runs in the top of the fifth while Chelsea put two on in the final inning, not enough to make up the deficit but still a strong showing at the end. Ormond Glenhuntly Blue is in third place with a 4-2-1 record as Chelsea is not toofar behind in fourth place with a 2-5 record so far.
Ormond Glenhuntly Blue plays Ormond Glenhuntly Gold next while Chelsea faces North Western.