The 2019/20 VSBL Division 2 season continued with another round of midweek games, which saw Moorabbin bounce back from a tough loss on the weekend and Preston achieve a season-high run tally. Moorabbin, Malvern, Williamstown and Werribee remain in the top four heading into this weekend's series finales.
Division 2 Firsts
Port Melbourne Mariners 3 v Malvern Braves 4
The Braves narrowly escaped with a one-run victory to remain in second place with a 9-2 victory. Since starting the season 5-0, Port Melbourne has dropped five of the last six, something the Mariners will hope to overcome in the next few weeks.
Chris Wall and Mitchell Kennedy shared pitching duties for Malvern, giving just four hits between the two of them. Kennedy got the win with just one unearned run allowed in three innings along with a double when he went up to bat.
Gavin Woolger, Chris Burke and Tyler Dale singled while Lachlan Fuda collected two base hits. 2020 Victorian U18 Blue State Team player Henry Hayman recorded a pair of RBIs with a double and a single on the night.
Out of Port Melbourne's 10 hits on the night, Sam Morris, Jack White and Tyson Cox-Davies had two each. Daniel Imoto, Chris Doyle, Ryan Lea and Matt Morris singled as well.
Malvern goes for the sweep on Sunday as Port Melbourne looks to turn things around before another tough series coming up, this time against top team v Moorabbin.
St Kilda Saints 2 v Werribee Giants 4
St Kilda has come close in both games at Werribee, but the Giants have just managed to keep the game in their favour with another stellar pitching performance from Trent Pantalleresco. He covered the whole game, giving up seven hits and two earned runs with six strikeouts in seven innings. Plus Pantalleresco recorded an RBI single for his team.
Werribee's Ryan Balzer had two hits, a walk and an RBI, while Oliver Box contributed with an RBI single. Base hits from Wade Balzer, Daine Gregory, Josh Lee, Harvey Garrett and Simon Riches also helped Werribee's cause.
Now Werribee has the chance for the sweep on the weekend, as the Saints try to get out to an earlier start offensively while stopping the Giants from jumping on the board right away.
St Kilda is 2-9 after dropping back-to-back games while Werribee is hanging out in the top four at 8-3.
Doncaster Dragons 7 v Bonbeach Bluejays 5
The Dragons made it through another tight game, holding on for a much-needed win and improving to a 2-9 record for the season. Bonbeach was disappointed by another loss, but the Bluejays remain hopeful they can beat the sweep and get a win on the board this weekend, as their offense has almost been keeping up with Doncaster's.
Bonbeach gave up just six hits on the night to Doncaster, with Marcel D'Avoine collecting a single and a double for the Dragons. Teammates Nic Unland, Brendan McDonald, Jimin Lee and Ben Palensky also had hits on the night.
Nic Unland and Angus Stals contributed with work on the mound for Doncaster, managing to keep Bonbeach at bay when it mattered most.
Doncaster hosts Sunday's series finale.
Preston Pirates 19 v Mulgrave Rebels 7
Preston ran wild on the base paths, racking up double-digit runs quickly and efficiently. The Pirates opened with three runs in the first before putting up 10 in the second in a painful inning for Mulgrave. It took a long time for Preston to finally be retired, and by then the damage was done.
Mulgrave scored three apiece in the second and third with one more run coming in the final frame, but it wasn't enough as Preston kept adding to the run tally too. Preston scored in every inning, a welcome change from some quiet offensive performances earlier this year.
There were contributions up-and-down the lineup for Preston with Cam Deeble, Ryan Golledge and Ben Donnell all making a big difference.
Preston heads into this weekend's home game with a 5-6 record and a chance for the sweep.
Moorabbin Panthers 6 v Williamstown Wolves 1
After stunning the previously undefeated Panthers on Sunday with a 5-1 win, the Wolves struggled to produce on Thursday night.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the third, when Williamstown scored that lone run. From there the Wolves let things slide, with Moorabbin's bats coming alive for three in the fourth, one in the fifth and two in the sixth.
Williamstown faced some pitching shortages while the lineup collected just four hits on the day, all singles going to Jason McDonald, Robert Higginson, Chris Jackson and Scott Meager.
In comparison, Moorabbin had 12 hits in the midweek matchup, with Jon Ballantyne leading the way with three singles. Ben Laux had two doubles and Mitch Barr had two base hits while Neil Johnston tripled. Stewart Mathieson, Nick Bertucci, Zach Kamerman and Travis Finney all singled as well.
Kamerman did great on the mound once again, covering six innings with ease and striking out six along the way. His ERA has dropped to 1.74 on the season.
Moorabbin hosts Sunday's huge series decider as the Panthers are 10-1 and the Wolves are 8-3.