Round 14 of the 2019/20 VSBL Division 2 firsts competition featured five stellar matchups as Williamstown and Moorabbin enjoy their spots at the top. The series finales are this weekend as teams look to wrap up the final two weeks before the break in style.
Port Melbourne 2 v Moorabbin Panthers 3
Moorabbin took a 9-0 record through the first part of the season, but the team has slipped a bit lately, losing some offensive firepower and dropping some close games. The Panthers managed to avoid three straight losses with a decent performance on Thursday night.
This game was an improvement offensively from the weekend when Port Melbourne cruised to a 10-0 victory, marking Moorabbin's first shutout loss of the season. It was a quiet start to the game before Moorabbin broke through and got two up on the board in the third and one more in the fourth. Port Melbourne's runners scored in the top of the fifth, but the Mariners couldn't quite pull off the comeback win they were hoping for by the end of the seventh inning.
Game three will be a big one with Port Melbourne hosting as the Mariners hope to continue climbing the ladder after a few recent wins have seen them improve to 8-6 in fifth place. Moorabbin is tied with Williamstown at the top with 11 wins and three losses, but the Wolves have them beat in runs scored, with 114 compared to 98 for the Panthers.
This weekend Moorabbin will rely on the team leaders at the plate in Stewart Mathieson, currently batting .400, and Nick Bertucci batting .391 with a .462 on-base percentage. Port Melbourne's Chris Doyle (.349) and William Parsons (.340) are players Moorabbin needs to keep off the base paths.
Malvern Braves 4 v Preston Pirates 6
The Pirates are aiming for the sweep this weekend after two big wins over Malvern, including a 14-11 victory over the weekend. Preston hasn't lost a game since round nine at Williamstown, and the Pirates want to continue this strong surge right up to the break.
Giving up six runs to Preston in the bottom of the first sealed Malvern's fate as even a late push in the third and fourth couldn't get the Braves caught up. Now the Pirates are 7-6 in hot pursuit of 8-6 Port Melbourne, while Malvern is 9-5 after losing a few games.
Preston heads to Malvern for the final game of the series as the Pirates hope Mitch Legge and Darcy Byrnne-Connell can keep improving on their .400 batting averages.
Bonbeach St Chads 2 v St Kilda Saints 7
The Saints are thrilled to get some solid wins on the board after a challenging season so far, now sitting at 4-10 going into round 15. Bonbeach still hasn't won a game as the Bluejays try to avoid the sweep this weekend at home.
Both teams need to improve their runs scored for and against ratios, with St Kilda currently at 61 and 88 while Bonbeach has allowed 100 more runs than the Bluejays have scored.
Bonbeach will need to stay on top of St Kilda early on in Sunday's game for the highest chance of a win, while also looking to team batting leaders Kris Bouker, Tomomi Tokubo and Matthew Bucci to get the job done at the plate. Tom Snowden, Daisuke Hebara and Eduardo Escalona all have on-base percentage above .400, so Bonbeach needs to watch out for these players in the box too.
Williamstown Wolves 17 v Mulgrave Rebels 2
The Wolves wasted no time getting on the board, with the first two runs scoring in the opening frame. Williamstown collected 11 hits in total with an eight-run second and a seven-run third. Mulgrave didn't stand much of a chance, although the Rebels did score one in the first and one in the fourth to avoid a dismal shutout.
Robert Higginson and Kevin Desmedt both had a single and a double for Williamstown, while Nick Gray and Hiroshi Narasaki had two singles each to give their team a boost. Chris Jackson tripled and Jayde Thorne doubled with Aaron Green recording an RBI single too.
All but two players in the lineup had at least one RBI, with Desmedt leading the way at three runs batted in. Desmedt gave up three hits and a run in three innings on the mound, while Chircop handled the other inning, striking out two but giving up a hit and three walks.
Mulgrave's quiet offense is something the team will want to improve upon heading into the series finale. Ricardo Anaya had two of Mulgrave's four hits on Thursday night while Caleb Poole and Zeke Howie had the other two.
Williamstown has caught up to Moorabbin with an 11-3 record and Mulgrave is trying to improve upon five wins and eight losses as the Wolves host on Sunday.
Werribee Giants 3 v Doncaster Dragons 2
With nine hits on the night including five doubles, Werribee was able to sneak past for the win, the team's tenth of the season.
Ryan Balzer, Wade Balzer, Daine Gregory all hit for extra bases while Justin Gil had two doubles. Evan McPherson and Harvey Garrett had singles on the night. Werribee struck out just three times in the game while taking four walks.
Doncaster collected eight hits on the night as Marcel D'Avoine led the way with two singles. Callum Lethborg and Brendan McDonald both doubled while Nic Unland, Derek Medlin, Brian Chen and Ben Palensky all chimed in with singles.
Winning pitcher Wesley de Jong handled six innings on the mound for Werribee, allowing eight hits and three walks for two earned runs with two strikeouts.
Simon Fitzmaurice pitched 4.1 innings for Doncaster, giving up just five hits and a walk with a pair of strikeouts in his third scoreless pitching appearance in a row.
Angus Stals took the loss for Doncaster after giving up three earned runs across 1.2 innings on four hits and three walks in his fourth outing for the Dragons on the mound.
After winning the first game 6-5, Doncaster still has a shot at a series win as the 10-4 Giants host on Sunday.
With nine hits on the night including five doubles, Werribee was able to sneak past for the win, the team's tenth of the season.
Ryan Balzer, Wade Balzer, Daine Gregory all hit for extra bases while Justin Gil had two doubles. Evan McPherson and Harvey Garrett had singles on the night. Werribee struck out just three times in the game while taking four walks.
Doncaster collected eight hits on the night as Marcel D'Avoine led the way with two singles. Callum Lethborg and Brendan McDonald both doubled while Nic Unland, Derek Medlin, Brian Chen and Ben Palensky all chimed in with singles.
Winning pitcher Wesley de Jong handled six innings on the mound for Werribee, allowing eight hits and three walks for two earned runs with two strikeouts.
Simon Fitzmaurice pitched 4.1 innings for Doncaster, giving up just five hits and a walk with a pair of strikeouts in his third scoreless pitching appearance in a row.
Angus Stals took the loss for Doncaster after giving up three earned runs across 1.2 innings on four hits and three walks in his fourth outing for the Dragons on the mound.
After winning the first game 6-5, Doncaster still has a shot at a series win as the 10-4 Giants host on Sunday.