The 2019/20 VSBL Women's Division 1, 2 and 3 seasons continued with round six on Saturday, as Doncaster prevailed with more dominant performances and Melbourne and Moorabbin held steady, too. With 11 games left in the regular season, there's plenty more surprises and awesome baseball action to look forward to.
Women's Division 1
Doncaster Dragons 10 v Footscray Bulldogs 5
Footscray has now lost six in a row after a challenging outing against Doncaster. The Dragons stay undefeated with four wins and two draws on the season, thanks to big efforts from players up and down the lineup.
Doncaster looks very strong this season, with a lineup featuring the likes of Belinda Cannington, Bronwyn Gell, Ursula Howard and more. Their bats show no signs of slowing down anytime soon, as currently Doncaster leads Women's Division 1 with a first-place record and an impressive 78 runs scored compared to 40 given up.
The Bulldogs have five losses and a draw on their record as they head into round seven hungry for a win against Springvale. The Lions won 15-7 in their first meeting in round five.
Doncaster will look to continue their winning ways as they face Essendon at home, a result that was locked at seven-all in Round 1 as each team has gone separate ways since then.
Essendon Bombers 0 v Springvale Lions 10
The Lions asserted their complete dominance on the Bombers, cruising to a 10-0 win as Essendon's wins have eluded them since round two.
Springvale's big hitters are always on show with former Japanese Pro League player Ayumi Ikeyama leading the charge. Solid contributions courtesy of Sinead Flanigan and Lili Cavanagh also helped and will no doubt continue against Footscray in round 7.
Essendon will hope to rely on the likes of Courtney Foura, Sam Deeble and Allie Bebbere if they want to mount a challenge to the undefeated Doncaster next weekend.
Women's Division 2
Footscray Bulldogs 1 v Doncaster Dragons 15
The Dragons continued to prove to the rest of the competition just how strong they are with a huge 14-run victory over Footscray.
Doncaster won both contests against Footscray, the first fixture coming in the first round, which was a better result for the Bulldogs despite going down by 10 runs.
The Bulldogs will be expecting a win in their next matchup against the struggling Bombers, while the Dragons hope to continue to improve on their win record when they travel to meet Fitzroy.
Fitzroy Lions 7 v Springvale Lions 8
In a nail-biting contest, Springvale prevailed over Fitzroy to keep the team's prefect season intact, beating Fitzroy 8-7.
It was a great improvement for the Fitzroy after these two sides met in the first round, when the Lions failed to get on the board and in turn gave up 12 runs to Springvale.
5-0 Springvale is second behind Doncaster on runs scored but the team has high hopes they can overtake the Dragons when they travel to Wheelers Hill.
Fitzroy's next matchup doesn't make things easier, facing the other undefeated team in this division in Doncaster. The Lions will take great amounts of confidence that they can match it with the best of them in this middle part of the season.
Essendon Bombers 3 v Wheelers Hill Warriors 8
Wheelers Hill got out to a good lead as the first inning drew to a close, the margin being four runs in the Warriors favour.
The Bombers got their first run in the second as they started to reply however Wheelers Hill made sure to break away further, adding another three runs in the third and fourth innings combined.
The Bombers came back with two runs at the top of the fifth, before Wheelers Hill pegged one back at the bottom. The final score produces a five-run win to the Warriors who move to 3-2, while Essendon are starved remains winless this season on the bottom of the ladder before taking on Footscray next week.
Women's Division 3 East
Moorabbin Panthers 22 v Mulgrave Rebels 2
A huge win to Moorabbin on the back of three seven-run efforts across four complete innings was everything the team needed to maintain its hot start to the season. Mulgrave scored two runs across the second and third innings.
The Panthers have given up the least amount of runs (12) than any other club in the Division 3 East competition and it was further exemplified on Saturday.
Moorabbin and Mulgrave may be second and third on the ladder respectively, however the gap between the top two teams is widening on the mid-to-lower-placed sides.
Mulgrave face Springvale next weekend with both sides wanting to improve on their one-win season thus far while Moorabbin could snatch top spot if they beat the freshly rested Doncaster, due to Melbourne having the bye.
Melbourne Demons 24 v Springvale Lions 7
Melbourne was clinical as the lineup powered on after the first innings to beat Springvale in what blew out to be a big margin.
It was a hitting game right from the start for both sides as Melbourne got the jump early with three runs to start the game's proceedings.
The Lions hit back with seven of their own at the bottom, taking the lead but for them after that point, they were unable to produce anymore runs to add to their score.
A six-run effort in the second gave the Demons the lead once more, and it kept on growing as the game progressed as a further 15 runs were scored throughout the next three Melbourne innings.
It was just what Melbourne needed heading into a Round 7 bye while Springvale face the Rebels who also have the one win for the year.
Doncaster Dragons - BYE
Women's Division 3 South
Sandringham Royals 6 v Berwick City Cougars 4
Sandringham lost an early lead to Berwick but had to fight back to regain control and come away with win number two of the season.
Both sides are locked at 2-2 heading into round 7 where the Royals travel to play Pakenham Black and the Cougars are also on the road to Pakenham White.
Bonbeach Bluejays White 12 v Pakenham Pumas Black 10
Bonbeach White picked up its first win of the season in this encounter with the Pumas who came agonisingly close to snatching their first win themselves.
The win lifted the Bluejays off the bottom of the ladder where they had been since the start of the season, switching places with Pakenham Black.
Pakenham Black face Sandringham next weekend whereas it's bound to be a showdown for Bonbeach White facing the Blue team for bragging rights, the win coming at an optimal time.
Cheltenham Rustlers 19 v Pakenham Pumas White 4
The Rustlers have gone into their bye with a big win against Pakenham White and a 5-0 start, advancing their lead at the top as Bonbeach Blue had a bye.
The Rustlers were just too tough for the Pumas, although the Pumas are still in the top standings across the division as they look to get back onto the winners list against Berwick.
Bonbeach St Chads Blue v BYE
Women's Division 3 West
Geelong Baycats Blue 21 v Geelong Baycats White 11
At least two runs were scored in each dig from both Geelong sides but it was Blue that eventually claimed bragging rights.
Blue scored five runs to get proceedings underway, the two-run response from White enough for the time, remaining close.
However, the following two innings from Blue resulted in seven runs apiece, as White just couldn't maintain that scoring capability to keep up, despite scoring runs at a competitive pace.
Eventually the game whittled down to a 10-run win to Blue as each Geelong team has taken different paths this season; Blue on top at 4-1 and White at the other end of the ladder with four losses and a draw.
Both games in Division 3 West are being played at Geelong this weekend, where Fitzroy play Blue and winless North Western Titans will take on the winless White.
Sunshine Eagles 17 v North Western Titans 14
Sunshine were on the verge of an upset against North Western Titans but managed to rally together after being down in the last innings.
The hard-fought win to the Eagles included a strong pitching effort from Anameljen Quach to steady the defence.
It would have been the Titans' first win of the season had they held on but they have another shot against Baycats White this weekend while Sunshine are level with Baycats Blue at 4-1 before a bye this weekend.
Fitzroy Lions - BYE