The 2020/21 VSBL Division 1 season continued over the weekend with Sunshine and Upwey Ferntree Gully leading the way. The Division 1 Firsts have nine games to go before finals.
Division 1 Firsts
Blackburn Orioles 2 v Melbourne Demons 12
The reigning premiers fell short in this game as Melbourne piled on the runs early.
The Demons scored three in the first and five in the fourth. Blackburn scored once in the second and another run in the fifth. The sixth was quiet but the Demons got three more in the seventh and one in the eighth.
Melbourne had 15 hits total while giving up seven. The Demons made three errors and the Orioles made one.
Melbourne's Hayden Godbold threw five innings with five hits, two unearned runs and five strikeouts. 16 of his first pitches were strikes. Mitchell Bowen pitched two innings with one hit, one walk, one HBP, and two strikeouts. Kurtis Smith had another inning with just one hit allowed.
Blackburn's Sam Bucello gave up six hits and six runs - five of them earned - in three innings on the mound. He struck out three and walked three. Steven Bookluck threw 1.66 innings, giving up one hit and three walks with two strikeouts. Charlie Collins also put in 1.66 innings, giving up six hits and four walks with two strikeouts and a walk. Rowan Johnstone contributed 1.33 innings with two hits and two runs - one unearned - and one strikeouts. He also walked three.
Melbourne's Finn O'Connell had four hits (three singles and a double) for three RBIs, while teammate Smith also had four base hits. Nicholas Cleland plated three with a huge double and Harvey Mitchelhill had a walk and two singles. Sadi Nergiz took three walks and doubled for two RBIs while Ethan Scalzo and Charlie O'Connell also had hits.
Blackburn's Ben Leslie and Thomas Kerr-Chapman accounted for four of the team's hits with two singles each. Charlie Collins, Liam Hopkins, and Nick Rossell had base hits too.
Blackburn currently sits sixth with a 4-2-1 record, 41 runs for and 42 against. Melbourne is now 1-6 after this victory with 21 runs for and 53 against. The Orioles play Geelong next and Melbourne plays Fitzroy.
Sunshine Eagles 14 v Malvern Braves 8
The Eagles scored six late runs to break the tie and secure win number five.
Malvern led 2-0 after the first inning, but by the end of the second it was a tied 3-3 ballgame. The third was quiet but both teams scored runs in the fourth and fifth.
The 5-5 tie was broken in the seventh as the Eagles scored one and the Braves scored two. Sunshine powered back with two in the eighth, but Malvern tied it again in the bottom of the ninth. The game went to extra innings as Sunshine scored six and won the game.
Sunshine's Adam Irons threw six innings, giving up eight hits and five runs - four of them earned - with a walk and eight strikeouts. Earl Byrne gave up five hits, two earned runs, one unearned run, three walks and one HBP with three K's in four innings of work.
Malvern had Tyler Dale on the mound for four innings, giving up seven hits, four runs - three of them earned - and four walks with a pair of strikeouts. Eddie Gibbs contributed two innings with two hits, one walk, two unearned runs and three strikeouts. Four unearned runs and two earned runs scored during Geoff Holland's one inning on the mound as he gave up four hits and a walk. Mitchell Kennedy's three innings included two hits, three strikeouts, one walk, one HBP, an unearned run and an earned run.
Offensively, Sunshine had two singles and a double from Bryce Aldridge and Josh Byrne, as well as singles from Cam Deeble, Griffin Weir, and Russell Letts. Allister Lovelock had three singles and a double as Nathan Gatt singled and tripled. Lovelock had three RBIs, Weir and Gatt both had two, and Byrne and Letts plated one each.
Malvern's Justin Burke had two RBIs on two singles, while Lachlan Fuda had an RBI double and Jack Hanger had an extra base hit too. Henry Hayman singled twice, Geoff Holland had three base hits and an RBI, and Gavin Woolger plated two with a pair of doubles and a single. Kennedy also singled.
The Eagles are 5-1-1 at the top of the ladder, with 55 runs for and 23 against. The Braves sit in tenth place with a 1-5-1 record, 25 runs for and 59 runs against. Sunshine plays Berwick in round eight and Malvern plays Cheltenham.
Fitzroy Lions 1 v Essendon Bombers 11
The Bombers got on the board early and didn't look back with eight runs after the first two innings. The middle innings were quiet but both sides scored one more in the sixth. Essendon tacked on another two in the seventh to finish the game.
Essendon's Gareth Formisano pitched six innings with just one unearned run scored on three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts. Sam Street had a scoreless inning with two K's.
Fitzroy's Cooper de Haan pitched three innings with eight runs - five of them earned - and nine hits allowed. He walked two and struck out one. In Danny King's three innings, he gave up seven hits, one walk, one HBP and three runs. Ryan Mitchell gave up one hit and two walks in a scoreless inning.
Christian Caminiti had two walks, a single, and an RBI while Kyle Douglass plated four with a pair of doubles and a base hit. Gareth Formisano had an RBI single, Michael Formisano singled twice, and Jack Giles recorded three base hits. Shoma Ikehata walked and had two base hits while Jarryd Rogers had two singles, a double, and two RBIs. Mcleod Sell knocked in two and Darby Sexton brought in a run on a big single and a double.
Fitzroy's quieter offence included singles from Ethan Epifanio, Danny King, and Gideon Van Twest Smith.
Essendon sits seventh with a 4-3 record, 35 runs for and 27 against. The Bombers play Waverley and Fitzroy plays Melbourne next.
Berwick City Cougars 5 v Upwey Ferntree Gully Tigers 6
The Cougars opened the scoring with one in the second, and it wasn't until the bottom of the fourth when the Tigers got two of their own. The game was tied at three after the fifth before the Tigers scored one in the sixth and two in the seventh.
Although Berwick scored one in both the eighth and the ninth, the Tigers managed to hold on for their fifth win of the season. Donavon Hendricks and Jarrod Turner led the way on the mound as Hendricks gave up just one unearned run with four hits and a strikeout across four innings. Turner handled the other four innings with four hits, three strikeouts, five walks, two HBP, and four runs - one of them unearned.
Craig Barnett covered six innings for Berwick with three earned runs and one unearned run on seven hits and five walks with one strikeout. Cain Bumpstead gave up just one hit in a scoreless inning as Matthew West allowed an unearned and earned run in one inning with two hits, a walk, and a strikeout.
Harvey Chinn, Riley Light, Staci Rogers, and Peter Schroeders plated runs for Upwey Ferntree Gully. Light singled and doubled, Rogers doubled and tripled, Justin Swanton had two base hits, and Wade McConnon singled.
Berwick's offence included a single, a walk, and an RBI for Cain Bumpstead, an RBI by Andrew Gibbens, and Matthew Homfray's single, double, and RBI. John King singled twice, Brad Kmet and Aidan Willis singled once, and Aaron Ouwehand had an RBI base hit.
Second-place Upwey Ferntree Gully has a 5-2 record on 58 runs for and 33 against, while ninth-place Berwick is 2-5 with 41 runs for and 46 against. The Tigers play Sandringham and the Cougars play Sunshine next.
Waverley Wildcats 7 v Cheltenham Rustlers 4
The Wildcats held steady in this matchup to win their fifth game of the season.
Waverley's Jamie Papanicolaou pitched five innings with five hits, one HBP, and three runs - one unearned - with two strikeouts. Luke Papanicolaou contributed 3.33 innings with just one hit allowed and two K's. Darcy Longstaff pitched less than an inning with one hit, one run, one HBP, and two walks.
Cheltenham's Andrew Campbell was on the mound for five innings with four hits, three walks, two runs, and two strikeouts. Russell Ferguson threw the other four innings with six hits, a walk, two HBP, and five runs - one unearned.
Ben Aslett plated two runs for Waverley with a pair of singles, while Mitchell Homfray singled and Mohi Kahui singled, doubled, and walked with an RBI. Jordan Ley singled, Reece Longstaff had two doubles and an RBI, and Finn Weichard had two base hits with an RBI. Andrew Russell and Jacob Sheldon-Collins also had RBIs.
5-2 Waverley sits fourth with 47 runs for and 25 against, while Cheltenham has the same record and sits third with 53 runs for and 35 against. Waverley hosts Essendon and Cheltenham plays Malvern next.
Geelong Baycats 11 v Sandringham Royals 8
Geelong had to battle back but the Baycats managed to win big in extra innings.
The game was 7-1 Sandringham's way after the first, leaving Geelong to keep working away at the deficit while keeping the Royals from scoring more. The Baycats scored one in the second and third as well as two in the fourth. They also scored one more in the sixth and two in the seventh.
Sandringham tied the game at eight in the bottom of the eighth, and with no runners coming home in the ninth, the game went to the tenth. The Baycats scored three to seal the deal on win number four.
Geelong collected 12 hits and Sandringham had 13 on the day, while the Baycats made one error and Sandringham made five.
Geelong's Rudy Jaramillo pitched seven innings, giving up 11 hits and striking out three with seven runs - six of them earned. 26 of his first pitches were strikes. Kelli Zablan gave up just two hits and a run in three innings with two walks and four strikeouts.
Sandringham's Declan Croker gave up six hits, four walks, three earned runs, and two unearned runs in five innings with three strikeouts. He had 19 first pitch strikes. Grant Irving threw 3.33 innings with four hits, two HBP and four runs - three of them earned. He recorded 16 first pitch strikes. Genevieve Beacom contributed 1.66 innings with two hits, two walks and two earned runs.
James Wood led Geelong in quality at-bats with two walks, a HBP, and a single. Josh Davies doubled as Jaramillo singled and walked with two RBIs. Tyler Luther-Wilson doubled and walked, Sam Moon plated a run, and Hayden Peoples doubled. Harper Rickard singled and doubled with two RBIs, Lewis Weldon plated two on a pair of base hits, and Zablan had a single and two doubles for an RBI.
Sam Skinner had two of Sandringham's RBIs, while Irving, Declan Ferguson, Timothy Lane, Will Tucker and Harrison Wills also plated runs. Croker, Lane and Ferguson singled, while Irving had a base hit and a double. Skinner and Tucker doubled and Jack Wills had two base hits.
Fifth-place Geelong has a 4-2 record with 59 runs for and 25 runs against. Eighth-place Sandringham has a 3-3-1 record with 44 runs for and 40 runs against. Geelong plays Blackburn next and Sandringham plays Upwey Ferntree Gully next.