The 2020/21 VSBL Division 2 teams show no signs of slowing down as the season heads towards finals, with Newport and Moorabbin leading the way.
Division 2 Firsts - Weekend Games (31 January 2021)
Preston Pirates 2 v Newport Rams 7
The Rams assumed first place with a big win and a Moorabbin loss.
The game was tied at one after the first but the Rams kept working, scoring two in the second, one in the third, and another in the fourth, followed by two more in the seventh. Preston's other score came in the sixth.
Tyler Comben contributed four innings on the mound for Newport, with 13 first pitch strikes and a 1.00 WHIP. He gave up just one run on three hits, one walk, and six strikeouts. Harun Pelja had 15 first pitch strikes in his four innings with one unearned run scoring and four hits, four strikeouts, and four walks. Mason Wray had a 1.00 WHIP with just one walk and a strikeout in an inning of work.
Preston's Nick Pascuzzi threw 25 first pitch strikes with a 1.33 WHIP in six innings. He gave up seven hits, one walk, and five runs - three of them unearned - with a strikeout.
Newport's offence included two RBIs on a single and a double from Jared Berman, an RBI single by David Land, and two singles for Scot Malthouse. Ryan Morrison had a single and an RBI, while Nathan Smith, Keenan Spence, and Connor Schibeci had base hits.
Gabriel Valderrama and Hebert Rodriguez knocked in Preston's runs, while Vinnie Sayegh doubled and Matt Fordham had a pair of singles. Pascuzzi, Ryan Golledge, and Valderrama also had singles.
The first-place Rams have seven wins, two losses, 81 runs for, and 33 runs against. They play Port Melbourne and St Kilda next while Preston takes on Werribee and Port Melbourne.
Williamstown Wolves 1 v Port Melbourne Mariners 6
The Mariners got the better of their bayside neighbors with a strong performance, made possibly by a two-run fourth and a four-run eighth. The Wolves scored their only run in the top of the ninth.
Port Melbourne's Matthew Parker pitched eight scoreless innings with three hits, four walks, one HBP and three strikeouts. Tyson Cox-Davies gave up one hit, one walk, and a run in his inning of work.
Dennis Neal covered 7.66 innings for Williamstown, with six hits, six walks, two HBP, and six runs - four of them unearned with nine strikeouts. Daniel Chircop had a short scoreless outing with less than an inning on the mound.
Kevin Ung had two RBIs for Port Melbourne while Baily Waterman, Matthew Morris, and Parker had the others. Morris and Christopher Doyle doubled while Cox-Davies had two singles and Jack White had one.
Williamstown's lone RBI came off the bat of Mitch Collins as Aaron Green, Robert Higginson, Scott Meager, and Hiroshi Narasaki also singled.
The Wolves sit fourth at 5-4 with 65 runs for and 30 against, while Port Melbourne is sixth at 4-4-1 with 44 runs for and 52 runs against. Williamstown plays Moorabbin and Mulgrave next while Port Melbourne plays Newport and Preston.
Mulgrave Rebels 25 v Doncaster Dragons 10
This was a huge run fest for the Rebels as they earned their fifth victory of the year. Jayson Arthur threw seven innings for Mulgrave, giving up nine hits and no walks with seven strikeouts and four earned runs. Teammate Liam Richardson gave up five hits, five unearned runs, and one earned run in an inning of work.
Doncaster's Simon Fitzmaurice covered four innings, giving up just two earned runs with six hits, a walk, and two K's. Brian Chen handled 2.66 innings with two hits, one strikeout, three walks, and two runs. Angus Stals, Nic Unland, and Judah Wollenburg also took short turns on the mound.
Jason Cousins and Caleb Poole knocked in three RBIs for Mulgrave while Riley O'Shea, Ryan Phillips, Donnie Poole, Richardson, Paul Rutgers, and Nicholas Thompson all had two. Trent Watkinson and Michael Morgan had one each. Rutgers homered while O'Shea doubled twice. Poole, Richardson, Thompson, and Arthur all doubled. Base hits went to Nicholas Coy, Arthur, Cousins, Morgan, O'Shea, Phillips, Poole, Rutgers, Thompson, and Watkinson.
Mulgrave took 10 walks on the day while giving up none to Doncaster, although Marcel Davoine had three RBIs on a single and three doubles. Brendan McDonald, Derek Medlin, Marc Sandy, and Wollenburg also had RBIs. Wollenburg doubled twice as Medlin and Dakota Gibson doubled once. The rest of the tam's hits were singles to Chen, McDonald, and Unland.
Mulgrave sits fifth with a 5-4 record on 61 runs for and 48 runs against, while Doncaster is third with the same record and an even 75 runs scored and given up. Mulgrave plays St Kilda and Williamstown next as Doncaster prepares to take on Ormond Glenhuntly and Werribee.
Werribee Giants 4 v Moorabbin Panthers 3
The Giants took on the top team and handed them a loss, only their second of the season.
Moorabbin scored two runs in the third and one in the fifth, while Werribee scored late to turn the game in their favour, with one in the sixth, two in the eighth, and one in extra innings to break the tie.
In addition to the tenth-inning score, Werribee had RBIs from Andrew Christou, Anthony Moanaroa, and Evan McPherson. Josh Lee gave up 10 hits, two walks, and one HBP in nine innings with three unearned runs and six strikeouts. Trent Pantalleresco gave up one hit and one walk but no runs in the final inning.
Moorabbin's Michael McGillivray threw seven innings, giving up just three hits, two walks, and one HBP with an earned run and five strikeouts. Christopher Nielsen handled 2.66 innings with no hits, just three walks and an unearned run. Stewart Mathieson gave up two earned runs on one hit, two walks, and a HBP with a strikeout in less than an inning of work.
Werribee's winning offence included two singles from Lee and one base hit each for Pantalleresco and Samuel Reale.
Moorabbin had an RBI single from Mitch Barr and a double by Nick Bertucci. Travis Finney, Adam Harris, and Mathieson all had two base hits while Matt Hardie and Neil Johnson had one each.
After this Moorabbin loss, Newport moves into first place while the Panthers have the same 7-2 record but less runs scored, with 76 for and 29 against. Werribee has a 4-4-1 record on 39 runs for and 43 against, with the hopes of moving up in the next games v Preston and Doncaster. Moorabbin plays Williamstown and Ormond Glenhuntly next.
Ormond Glenhuntly Hunters 16 v St Kilda Saints 7
The Hunters scored consistently throughout the game to secure back-to-back victories.
Ormond Glenhuntly scored first with three in the second, while St Kilda got one back in the third. The Hunters scored four more across the next two innings, and by the end of the fifth, it was a 7-3 ballgame Ormond's way.
The Hunters tacked on a massive six runs in the sixth, with one more in the seventh and two in the eighth. The Saints scored three more in the seventh and one in the eighth.
Kyungsoo Jeon threw six innings to get the win, giving up seven hits, two walks, one HBP, and three runs with six strikeouts. Jiwon Choi threw three innings with four hits and six walks with four runs - three of them unearned.
St Kilda's Adam Schoppe pitched 4.33 innings with nine hits, four walks, six runs, and three strikeouts. Robby Lewis handled 1.66 scoreless innings with just one hit and two walks. Rolando Curiel pitched 1.66 with three hits, three walks, one HBP, and three runs - two of them earned. Four earned runs and three unearned runs scored during Daniel Hogg's 1.33 innings on the mound with four hits and two walks.
Geoff MacDonald led Ormond Glenhuntly's offence with five RBIs and a huge double. Timothy Carracher had a bases-clearing double while Doha Kwak collected four singles and a double with two RBIs. Changho Choi, Keunyeol Park, and Jason Maxwell recorded one RBI each. Jarrad Barrow singled, Changho Choi doubled and walked three times, Jiwon Choi doubled and walked twice, and Brad Dolan had a base hit and a walk. Jeon walked and singled and Maxwell and Park singled.
Millar Kuhl and Alan Ortiz had two RBIs each for St Kilda. Kuhl singled and walked as Ortiz singled, homered, and walked three times. Curiel singled and walked, Mariano Favia singled twice and walked once for one RBI, and Hogg doubled. Lewis walked with an RBI, Robert Mescher singled and walked, Paul Puskar had two singles, and Schoppe had a base hit.
Ormond Glenhuntly sits eighth with a 4-5 record on 61 runs for and 63 runs against. St Kilda is one spot below with two wins and seven losses on 41 runs for and 89 runs against. Ormond Glenhuntly plays Doncaster and Moorabbin next, and St Kilda plays Mulgrave and Newport in the next rounds.