There are three 2-0 teams in VSBL Division 3: Springvale, North Western and Footscray. One round is left in 2020 before the break as teams look to finish the year off strong.
Division 3 Firsts
Bonbeach Bluejays 1 v Springvale Lions 15
The Lions had another big win, thanks to a 10-run sixth inning to end the game.
Springvale had scored one run in the first, third and fourth before putting up two in the fifth. The lone Bonbeach run came in the third.
Lucas Anderson returned to the mound and had a winning start, covering six innings with just one unearned run allowed and five strikeouts. Two of the Bluejays' four hits came in the first two at-bats of the game, but Anderson turned a double play with a ball hit up the middle to quiet the Bonbeach threat.
Adam Thatcher ran the bases well in the bottom of the first to get home, and that one-run lead remained until the top of the third when Bonbeach scored on a series of wild throws and a ground ball. Springvale responded with an unearned run as Ben Birchall opened with a double before advancing on an error by the second baseman. Matt Cameron smacked the ball hard to the third baseman who tried his best to make the play but it was a tough one.
Anderson kept the Bluejays under control, not giving them many chances with no walks across the six innings. Springvale got more runs on the fifth when Bonbeach intentionally walked Myles Barnden to set up a double play to end the inning. Instead, Mark Richards doubled over left field to boost the Lions' score.
The sixth inning saw Adam Thatcher lead off with a single, followed by two walks. A pitching change saw Bonbeach allow a further six hits across the next 10 hitters, and two errors helped Springvale get even further ahead. Rydge Hogan had a 14-run margin to back him up as he retired the final three batters.
Isaiah Bird had an RBI double while Oliver Hookey-Rizzo singled and Harry Hines-Cavanagh had two base hits for Bonbeach.
Bonbeach hosts North Western on Saturday while Springvale visits Footscray in search of three wins in a row.
Footscray Bulldogs 13 v Chelsea Dolphins 1
The Bulldogs built on a 12-6 win in the first round with another big performance at Chelsea. The game was relatively quiet to start, with the Bulldogs leading 1-0 going into the fourth, before adding three in the fourth and seven in the fifth. The Dolphins only got one back in the bottom of the sixth as Footscray scored two more runs in the final inning.
Brittney Cedelland pitched well for Footscray, covering 5.66 innings with two hits, no walks, one earned run allowed and six strikeouts. Alexander Da Silva was on the mound for 1.33 innings, giving up no hits or runs with just one walk and four strikeouts.
Footscray racked up 13 hits on the day, including two singles and three RBIs for Matt Martin. Asdrubal Jimenez also had an RBI single while Cory Hart had a pair of base knocks and Jaime Harvey singled too. Da Silva singled and tripled with two walks for three RBIs as Jake Cole-Sinclair had an RBI on a double and HBP. Cedelland walked and singled with two RBIs.
Footscray will aim for a repeat offensive performance at home v Footscray on Sunday while Chelsea hosts Pakenham.
North Western Titans 16 v Pakenham Pumas 0
The Titans earned an 11-1 victory over Chelsea in the first round and they kept up that dominant form in the second game, cruising to a big margin over Pakenham with strong hitting, baserunning and pitching.
North Western is currently just behind ladder-leading Springvale with 27 runs scored for and one against as the Titans aim to keep their undefeated record going on the road to Bonbeach.
Pakenham, the 2018/19 VSBL Division 3 Premiers, look for win number one at Chelsea ahead of the break.
Division 3 Reserves
North Western Titans 1 v Pakenham Pumas 22
The Pumas lost 10-1 to Springvale in round one, but they bounced back in thrilling fashion with a huge high score over North Western.
Both teams scored early, with the game 3-1 in favour of Pakenham after the first. That was all the offence North Western would get while Pakenham kept it coming, scoring 11 in the second and eight in the third.
The Pumas jumped three spots up off the bottom of the ladder, now sitting third with a 1-1 record and 23 runs scored for v 11 against. North Western has a loss and a draw, just ahead of 0-2 Bonbeach ahead of the Titans @ Bluejays game this weekend. Pakenham pays a visit to Chelsea.
Bonbeach Bluejays 2 v Springvale Lions 3
The first two innings were relatively quiet before the Lions tacked on two in the bottom of the third. One more run scored in the bottom of the fifth, while the Lions were forced to hold off a late surge from Bonbeach with two runs in the seventh.
Bonbeach hosts North Western and second-place Springvale visits Footscray next.
Footscray Bulldogs 11 v Chelsea Dolphins 3
Footscray narrowly bested Bonbeach last week, scraping by for a 9-8 win, but this time around the Bulldogs enjoyed a bigger margin thanks to a seven-run first inning. They scored one run in each of the following four innings while holding Chelsea to just two in the second and one in the fifth.
2-0 Footscray hosts Springvale in round three while 0-1-1 Chelsea hosts Pakenham.