Essendon, Upwey Ferntree Gully, Melbourne, Fitzroy, and Sunshine secured midweek wins in VSBL Division 1 with just three rounds to go before finals.
Read full season fixtures, results, and ladders HERE and check out the latest recaps from round 18 below.
Division 1 Firsts
Malvern Braves 1 v Essendon Bombers 5
The Bombers got the better of the Braves on Tuesday night, scoring one in the third and four in the fifth, while Malvern's lone run came off the bat of Nick Parton in the sixth.
Sam Street led the way for Essendon on the mound, striking out 14 in seven innings with just four hits and one run. Declan Speirs, Darby Sexton, Jarryd Rogers, and Scott McIntyre knocked in runs as Jack Giles, Michael Formisano, Jared Cruz, and Lachlan Condie got on base with timely hits too.
Mitch Kennedy doubled while James Squire, Ryan Othen, and Ryan Dale singled for the Braves. Simon Pole pitched 4.33 innings, giving up seven hits, a walk, and five runs (one unearned) with two strikeouts. Tyler Dale kept things scoreless in 2.66 innings, giving up two hits and three walks with a strikeout.
Essendon is 13-2 in first place while Malvern has a 7-10-1 record, with the Bombers hosting another matchup between the two this weekend.
Upwey Ferntree Gully Tigers 1 v Berwick City Cougars 0
The Tigers got in front with Jordan Elliott’s two-out single in the first as the rest of the game proved to a pitchers’ duel.
Donovan Hendriks threw eight shutout innings for the Tigers, striking out seven and allowing five hits with two walks.
Matthew West pitched seven innings for the Cougars with seven strikeouts ahead of a scoreless eighth for Joel Hector.
Elliot and Hendriks had multiple hits for the Tigers while Berwick's Marcus Graham went 2-for-4 at the plate and made the most plays in the field with eight.
The Tigers have a 9-7-2 record while the Cougars are sitting at 10-7-1 with the next game at Upwey Ferntree Gully on Sunday.
Melbourne Demons 3 v Blackburn Orioles 0
Blackburn fell behind early and couldn't come back in a 3-0 loss to Melbourne on Tuesday.
The pitching was strong on both sides as Melbourne pitchers struck out nine and Blackburn sat down seven.
Melbourne fired up the offense in the first inning on an RBI single for Kynan Jones, followed by Kurtis Smith's RBI base hit in the second.
A double by Jacob Evans in the second inning was a positive for Blackburn.
Melbourne's Daniel McGrath went seven scoreless innings with one hit, one walk, and nine strikeouts.
Gerard Kingston covered six innings for Blackburn, allowing three runs on 11 hits and striking out five. Evans threw one inning in relief out of the bullpen and went 1-for-3 at the plate to lead the team in hits.
Melbourne racked up 13 hits in the game, including a 4-for-4 day from Jones. Smith, Nathan Aaron, and Harvey Mitchelhill also had multiple hits.
Going into round 19, Melbourne sits at 6-10-1 while Blackburn is 7-11. The Orioles have the home game this weekend.
Cheltenham Rustlers 1 v Waverley Wildcats 1
The first two innings were quiet before Cheltenham scored on Jack Dunn's RBI single in the third, although Waverley tied it up with a base hit from Mitchell Homfray in the bottom of the fourth.
Neither side could score in the final frames as the pitching stayed strong - Waverley with Darcy Longstaff's four hits and six strikeouts and Cheltenham with solid innings from Max Barrett and Russell Ferguson.
Dylan Trevorah, Jack Daniels, and George Callil had Cheltenham's other singles while Damon Hill, Jordan Ley, Tommy Maxfield, and Jacob Sheldon-Collins had base hits for Waverley.
The Wildcats are 9-6-2 going into the next game at Cheltenham.
Fitzroy Lions 5 v Geelong Baycats 3
Fitzroy denied a late rally at Melbourne Ballpark, taking the lead with a four-run fourth and an insurance run in the fifth before Geelong rallied in the sixth.
Harper Rickard and Ryan Darcy drove in runs with back-to-back two-out singles to make it a two-run game, but Danny King closed out the win with a strikeout.
Fitzroy starter Jordan Hill struck out six and allowed one unearned run across five innings ahead of King's successful save.
Patrick Wyatt, Damian Preston, and Tom Wilson knocked in runs for Fitzroy while Rudy Jaramillo had a pair of singles, a walk, and an RBI for Geelong.
Fitzroy hosts Geelong on Sunday with the Baycats sitting at 12-5-1.
Sandringham Royals 1 v Sunshine Eagles 5
Adam Irons led the Eagles to victory on the mound, giving up just one run in the fifth with four hits, a walk, and three strikeouts in six innings.
Sunshine scored once in the first and again in the second before finishing with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Cam Deeble, Nathan Gatt, and Jordan Young had RBIs.
Two unearned runs scored during Genevieve Beacom's four innings on the mound for Sandringham as she gave up two hits and struck out five. Riley Trad pitched too while Harrison Wills had the team's lone RBI.
Sunshine has a 13-4-1 record and Sandringham is 7-11 going into Sunday's game at the Royals' home base.