The 2021/22 VSBL Division 1 season is heating up as both Berwick and Geelong are 2-for-2. The other teams aren't far behind as it's early days yet, and plenty more baseball left to come this summer.
View full season fixtures, results, and ladders HERE and check out recaps below.
Division 1 Firsts
Fitzroy Lions 0 v Berwick City Cougars 7
Berwick defeated Fitzroy 7-0 on Saturday as two pitchers combined to throw a shutout. Mike McGillivray induced a fly out from Warwick Purchase to finish off the game.
Berwick got things moving in the second inning as Nick O'Shea's sac fly scored one run. John King kept the offense going with a 2-for-3 day at the plate to lead Berwick in hits as the team collected nine hits total.
Aidan Willis was patient at the plate, taking three walks with four quality at-bats while teammate Andrew Gibbens had two RBIs and Aaron Ouwehand had one.
Craig Barnett earned the win on the mound after giving up just three hits and zero runs over five innings, striking out seven. McGillivray threw two innings in relief out of the bullpen.
Purchase took the loss for Fitzroy, throwing four and two-thirds innings, allowing five runs on six hits and striking out three.
Berwick was sure-handed and didn't commit a single error as Marcus Graham made the most plays with nine.
A single by Purchase in the first inning was a positive for Fitzroy while Tom Dicker had two of the team's four hits. Alec Smith helped the team have an error-free day in the field, taking five chances to help keep Berwick from scoring more.
Berwick has two wins and heads to Malvern in search of a third while Fitzroy plays Upwey Ferntree Gully on the road this weekend.
Upwey Ferntree Gully Tigers 0 v Essendon Bombers 3
Essendon earned a 3-0 victory over Upwey-Ferntree Gully as three pitchers combined to throw a shutout. Sam Street struck out Peter Schroeders to finish off the game.
Scott McIntyre drove in Essendon's first run of the game on a single in the opening inning. Jack Giles ended up leading the team with three hits in three at-bats.
Essendon pitchers struck out six and kept the Tigers to just a lone single from Staci Rogers.
Gareth Formisano was the winning pitcher, covering four scoreless innings, allowing zero runs on one hit and striking out three. Street and Luke Abels entered the game out of the bullpen to help close things down.
Despite a solid start, Donovan Hendriks took the loss, giving up seven hits, three runs, and a walk across five innings.
With win number one in the books, Essendon will host Blackburn in the next round while Upwey Ferntree Gully plays Fitzroy at home in hopes of improving to a 2-1 record.
Melbourne Demons 5 v Sandringham Royals 8
Sandringham weathered Melbourne's three-run effort in the sixth, hanging on for an 8-5 win and their first of the season.
The Royals opened up scoring in the second inning as Will Tucker doubled on a 1-0 count. From there the team racked up 13 hits total, including a 3-for-3 day by Josh Meyer and multiple hits for Tucker, Grant Irving, and Tahj Roussell.
Riley Trad led the Sandringham to victory on the mound. The ace went four innings, allowing one run on three hits and striking out seven. Genevieve Beacom and Charlie Pierson pitched in relief.
Hayden Godbold took the loss for Melbourne, allowing two hits and three runs in two innings with three strikeouts.
Melbourne had eight hits in the game including two apiece for Stephen Lawrence and Oliver McMahon. Lawrence, Sadi Nergiz and Kurtis Smith all had RBIs.
Round 3 has Sandringham at Waverley while Melbourne visits Sunshine.
Sunshine Eagles 13 v Cheltenham Rustlers 5
The Eagles outhit the Rustlers 17 to 11 in this high-scoring matchup, dominated by Nikau Pouaka-Grego who had five hits, including two singles, two doubles, and a triple.
Pouaka-Grego batted in five while Clayton Campbell had two RBIs. Tyson Cox-Davies, Allan de San Miguel, Cam Deeble, Nathan Gatt, Allister Lovelock and Jordan Young also recorded RBIs as Lovelock and Young hit for extra bases.
Cheltenham wasn't quiet at the plate either, with three singles from Jack Dunn and two apiece for Josh Ashen, Dante
Caruso, and Dylan Trevorah. Russell Ferguson knocked in two runs as well.
Griffin Weir threw six innings for Sunshine, giving up 10 hits but just two earned runs and three unearned runs. He struck out three and walked two. Connor Young handled one scoreless inning with two hits, a walk, and a strikeout.
Cheltenham's Ferguson pitched for most of the game and was backed up by Caruso and Trevorah in relief.
After a big win, Sunshine will look for two in a row v Melbourne at home while Cheltenham hosts Geelong.
Blackburn Orioles 9 v Malvern Braves 4
Malvern opened up scoring in the first as Mitch Kennedy grounded out to bring home a run.
Blackburn scored two in the top of the second although Malvern evened things up at two in the bottom frame on a James Squire single.
Blackburn pulled away for good with two runs in the third inning. Nick Rossell's sac fly scored one run and Steven Bookluck's single scored another.
Three more runs came in the fifth inning with RBIs from Mitch Whiting and Liam Hopkins, while Charlie Collins led Blackburn to victory on the hill. Collins surrendered one run on two hits over two and a third innings, striking out five. Starter Jacob Evans started the game for Blackburn. The fireballer allowed five hits and three runs over four and two-thirds innings, striking out three
John Kennedy took the loss for Malvern. The pitcher allowed six hits and four runs over three innings, striking out four.
Ryan Dale went 3-for-4 at the plate to lead the Braves in hits while Hopkins, Bookluck, Collins, and Rossell helped Blackburn reach 13 hits on the day.
Blackburn is 1-1 going into the third round at Essendon while Malvern will look for a win at home v Berwick.
Geelong Baycats 1 v Waverley Wildcats 0
It was a true pitcher's duel between Geelong and Waverley as the Baycats broke through with one in the second and that was it.
Geelong had four hits total including two for Lewis Weldon and one apiece from Ryan Darcy and Tyler Luther-Wilson.
Sam Gibbons threw seven strong innings with 19 first-pitch strikes, four strikeouts, and a 0.71 WHIP.
For Waverley, Jamie Papanicolaou collected the team's lone single while Darcy Longstaff handled five innings on the mound, giving up two hits and one run with three strikeouts and four walks.
Geelong travels to Cheltenham this weekend while Waverley hosts Sandringham.
Powered by Narrative Science and GameChanger Media. Copyright 2021. All rights reserved.