Geelong and Essendon kept up their winning streaks in VSBL Division 1 while Malvern, Sunshine, Sandringham, and Waverley also earned big wins with one round to go before the break.
View full season fixtures, results, and ladders HERE and read recaps below.
Division 1 Firsts
Berwick City Cougars 1 v Geelong Baycats 9
Geelong jumped out to an early lead over Berwick and took home a 9-1 victory, marking their fifth straight win.
The Baycats scored three in the second on an error, a fielder's choice by Hayden Peoples, and a single by Anthony Moanaroa.
Sam Gibbons was the winning pitcher for Geelong, throwing seven innings, allowing three hits and one run while striking out six.
Cunningham took the loss for Berwick after going four innings, allowing five runs on seven hits, striking out five and walking one.
Geelong hit two home runs on the day to Brock Wells and Peoples as the team had 11 hits in the game. Tyler Luther-Wilson led the way with a 3-for-4 day while Peoples and Keli’i Zablan had multiple hits too.
Cain Bumpstead, Marcus Graham, and Aidan Willis had singles for Berwick.
Geelong is 5-0 and sits atop the ladder going into a home game v Sunshine while Berwick is 3-2 and plays at Blackburn this coming weekend.
Cheltenham Rustlers 1 v Essendon Bombers 6
The Bombers kept their unbeaten start alive with 6-1 victory over Cheltenham at home.
Michael Formisano led the way with three hits and two RBIs, while Scott McIntyre drove in a pair of runs.
Sam Street and Luke Abels combined to allow just one hit with 12 strikeouts in an impressive day on the mound.
Joshua Tribe struck out nine with seven hits and four runs (two unearned) in five innings for Cheltenham, backed up by Russell Ferguson in relief.
Jack Daniels doubled and Josh Ashen singled in a quiet day offensively for the Rustlers, who visit Melbourne next while Essendon heads to Sandringham.
Melbourne Demons 0 v Malvern Braves 3
Malvern defeated Melbourne 3-0 as two pitchers combined to throw a shutout. Mitch Kennedy struck out Stephen Lawrence to finish off the game. Overall Malvern pitchers struck out 12, while Melbourne pitchers sat down four.
Bronson Neave singled in the first inning for Melbourne but they couldn't bring him around to score as Kennedy was strong on the mound. The righty surrendered zero runs on three hits over three innings, striking out five and walking zero.
John Kennedy started the game for Malvern, covering four innings, allowing zero runs on two hits, striking out seven and walking zero
Hayden Godbold took the loss for Melbourne, giving up three runs on five hits over four and two-thirds innings, striking out three.
Ryan Dale led Malvern with two hits in two at bats while Melbourne totaled five hits with two apiece for Neave and Harvey Mitchelhill.
Melbourne didn't commit a single error in the field as Kynan Jones had seven chances, the most on the team.
Malvern has a 2-2-1 record and visits Fitzroy next while Melbourne hosts Cheltenham in round 6.
Upwey Ferntree Gully Tigers 2 v Sunshine Eagles 3
Sunshine walked it off in the bottom of the seventh with a bases-loaded hit from Allister Lovelock and Jeremy Young holding it down on the mound.
Jarrod Turner threw six strong innings for the Tigers in a tough loss, giving up seven hits with one walk, four strikeouts, and two unearned runs.
Peter Schroeders had two hits and an RBI while Ashley Winton doubled and Harvey Chinn had an RBI single.
The Tigers are 1-3-1 and play Waverley at home while Sunshine sits third at 4-1 and heads to Geelong for the last game of the year.
Sandringham Royals 4 v Blackburn Orioles 1
Home runs from Will Tucker and Nicholas Coy helped the Royals get their third win of the season.
Blackburn took a 1-0 lead in the second but Sandringham soon turned things around with a three-run fourth and one more run in the seventh.
Genevieve Beacom got the start for Sandringham, throwing four innings with four hits, a walk, a run, and four strikeouts. Riley Trad appeared in relief for three scoreless innings with no hits, just two walks and two strikeouts.
Sam Bucello threw four innings for Blackburn with six hits, two runs, and three strikeouts. Jacob Evans, Rowan
Johnstone, and Andrew Jones each pitched an inning in relief.
Declan Ferguson and Tahj Rousell both had two singles for Sandringham while Nick Rossell batted in Blackburn's only run of the game as Hayden Dingle doubled and Liam Hopkins and Evans singled.
Sandringham is 3-2 with a home game v Essendon coming up while Blackburn is 1-4 going into a home game v Berwick.
Waverley Wildcats 9 v Fitzroy Lions 2
Mitchell White drove in three runs for the Wildcats while Damon Hill and Mitchell Homfray had two RBIs apiece in Waverley's big win.
The Wildcats led 7-0 by the third and although Fitzroy scored two in the middle innings, Waverley cruised to an eventual 9-2 win.
Waverley's Jamie and Luke Papanicolaou handled pitching duties on the mound, giving up a combined nine hits with three strikeouts and two runs.
Damian Preston started the game for Fitzroy, giving up seven hits and seven runs (five unearned). Danny King pitched the next four with three hits, two runs, and four strikeouts.
Tyler Trevaskis and Warwick Purchase knocked in Fitzroy's runs as Ethan Epifanio and Thomas Wilson both had two base hits.
2-2 Waverley heads to Upwey Ferntree Gully and Fitzroy is 1-2-1 going into a home game v Malvern.
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