The 2021/22 VSBL Division 2 season is off to a great start as teams hit the field for summer baseball, with Mulgrave, Newport, Port Melbourne, Preston, and Werribee all putting wins on the board.
View full season fixtures, results, and ladders HERE and read recaps below.
Division 2 Firsts
Ormond Glenhuntly 1 v Port Melbourne 3
Port Melbourne threw a no-hitter to get their first win of the season, collecting eight hits of their own while keeping Ormond Glenhuntly off the base paths for the most part.
The Mariners scored one in the bottom of the second and two in the bottom of the fifth, giving up just one to the Hunters in the top of the seventh.
Toby Gleeson-Payne and David Ponce De Leon had had two hits apiece while Adam Baker had one.
Matthew Parker pitched 5.1 innings and threw 15 first-pitch strikes with 12 strikeouts. Gleeson-Payne threw 1.2 innings with five first-pitch strikes.
Brad Dolan struck out two during his time on the mound for Ormond Glenhuntly while Kyungsoo Jeon had 13 first-pitch strikes and five strikeouts in five innings.
The Mariners will look to go two for two when they host Werribee on Sunday, while Ormond Glenhuntly plays St Kilda at home.
Williamstown Wolves 2 v Werribee Giants 5
Werribee was behind 2-1 at the end of the first inning, but the team came back to win the game in the later stages.
The Giants managed one run in the first, two in the fifth, and one in the sixth while keeping Williamstown off the board.
Werribee's Wesley de Jong pitched three scoreless innings with just two hits and a strikeout while Trent Pantalleresco covered four innings with two unearned runs and four hits.
Dennis Neal covered five innings for Williamstown with four hits, six walks, and four runs plus seven strikeouts. Sam Thompson contributed one inning with one hit, one walk, one run, and one strikeout.
Werribee's runs were batted in by Pantalleresco with two RBIs and one RBI apiece for Wade Balzer and Ryan Balzer. Tyler Huisman had two base hits and Simon Hibbert had one.
Cooper Carrison had two RBIs for Williamstown on a big single while Zachary Breen had a pair of singles and Nicholas Gray and Aaron Green both had one single.
Williamstown is on the road to Doncaster and Werribee heads to Port Melbourne.
Doncaster Dragons 3 v Newport Rams 4
The Rams came out on top in a close game thanks to an early 2-1 lead after the first. They added two in the second and that was it for Newport's scoring, while Doncaster scored one in the sixth and another in the seventh, falling just short despite outhitting the Rams 10-3.
Newport had Tyler Comben on the mound for four innings, giving up just one run on five hits with a walk and two strikeouts. Aaron Robson handled three innings with five hits, a walk, two runs, and a strikeout.
Doncaster's Angus Stals gave up four runs in four innings with four strikeouts while Simon Fitzmaurice struck out one in two scoreless innings of work.
Nathan Smith had two RBIs for Newport and Dean Malthouse had one, while Doncaster's offense included contributions from Brian Chen with an RBI, plus a double from Nic Unland and base hits to Derek
Medlin, David Medlin, and Dakota Gibson.
Newport heads to Moorabbin on Sunday and Doncaster hosts Williamstown.
St Kilda Saints 0 v Mulgrave Rebels 5
Mulgrave opened the season with a shutout victory, made possible by three RBIs from Jason Cousins. Riley O'Shea and Caleb Poole also knocked in runs while Nicholas Thompson doubled and Jordan Gavin singled.
Mariano Heyden doubled for St Kilda as teammates Elijah Bate, Rolando Curiel, Deilyn Guzman, Daniel Hogg, and Robert Lewis all had singles.
Hogg and Guzman handled pitching duties for the Saints, giving up nine hits and striking out three overall.
Round 2 has St Kilda at Ormond Glenhuntly and Mulgrave at home against Preston.
Moorabbin Panthers 5 v Preston Pirates 6
Preston struck first and managed to hold onto the lead for most of the game, although Moorabbin put in a good effort, battling back with one in the second and two in the third.
Moorabbin grabbed a one-run lead in the fifth, and the game stayed 5-4 the Panthers' way until Preston fought back with two in the bottom of the sixth to secure the win.
Gabriel Valderrama kept things under control on the mound for Preston, while Mitch Sheldon-Collins, Nicholas Veale, Adam Harris, and Nicholas Bertucci put in pitching work for Moorabbin.
Hebert Rodriguez knocked in three runs for Preston as Valderrama and Adriana Fittock had one RBI apiece. Cooper de Haan had a single as well.
Mitch Barr knocked in two runs for Moorabbin while Thomas Yuile and Sheldon-Collins had one each. Bertucci, Travis Finney, Matt Hardie, Harris, and Mathieson recorded hits on the day.
Preston's next game is at Mulgrave while Moorabbin hosts Newport.