Upwey Ferntree Gully 12, Ballarat 2
The lone Saturday game in Division 2 wasn’t much of a contest. The Tigers batted well all day, amassing 10 hits from six different players in the rout. Headlining the onslaught were Ashley Winton (3-4 with a run and two RBI) and Jackson Hunkin (2-4 with two runs scored and a triple). Donavon Hendricks also knocked in two.
For the Brewers, five players—Ethan Etheridge, David Haehl, Ricky Howell, Mathew Jones and Scott Jones—each had one hit apiece with Haehl and Howell both slugging doubles.
Their two RBI went to Hamish Burrows and Howell.
It’s a huge win for Upwey as they are now alone in fourth place with a 14-11 record. The loss drops Ballarat to 10-14-1 on the season.
Berwick City 5, Williamstown 3
As big a win as the Tigers enjoyed, the Wolves from Williamstown suffered an equally devastating defeat.
Despite getting hits from Braxton Conroy, Aaron Green, Jason McDonald and Staci Rogers—including doubles from Conroy and Rogers—the three runs produced were not enough for victory.
The loss pushed Williamstown (13-12) down to fifth place, a game behind Upwey. Berwick is two rungs below the Wolves in seventh, with a record of 10-15.
Bonbeach 2, Port Melbourne 1
What a game! Scoreless through nine innings, the Mariners finally managed to scrape a run across against the Bluejays, only to see Bonbeach tally twice in the bottom of the 10th to secure an epic victory.
The winning side was led by Ben Donald (2-4 with a double), Andrew Webber (1-4 with a two bagger), Jason Corbin (1-4 with an RBI) and Jack Pierson (1-5 with an RBI). Brendan Kelly and Adam Major scored the Bluejays’ runs.
Fitzroy 15, Malvern 3
A game for the ages. How else to better describe what Taylor Eichhorst did on Sunday? In his six plate appearances he reached base every time. He had four hits and scored five runs. One of those hits was a single. The rest were home runs. And he knocked in six. His box score for a Valentine’s Day to remember: 4-5-4-6.
And his teammates weren’t half bad either.
Luke McClain went 5-6 with two runs scored, a double and an RBI. Brock Pawley was 4-6 with two runs, two doubles and an RBI. And Alex Turlea finished 4-5 with two runs scored, a home run and two driven in.
Across the diamond, Simon Willox and Gavin Woolger each collected two hits, with Willox, Scott Ashton and Steven Carota all pounding doubles. Ashton paced the Braves with two RBI.
Now 14-9-1, the Lions are in third place all alone, 1.5 games ahead of the Tigers. The loss pushes Malvern to 6-19 on the season, a half-game back of Port Melbourne for second-to-last in the competition.
Werribee 3, Moorabbin 0
Stellar pitching and timely hitting earned the visiting Giants a huge win over the top-of-the-ladder Panthers on Sunday.
Werribee tallied twice in the fourth than added an insurance marker in the seventh to provide the final margin.
At the plate, Oliver Box and Daine Gregory had two hits apiece with Josh Lee and Simon Riches each contributing one. Gregory also had the lone extra base hit for the Giants and knocked in two of the three runs.
Moorabbin’s Cain Bumpstead (two hits), Grant Irving (one), Ricky Wheeler (one) and Brendan Wilson had the knocks for the Panthers.
Despite the defeat, Moorabbin still sits two games up on Werribee with just two games left in the Victorian Summer League Baseball regular season.