Victoria Blue kicked off their 2019 Australian Women's Championship campaign with a clear lead to end Day 1 of the tournament, defeating Victoria White and New South Wales.
Victoria White were outdone by their Victorian counterparts and had a close loss to Queensland in their two matches of the day.
Each side has one game on Day 2 of the tournament; Victoria Blue hosting Queensland and Victoria White playing against Western Australia.
Game 2: VICW v VICB | BOX SCORE
Victoria Blue kicked off their championship campaign with a shutout win over their counterparts Victoria White on Diamond 2.
Victoria Blue flew out of the blocks, plating seven runs in their first innings of the tournament.
Morgan Doty got the scoring started for the Victoria Blue team, doubling in the first innings to score Abbey Kelly.
Courtney Foura top scored with four hits for three runs, including two RBI’s.
Victoria Blue starter Allison Bebbere stuck out seven, only allowing two hits for zero runs during her four innings.
With the Victoria Blue team ahead 12-0 at the top of the fourth, they piled on six more runs in the fifth, where the mercy rule finished play.
Famke Gildemacher and Vanessa Clifford each hit three RBI’s, making Vic Blue’s offence one to watch.
Game 4: NSW vs VIC BLUE | BOX SCORE
Victoria Blue recorded their second win of the day with another strong display against defending champions New South Wales on Diamond 2.
Victoria Blue starting pitcher Abbey Kelly had a solid performance on the mound, finishing with six hits for two runs and three strikeouts over the five innings.
NSW started off well, with Maddison Heath opening the scoring with a single to score Jordan Richardson.
But from there it was all Victoria Blue, crossing the plate three times at the end of the second.
They piled on seven more runs at the end of the fourth, with Shae Lillywhite finishing with a game high four RBIs off three at bats.
Another two singles by Courtney Foura and Leslie Anglin put Victoria Blue ahead 12-2 and ended the game early with the mercy rule taking hold.
Game 5: QLD vs VICW | BOX SCORE
Queensland scored early but it was a fast finishing Victoria White that claimed a three run win on Diamond 2.
Despite being down 3-0 after five innings, Victoria White managed to plate six runs at the bottom of the fifth to seal victory.
Victoria White pitcher Amanda Torrington was solid on the mound, finishing her seven innings with 11 strikeouts, allowing four earned runs off eight hits.
Riordan Bradley started things off for QLD as he singled early to score Kira Kamada (walk). Gauci singled to score two and put QLD 3-0.
But it was a massive fifth innings that won the game for Victoria White. Things were tied up at 3-3 before a vital error by QLD left fielder Courtney Murphy allowed Wright and Kayla Adams to score and go two ahead 5-3. They solidified their lead to 6-3 due to a RBI single to Ally Peake.
Queensland got one run back at the top of the sixth but it wasn’t enough.