This week Division 1 featured five tight games that were dominated by good pitching and timely hitting. And then there was Blackburn and Springvale who combined for 44 runs in a 23-21 barnburner that saw the host Orioles prevail after tallying seven runs in the seventh inning. Each team used five different pitchers, none of whom lasted more than three innings.
Elsewhere around the league, although all of their games have been close Essendon remains unbeaten. Melbourne and Waverley too. Sunshine got their first win after some close games, while Doncaster and Springvale have yet to see any tangible reward for their efforts.
Sunshine 2, Geelong 1
Looking to rebound after starting the season with two tough losses—including dropping an extra innings affair with reigning premiers Essendon—Sunshine finally got that elusive victory, downing Geelong 2-1 in 10 innings. Hurler Rory Meddick pitched well (eight innings, five hits, three walks, 10 strikeouts and 79 strikes out of 121 total pitches) for the host Eagles as he kept the Baycats in check. Griffin Weir got the win in relief, pitching two scoreless frames. For Geelong, Christopher Durston got two hits, the only player who accomplished the feat.
Melbourne 7, Doncaster 0
Doncaster came into the match against last year’s preliminary finalist hoping to get some runs on the board after being blanked in the first two games. Ah the best laid plans . . . while the host Dragons were again unable to push across a run, the Demons scored first in the second inning when Nathan Aron, who had reached on a leadoff single, scored on Tristan Field’s sacrifice fly.
Simon Fitzmaurice pitched the first six innings for Doncaster, allowing only a single run on four hits and a walk, striking out one and throwing 45 strikes amongst his 75 pitches.
“The offence let Fitzmaurice down,” said Dragons second baseman Nic Unland. “Our pitching today was absolutely outstanding, Fitzmaurice commanded the hill, but our hitters let him down, we didn’t back him up. We had too many soft at bats all day and when we did get runners into scoring position we left them stranded.”
Marcel d’Avoine then took over for two innings, giving up a couple runs. In the top of the ninth, though, things fell apart as five walks led to an additional four Demons crossing the plate.
Matthew Blackmore then closed out the ninth with three up and three down including two strikeouts to seal the victory for Melbourne.
Ben Utting got two of Doncaster’s three hits. Another positive for the Dragons was Brendan McDonald’s performance in left field. He again made five putouts, including a running catch down the line at the top of the sixth inning.
As for what ails him and his mates:
“Discipline at the plate is one thing,” Utting said. “Getting good pitches to hit, some of the guys are blazing away at pitches out of the strike zone or just not at hitter’s pitches.”
Blackburn 23, Springvale 21
Hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sport. If you polled the 10 hurlers who threw in this tilt, though, they may beg to differ as the Orioles and Lions batters combined for 37 hits and 44 runs. Host Blackburn’s David Tierney and Nick Rossell each collected four hits apiece; ditto for Glenn Mascoll and Scott Wearne of Springvale. Four other Orioles collected three hits.
Springvale scored four in the first but then gave up three in the bottom half and four in the second before fighting back for two in the third. Undaunted, Blackburn then added six in the third to take a commanding 13-6 lead. The Lions trimmed it to one in the fourth and then went ahead three in the fifth before the Orioles tied it at 16 in the last of the middle frame.
No runs in the sixth was the calm before the seventh inning storm: Springvale added two more and Blackburn erupted for seven to open up a four run margin. Valiantly, the Lions added another couple but it was not enough to win this crazy game.
Newport 6, Preston 0
Some impressive pitching from Gabriel Sandersius for Newport and Edward Buzachero of Preston made this a tighter contest than the score suggests. Additionally, an impressive appearance by Cameron McNish on the mound in relief for the Rams helped earn the road win. Three hits from Newport playing manager Matt Lawman, including a long double, really helped his team secure the victory. For more information on this game and to listen to a podcast with Lawman go to the match of the round link.
Essendon 8, Sandringham 6
Essendon scored three runs in the first and the scorers weren’t bothered again until the fourth frame. That was when the Royals scored two and added three in the fifth (after the Bombers tallied once) before Essendon evened it up in the sixth, 5-5. After trading single runs in the eighth, Essendon tallied twice in the top of the ninth to move to 3-0 on the season. Luke Abels started for the winners before he passed the ball to Ross Hipke, who was then followed by Gareth Formisano before Dean McIntyre secured the save. The Royals started Kynan Wilcox who vacated the mound for Spencer Jack, before Jake Cole-Sinclair closed the game out.
Waverley 4, Cheltenham 2
Superb pitching led to four-and-a-half scoreless innings before the Rustlers scored in the bottom of the fifth. Unfazed the Wildcats answered with one in sixth to tie the game. After giving up another run in the last of the seventh, Waverly pulled ahead for good with three runs in the eighth to provide the winning margin. With the victory, the Wildcats move to 3-0 early in their campaign while the Rustlers fall to 1-2.