Geelong 7, Waverley 0
Staying true to their dominating form as of late, the visiting Baycats whitewashed the Wildcats, 7-0, to remain unbeaten in their last six games. With the victory, Geelong stays in first place in their division and tied atop the overall ladder with Melbourne.
Blackburn 8, Newport 7
A scintillating game ended in exhilarating fashion when the Orioles scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to win, 8-7. Blackburn scored first in the bottom of the second but the lead was short lived as the Rams answered with a run of their own in the third. The O’s responded immediately with two in their half of the inning before adding single runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh to lead 6-1 after seven.
Undaunted, Newport scored six runs in the eighth to take the lead before Blackburn’s ninth inning heroics.
The win was the O’s seventh in 10 games while the Rams dropped to 4-5 on the season.
Doncaster 4, Essendon 3
In their biggest win of the year to date, the host Dragons upset the Bombers, 4-3. The victory was Doncaster’s third of the season. The loss puts Essendon one and a half games back of first place Geelong.
Cheltenham 3, Sandringham 2
For most of the game, the Royals were exactly where they wanted to be. After plating single runs in the second and third, Sandringham relied on superb pitching to lead 2-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh. Then things went sideways.
After Brayden McConkey (four innings, five hits) and Sam Street (two innings, a hit, and three strikeouts) pitched very well, Sandringham brought in their closer, Terry Jeon. A balk led to the tying run scoring in the seventh and an error on the shortstop, sacrifice bunt, and intentional walk to load the bases with one out failed to end with a double play—instead two consecutive hits by Cheltenham gave them a thrilling walk-off win.
Tony Cevec, Ryan Morris, and Marco Lezaic each had multiple hits for the Royals while Ben Leslie and Brad Kmet both contributed two knocks for the Rustlers.
The loss ended Sandringham’s modest two game winning streak; with the victory Cheltenham upped their mark to 4-5.
Original report supplied by Geoff Francis
Melbourne 12, Sunshine 2
Struggling Sunshine was no match for mighty Melbourne on this day. Five runs in the first, two more in the second, single markers in the third and fourth, an additional two in the fifth and a final tally in the sixth for good measure earned the Demons a 12-2 mercy-rule victory. Both Eagles runs came in the second inning.
Melbourne continues to lead their division and is tied atop the overall ladder with Geelong. The loss clouds Sunshine’s prospects, relegating them to 3-5 so far on the year.
Preston 9, Springvale 8
In a battle of teams struggling to get out of their respective divisional basements, the Pirates eked past the Lions, 9-8. The win, Preston’s third against six defeats, brings them within a half game of Sunshine. For Springvale, unfortunately it’s more of the same as they have now lost five straight games.