This week's Summer League Showcase focused on the Premier League 1 Grand Final rematch from the 2025/26 season between Moorabbin and Essendon!
This time around, the tables were turned, with Moorabbin taking the win in both the Premier League 1 Firsts and Premier League 1 Reserves. Sadly, Essendon just could not meet the level that Moorabbin were playing at on Saturday.
In the Premier League 1 Firsts, Declan Spiers heavily assisted Essendon, hitting a home run in the third inning, bringing in Adam Merzel and Jordan Baumann at the same time. The final run for Essendon was scored by Brody Stokes, who got home thanks to Cal Batey-Smith's double.
For Moorabbin, Brady Jeffcoat absolutely dominated the game, with 4 RBIs on 2 hits, one of which was a home run that also brought in Jake Bertucci. To add to the home runs, Nicholas Bertucci and Nicholas Coy each scored one, with Bertucci's bringing in Jeffcoat at the same time.
Chris Nielsen pitched a solid 5 innings for the Panthers, only giving up 3 runs in his stint. Mitchell Langworthy, Liam Puncher and Cody Hill shared the following 3 innings, only giving up a single run to Essendon in sixth inning.
For the Reserves, no runs were scored until the third inning, where Essendon's Cohen Breckenridge singled and brought in Zach Kallis. This was immediately followed by Charlie Dolan being batted in by Hugo Leropoulos, with a single.
In Essendon's pitching, Reeve Hammond only gave up 2 hits across 2 innings.
Moorabbin followed quickly, scoring their first 7 runs in the bottom of the third inning. Harrison Brodie led the Moorabbin lineup, going 2-for-3, with 2 runs and 2 RBIs, bringing in Thomas Ferguson and William Hill from a single. Langworthy was the other standout batter for the Panthers, hitting a double to bring in both Lili Cavanagh and Harrison Brodie.
Across the 6 innings played, Brandon Elton, Andrei Smith and Ryan Williams collectively only gave up 5 hits and 2 runs to Essendon.
Despite the results of the weekend, Essendon continue to sit just above Moorabbin on the Premier League 1 Firsts ladder, in sixth and seventh place respectively. In the Reserves, Moorabbin have solidified their second place standing, while Essendon sit in seventh.
Congratulations to everyone on a fantastic week, it was great to see how much had changed between the end of the 2025/26 VSBL season to now!
