Lees seal the deal

By Russell Bennett
A FATHER-DAUGHTER partnership stole the show for Berwick baseball’s Cougars over the weekend as the fourth team’s coach and emerging star pitcher led their side to glory.
Brian and Jessica Lees were instrumental in Berwick’s 7-3 victory over league powerhouse Newport.
First team assistant coach Brett Barnett said a good all-around team effort was to thank for the Cougars knocking off their bigger name opponents – and the Lees-Lees superteam led the way.
Jess threw two shut-out inningsagainst the top-of-the-table Rams and was backed up by near flawless fielding as the Cougars went on to record their second win of the season.
It was a mixed round for the Cougars’ other sides as the seconds won but the firsts and thirds both lost comfortably.
Barnett lauded the second team for continuing their recent good form.
“They’re going very well, which is fantastic to see,” he said.
“They came out firing in the first inning and Newport was just on the catch-up from that point on.”
Barnett was brutally honest when asked about the first team’s game, also against Newport.
“There just weren’t many highlights,” he said.
“There weren’t many hits all-around – they just outplayed us.”
He praised the work rate of pitcher Nick Veale, who threw for six innings and only gave up three runs.
“Josh (Leite) finished off and threw OK but he didn’t have a huge impact,” Barnett said.
“(Newport) just clawed away and made the most of the clutch moments throughout the game.”
Barnett said Berwick’s batters had “just as many hits, we just didn’t place them as well as they did”.
“We left a lot of runners on base too,” he said.
Barnett said the Cougars’ current make-up included large numbers of both veterans and rookies, “but not many of those 20-something young guns, and that can make a huge difference”.
The Cougars’ first team is facing its toughest stretch of the schedule to date when it takes on top-of-the-table Mulgrave and second-placed Bonbeach in its next two games. It will then have to face contenders Williamstown, also vying for key wins.
“(That stretch) is going to show how good our second-tier of players is,” Barnett said.
“It’s really going to test the depth of our side and it’ll be a really valuable experience, especially for our younger players.”