Cougars look to next season

By Marc McGowan
THE Berwick City Cougars are planning for next season after a disappointing 5-3 defeat to fellow struggler Chelsea at Edithvale Road Reserve on Sunday.
The Cougars exploded for 23 runs against a winless Footscray last Wednesday night, but playing coach Wayne Porter blamed the side’s lack of hitting for its 10th loss of the Baseball Victoria Division Three season.
Gun 15-year-old state representative Matthew Kennedy started on the mound for Berwick City and gave up four runs over six innings.
Unfortunately the youngster received no support from his team-mates, with the Cougars’ first runs not coming until the top of the seventh dig.
Berwick City did, however, manage to pull the game back to 4-3 behind the contributions of Luke Hornstra, Richard Gyton and Jake McLardy.
But another run to Chelsea in the eighth inning off the pitching of Shaun Fahy was enough to hold the visitors off.
Porter, who failed to get at least a single hit for the first time all season, was bemused by the fluctuation in his squad’s batting potency.
“We just didn’t hit. It’s about timely hitting; we got people in scoring spots, but we couldn’t knock them in,” he said.
“To think we’ve scored 26 runs and given up nine runs in our last two games, but only won one game is unbelievable.”
While the Cougars have been trotting out youth all season, Porter expects to bring more inexperienced players into the line-up as the year winds up.
But Berwick City’s 6-10 win-loss record has still impressed the Cyril Molyneux Reserve faithful.
“The club hasn’t won this many games in years,” Porter, who is in his first season at the Cougars, said.
“(But) winning and losing is irrelevant at this point.
“We just want to get the kids in there and get them some confidence against the other teams to get them ready for next year.”
Berwick City plays local rival Springvale at Cyril Molyneux Reserve at 3.30pm on Sunday.