Teenage Berwick City pitcher Martin Kennedy made a strong start to his team’s clash against the Preston Lions, but could not maintain his performance.By Marc McGowan
A HORROR third inning on Sunday has left the Berwick City Cougars winless through two Baseball Victoria Division Three matches.
After a 16-1 thrashing at the hands of the Springvale Lions in round one, the Cougars travelled to Latrobe University Field, Bundoora, to be beaten 7-1 by the Preston Pirates.
Left-hander Martin Kennedy started for Berwick City again and pitched two scoreless innings before the drama-packed third term.
It all began on a controversial umpiring decision.
A Kennedy pitch struck a Pirate batter, who was attempting to bunt the ball but failed to make contact.
The umpire decided to give the batter a free pass to first base, much to the chagrin of Cougars playing coach Wayne Porter.
It got progressively worse from there for Berwick City as it let in six runs for the inning and watched as its promising beginning crumbled.
Despite another game disappearing, there may be light at the end of the tunnel for the Cougars following the sensational performance of 16-year-old pitcher Joel Anderson.
After stepping onto the mound with one out in the fourth inning, the deadly accurate Anderson pitched the rest of the contest out and conceded just one further run.
For the second week running, Porter, who collected a couple of hits, was the only Berwick City player to score after Davis Long knocked him in as a result of a Preston error.
Porter believes it could have been a much brighter day for the Cougars, pointing to the 14 batters left stranded on the bases for the afternoon.
“A lot of the time, the young kids were coming up in clutch situations with the bases loaded,” he said.
“It’s pretty tough for a 16-year-old kid in there with the weight of the game on their shoulders, but we had plenty of opportunities.”
Porter said he hoped his side would win two of its first five encounters, but thinks it is a matter of his players taking more of their chances.
“We just need to be able to hit the ball better,” he said. “If someone can’t get any of those runs in we’re never going to win.”
Berwick City welcomes sixth-placed Port Melbourne to Cyril Molyneux Reserve at 3.30pm on Sunday and has a good shot at its first victory of the year.
