Berwick City Cougar Daniel Betreen in pitching action. By Brad Kingsbury
BERWICK City Cougars’ Baseball Victoria Division Three side made a meal of two matches played last week, first going down to fellow battler Chelsea in the midweek fixture at home and then capitulating to a strong Williamstown unit on the weekend, again at Cyril Molyneux Reserve.
Last Thursday’s game against sixth-placed Chelsea was seen as a winnable match by playing coach Wayne Porter, but his side was as good as out of the contest after one inning, with the final scoreline 6-1.
“We gave up four runs in the first inning and that was it,” he said.
“The boys left their bats in the rack after that and it was disappointing after our form in the last few games.”
Porter led from the front, knocking in the Cougars’ only home run and had a chance late in the game to get his side back into the game, but, with bases loaded, was unable to penetrate the field, hitting a ball straight to the third baseman.
Sunday’s clash with second-placed Williamstown was always going to be a battle for the Cougars, but again the Berwick side was left chasing early in the afternoon when their opponents put seven home runs on the board in the second inning.
“It was all over after that and we were playing catch-up,” Porter said.
Berwick City made some inroads later in the game but the final score of 15-5 was a fair indication of the difference in the sides.
Porter said that, despite the losses, he was confident that Berwick could win its next game, against Chelsea away, before taking on division leader Springvale.
He said he would now look to the future and give a number of the club’s up-and-coming junior players a chance to gain senior experience.
“Next year is a big focus now and I’ll definitely play a lot of the younger players in the last few games, and give some of the senior players a run in the seconds,” he said.
“There’s a heap of kids coming through and they are the future of the club.”
One junior prospect expected to move straight into the senior side is Victorian under 16 representative Matt Kennedy, who has just returned from state team duties.
