Cougars fail again

By Marc McGowan
THE Berwick City Cougars were unable to top Williamstown for the second time in 11 days, succumbing 7-1 at Greenwich Reserve on Sunday.
The Cougars’ batters fired in two Baseball Victoria wins last week, but did not get a hit until the seventh inning on the weekend.
The result ended Berwick City’s three-match winning streak, which had the club sitting third in the Division Three standings before Sunday.
Teenager Martin Kennedy pitched the Cougars to an 11-3 victory over Williamstown two Wednesdays ago and was frugal once again.
Kennedy breezed through five innings and had recorded two outs in the sixth before a pair of walks sparked the Wolves into action.
The hosts’ hitters scored three runs to extend their advantage to 4-0, forcing Berwick City playing coach Wayne Porter to pull his young gun from the game.
But veteran hurler Jude Power was unable to stem the flow and Williamstown capitalised on some over-zealous fielding.
An increasingly frustrated Porter exited from the match in the seventh inning to give 14-year-old state representative Sam Beasley an opportunity.
Beasley wound up scoring the Cougars’ sole run – a sacrifice fly that allowed veteran catcher Ian Frost to get home.
Porter conceded that the Wolves’ home ground was always a difficult place to travel to, but felt the clash was winnable for his side.
“We just didn’t show up … I could tell we weren’t switched on when we were warming up,” he said.
“I thought we had a good chance to win on the weekend, but our effort frustrated me after how we performed against them last week.
“The simple fact of the matter is that two or three hits is not going to win a game.”
Berwick City locks horns with perennial powerhouse Springvale at Cyril Molyneux Reserve from 3.30pm on Sunday.
The Lions beat the Cougars 18-1 at the same venue last month.