YOUNG starting pitcher Griffin Weir had his game face on, leading the Newport Rams to a 7-2 victory over Bonbeach Bluejays in the Baseball Victoria summer league division 2.
Weir threw deep into the game, giving up just one walk and clinching his third win of the campaign.
The teenager also contributed with the bat in a superb all-round outing.
“He threw eight good innings,” Rams assistant coach Gavin Young told the Weekly. “He was really on song.”
The Bluejays took an early two run lead at KC White Reserve. However, the Rams, through strong hitting from Weir, Matthew Lawman and Dean Anglin, hit back to level the scores.
The two sides were nearly inseparable until the Rams broke away late to record a runaway win.
“It was a tight game, a high-calibre game,” Young said. “It wasn’t until really late in the game that we picked up the runs.”
The Rams improved their record to 8-2 and sit third on the table.
Their cruisy schedule at the start of the season has been replaced by some hard-fought blockbusters over the past month.
Young says the Rams have shown they will be a tough nut to crack.
“We’ve run into a lot of sides hitting good form and we’re having to tough games out,” he said.
“It was never going to be easy to reach the finals, let alone win a championship.
“It’s where we want to be at this stage of the season, sitting near the top and we can really challenge in the second half of the season.”
And challenges don’t come much bigger than arch rivals Williamstown Wolves on the road at Greenwich Reserve from 3.30pm on Saturday.
It’s a long time since the anticipation for this Hobsons Bay derby has been so big, with the Wolves as ladder leaders and the Rams just a game behind.
The white-hot Wolves enter on the back of a 15-1 mercy rule mauling of Port Melbourne.
“It’s a big derby with both sides up the top end of the ladder,” Young said. “It’s always a grudge match and one that’s excellent to be involved in.”
Meanwhile, the Melbourne Aces surrendered in three of their four games against Perth Heat at the Melbourne Ball Park last weekend.
The Aces (6-8), second-last on the table, head to Adelaide (4-10) for a four-game series this weekend.
