By Lance Jenkinson
Have the Williamstown Wolves ever had a hotter start to a Baseball Victoria summer league division 2 season?
The Wolves have started in white hot form, sweeping their three-game series over Doncaster Dragons in brutal fashion.
The series was all one-way traffic with the Wolves putting up 36 runs to the Dragons one.
The series results were 10-0, 16-1 and 10-0 –all in favour of the Wolves.
“Doncaster had it over us last year, so to beat them at least 10-0 three times in a row is a massive start,” Wolves outfielder Daniel Chircop said. “We haven’t [gone] 3-0 in years.”
Dennis Neal has come out breathing fire on the mound for Williamstown.
In three outings, Neal has thrown 15 shut out innings, five in each game.
Williamstown has the luxury of a deep pitching roster, so it does not have to over-extend Neal.
Jayde Thorne and new Belgian import Kevin Desmedt have eaten up some innings for the Wolves.
Desmedt, a former Port Melbourne player, was a bonus pick-up for the Wolves this season.
“For some reason Port Melbourne didn’t want him back, so he came calling and we were more than happy to add him to the wolf pack,” Chircop said. “He’s been lights out on the mound and locking down third base defensively.
“He’s settled in fantastically.
“He’s part of the culture already.”
Desmedt will not have to wait too long to face his former club Port Melbourne.
The Wolves and the Mariners will do battle in a three-game series starting at Greenwich Reserve on Sunday.
“It’s a real grudge match for us,” Chircop said. “They had it over us last season and our import has come from Port Melbourne, so he’s really motivated to show them why he deserves to be out here. We’ll be coming out with all guns blazing to try and get the three wins.”
It will be easier said than done because Port Melbourne will also head into the series with a flawless 3-0 record.
The ace up the sleeve of Williamstown is star batter Justin Gourlay.
Gourlay has been on song in the batter’s box.
“We played seven innings [in the third game against Doncaster] and he had four hits in about five pitches,” Chircop said.
“He’s been our best hitter for the last three years and he just highlighted everything that’s good about him and dominated with the stick.
“He came back hungry to play and he’s eating baseballs for breakfast and looking as good as ever.”
In division 1, Newport Rams notched their first win of the campaign, downing Waverley Wildcats 8-3 at KC White Reserve on Sunday.
After two one-run losses to Melbourne, the Rams would have been breathing a sigh of relief after getting into the winners’ circle.
The Rams will continue their series with Waverley on the road on Sunday.
