By Lance Jenkinson
Whoever was writing the script for game two of the Baseball Victoria summer league division 2 semi-final series between Newport Rams and Werribee Giants had a wild sense of adventure.
It was the sort of game the western suburbs have unlikely seen before and may never be privy to again.
It had the kind of script that would not have looked out of place for a baseball-focused Hollywood blockbuster.
Realising how crazy the game was requires going back to game one of the best-of-three series.
Newport prevailed 2-0 in a pitcher-dominant game one at the Geelong Baseball Centre to take a one-game series lead.
A master class from Rams ace Riley Barr was the talking point of that Thursday night game.
Photo Gallery: Newport Rams vs Werribee Giants
Rams player Dean Malthouse said: “He probably threw his best game for us – and that’s saying something because he’s thrown a lot of great games for us.”
With game one yielding just two runs in nine innings, nobody could have foreseen the offensive explosion that was about to take place in game two – played in temperatures nearing 40C at President’s Park on Saturday.
Newport and Werribee went nuts in the batters box, combining for 37 runs.
The sides had a massive 43 hits between them.
“It was a good hitting day,” Malthouse said. “It seemed like everything that was hit found a hole in the field.”
The game worm was what was most remarkable about what unfolded.
After two innings, Newport was 11-0 up, before Werribee mounted an improbable comeback.
Not only did the Giants fight all their way back by the sixth inning, they took a fairly commanding four-run lead into the seventh after 15 unanswered runs.
With runs flowing easily, Newport never lost hope and chipped away at the deficit.
“I was confident we were going to come back,” Malthouse said. “Probably from the outside view, it wouldn’t have looked likely, but with how high scoring the game was, hits weren’t hard to come by, so you always felt like you were in a position to come back.”
Newport returned fire in the seventh, reducing the deficit to one before Werribee padded the lead with a run at the bottom of the inning.
After a scoreless eighth, the Rams completed their comeback with two runs in the ninth inning.
The 10th inning was a doozy, with Newport filing three runs, two of which were driven in by youngster Connor Schibeci, who hit a triple to a gap in left centre field.
Two solo home runs from Werribee in the bottom of the ninth made for a nail-biting finish, but Newport eventually found a way to win 19-18 in a classic.
Youngster Nathan Smith tossed the winning pitch, which sent Newport into the grand final series with Cheltenham and booked its ticket to division 1 for next season.
Smith also had four hits, while Malthouse had a game-best five hits.
“Our aim this year was to, first of all, get back to division 1 and, secondly, play off in a grand final,” Malthouse said.
“We’ve achieved two of our three goals with the third one being to win the grand final.”
