By Ewen McRae
Werribee remains unbeaten through the fist five weeks of the summer baseball season, overcoming some lacklustre hitting to grab its second win over Bonbeach this year.
With four changes to the winning side from the previous week, Werribee was up and down at times in the division 2 firsts game, but came back late to seal a 6-4 win and join Newport and Cheltenham with a perfect start.
Giants coach John Curnow said it was good to see his players find ways to win games even when they weren’t at their best.
“We didn’t go too well with the bat, we were able to get runners on but couldn’t convert,” Curnow said.
“We weren’t hitting as hard as we have done … I think we hit to three double plays, which cost us. We got a good pitching effort all day which kept us in the game and we came out ahead which was good.”
Starting with Wes Dejong on the mound, the Giants were very strong defensively for much of the day.
After taking a four-run lead early they were able to control the match’s tempo.
Bonbeach had one strong-hitting inning in the middle of the contest to bring home four runners and tie the game.
Dejong closed out seven innings before being relieved by Guillermo Salazar, who shut out the end of the game.
Werribee scored twice in the seventh inning to re-take the lead and was good enough to hold on for the win.
Curnow said that with four players coming up from the seconds, it was a good test of the club’s depth.
“We had Andrew Maki, who played in the threes all last year, come up to the twos this week,” Curnow said.
“Got his first chance in the ones on the weekend and hit well and did well in the outfield, so that’s a good sign for the club.
“We’re feeling real good at the moment. We’ve been able to rest some of our pitchers ahead of the mid-week games starting, so we should be pretty fresh and ready to go with those.
“Every win is good at this time of year so we just want to keep that rolling.”
OTHER BASEBALL NEWS
www.starweekly.com.au/sports/sunshine-pins-its-hopes-on-returning-pitchers/
