Top-of-the-ladder Williamstown Wolves ran amok in a 23-5 mercy rule win over finals contender Springvale Lions in the Baseball Victoria summer league division 2 at Rowan Road Reserve on Sunday.
The Wolves only needed seven innings to dispose of the Lions in ruthless fashion before the umpires called a halt to play.
Wolves playing coach Jarryd Rogers was taken aback by the brutal nature of the victory over a team that had denied his side a seventh consecutive win in a 5-5 draw at Melbourne Ballpark in a mid-week clash.
“It’s very rare for that [mercy rule] to happen in a game between first and fourth,” Rogers said. “It’s a testament to how well we played today.
“It’s a pretty good indicator of how well we’re playing right now.”
Rogers almost ran out of breath going through the multiple hitters in the Williamstown line-up.
There was three each for Jordan Camov, Aaron Green, Justin Gourlay, Jason McDonald and Bill Millar.
Rogers himself took to the Lions pitchers with four hits of his own.
There were towering home runs for Gourlay and Ryan Camov, while batters one through to nine ended up with multiple hits in the rout.
It was an offensive display that left the home fans shocked.
Above all, Rogers was proud of the patience his players displayed in the batters box.
“We did pretty good at laying off pitches that were balls and forcing their pitchers to throw very hittable pitches,” he said.
“When they did that, we didn’t miss it a whole lot today.
“I was impressed with the team that it wasn’t just one guy who got all the hits.”
Williamstown only needed to use two pitchers on the day, a luxury for a team in the midst of a hectic pre-Christmas period of games.
Import Jonathan Mottay produced five solid innings to pick up the win before Aaron Green closed out the game in the last two innings.
Mottay has made a super impression on Wolves fans since moving from Paris to link up with the team.
“The short version is that he’s killed it so far,” Rogers said. “He’s dominated every game that he’s pitched in.”
Williamstown is keen to keep its undefeated record intact in a double billing this week, including Sunday’s home game against Port Melbourne.
In division 1, Newport Rams were pipped 6-5 by Upwey-Ferntree Gully Tigers in a thriller at Kings Park on Saturday.
The Rams have lost their past six games, including three by a single run.
The David Asp-coached team will be hoping for a change of luck with two games this week.
