Newport Rams import Travis Bass threw a complete game in a 5-0 win over highly rated Blackburn Orioles in the Baseball Victoria summer league division 1.
Bass was a tireless worker over nine innings on the mound at KC White Reserve on Sunday, sending down 132 pitches and collecting nine strikeouts.
Rams assistant coach Gavin Young said the starting pitcher had to overcome a rough first inning to hold the Orioles scoreless.
“Travis had a day out today, you’ve got to take your hat off to him,” he said. “The first inning, he got into some trouble but got out of it and from then on got the job done. It was a gutsy effort.”
The Rams claim to be one of the best defensive sides in the league, and they proved it against a finals-calibre side.
On the occasions when the Orioles got bat to ball, they were met with a stern resistance from enthusiastic Rams fielders.
“Having young guys, we run hard, we play a hard game of baseball,” Young said.
Speed on the bases is another plus for the Rams.
When the wind is blowing into the batters’ faces at the Park Crescent ground, it’s important to be able to get extra bases and manufacture runs.
The Rams had only six hits to the Orioles’ four but had a whopping seven stolen bases.
Jeremy Young, Matt Lawman and Scot Malthouse performed daylight robbery with two apiece.
“Speed is one of our advantages – most of our guys can run and we’ve got to use that as a force,” Young said.
“Our guys are just busting out of the box. When you do that, you put the opposition under pressure. That’s where you can create some of these opportunities, where errors are made, and they’re like, ‘Oh God, they’re not giving up’.”
Lead-off batter Jordan Young was the only multiple hitter for the Rams, with two.
“It was always going to be a tough day hitting today because the wind was blowing in big time and you had quality pitchers on the other side,” Young said. “The difference was that we were able to execute at the right times.
“There were a lot of bunts put into the game, a lot of steals, a lot of hard running – and that won it for us. We executed the one-per-centers better.”
The Rams have improved to 7-5 to hold the sixth-best record in the league in their promotion year, and they sit third in their conference.
This week is their toughest of the season with back-to-back games against top side Essendon (9-4) before the Christmas break.
Williamstown Wolves are nipping at the heels of the leading sides in division 2 after a 6-1 triumph over St Kilda. The Wolves head to Springvale on Sunday.
