Lions clean-sweep the diamond

By Stuart Teather
THE Springvale Lions welcomed the Baseball Victoria season back after the break with a clean sweep – both the men’s and women’s teams picking up victories.
The division-three men lined up against Preston at K. H Wearne Reserve on Sunday and Claxton Shield representative Glen Richards waited on the mound to welcome to visitors.
But the Lions’ star pitcher was off-key early on in the game and was replaced after four innings by back-up Rob Hogan.
If the pitching was a little off, the batting was definitely on and the Lions piled on 11 runs in their first three innings.
By the fifth innings, with Hogan throwing impressively from the hill and the Lions holding a healthy lead, Preston was in trouble and a David Hermes homer in the seventh hammered the nail in the visitors’ coffin.
The Lions took the win 14-6, with Hermes, Mick Wearne and Hogan all picking up three hits.
Coach Ben Bartlett said it was one of his side’s best wins of the year.
“They beat us up a bit last time, I think they beat us 9-3 with Glen Richards throwing,” he said.
“This week we managed to hit the ball the best we’ve hit it all season – everyone got at least one hit throughout the line-up.”
On Richards, Bartlett said he was a bit underdone.
“Because he’s been at Claxton Shield, he’s only thrown about two innings in two months really.
“Once he starts getting some more innings under his belt he’ll come good again, we have no problem with that.”
Meanwhile the women’s division-one side fought out a 12-7 victory over Malvern on Saturday.
Springvale was on top for most of the day, with Cat Row and Ella Holien sharing the duties on the mound.
The Lions had a big lead heading into the final innings, but Malvern grabbed three runs in the last to give the scoreboard some respectability.