Lions’ pride on the line

By Stuart Teather
THERE is a serious case of deja vu for the Springvale Lions Baseball Club heading into grand final weekend for season 2008/09.
The men’s division-three team will take on Williamstown and the women’s division-one side will face Doncaster – the same match-ups from the 2007-08 grand finals.
A year ago Super Saturday was anything but for Springvale as the less-fancied opponents claimed surprise wins in both divisions – this year, the Lions will be hungry for revenge.
Both teams cruised into the grand final with comfortable wins in their semis and as a result had a week off in preparation for the big game.
The Springvale sides finished on top of their ladders this year and the women’s side in particular was bordering on unstoppable, dropping only one game throughout the regular season.
The women will be seeking revenge against the Doncaster outfit that knocked them off 9-6 in last year’s grand final, but coach Mick Wearne said there would be some differences this time around.
“We were missing Simone (Wearne) last year and she makes a pretty big difference; that alone is enough to give the girls some confidence,” he said.
Simone Wearne is the premier pitcher in Australian baseball and has been almost unplayable in her outings this year.
Wearne said the game could be won or lost on the hill.
“We have more options pitching-wise than Doncaster does – they’re probably relying on one pitcher and if she doesn’t do the job then they’re in trouble, whereas we’ve got three or four options,” he said.
As for the men, they will head into the division-three clash minus Rob Hogan, who still has a game to go on his suspension for dissent towards an umpire.
But the Lions still carry plenty of pitching power with Australian representative Glen Richards a lock to start the game on the hill.
Coach Ben Bartlett said knowing Glen’s past in grand finals, he felt confident he could go the distance.
“If he can’t go the distance, we’ll look to Myles Barnden or Mick Wearne,” he said.
“‘Bumpy’ (Barnden) has thrown to Williamstown a couple of times now and he’s held them pretty well; he’s got a good knuckleball and good off-speed pitches so he mixes it up pretty good.”
Williamstown has had the edge over Springvale this year, winning two of the three clashes in the regular season and Bartlett admitted that was a factor in the clash.
“You’d like to feel confident, but we’ve had a few issues with Willy this year and obviously the grand final last year,” he said.
The men’s grand final will be played at Melbourne Ballpark in Altona from midday on Saturday and the women’s will be at 4pm at Malvern.