New year welcomed with a win

By Gavin Staindl
IN ITS return from the festive holidays, Springvale has scored an important victory over Moorabbin and continued on from its winning ways late in 2009.
Benefiting from a hard training session last Thursday night, the Lions travelled to Oliver Field and apart from some early setbacks, were never pressured in their 3-1 win.
Riding some good hitting by Ben Batlett (three hits) and Rob Novotny (two hits), the Lions scored twice in the fourth innings and scored once in the seventh off an RBI from Matt Greene.
Lions’ pitcher Scott Bailie took his record to 4-3 after expertly working his way out of two dangerous jams.
Faced with a bases loaded situation with none out in the fifth innings, Bailie managed to get the first runner thrown out at home, and negotiated the two remaining outs into a shallow fly ball and an inning ending ground out.
Rob Hogan replaced Bailie in the seventh inning and proceeded to close out the final three innings in what captain Glen Richards described as a “dominant” performance on the hill.
Meanwhile, the Springvale women’s division one side can enjoy an extra week of relaxation after its match with Werribee was postponed.
The National Youth Championships were held in locations across the country and, as a result, Werribee was depleted of players and organised the match to be played in the second weekend of February.