Lions on a roll

By Gavin Staindl
WITH two away wins last week against Ormond and Mulgrave, Springvale’s State League Division Two men took their winning streak to four and remain a possibility for finals.
The Lions strolled to a 5-0 win over Ormond on Wednesday night at Gunn Reserve then backed it up with a tight 6-5 win over Mulgrave on Sunday at Robert Booth Reserve.
Manufacturing runs early, the Lions never seemed stressed against bottom-placed Ormond and pitcher Myles Barnden gave up only a handful of hits as he recorded his first win of the season.
Springvale then beat Mulgrave to remain in striking distance of the top four.
Pitcher Scott Bailie started off slowly and gave away early hits but still managed to prevent the conversion of hits into runs.
The Lions went up 4-1 early in the fourth inning but gave away three runs in the ensuing innings to tie the game.
With both teams playing tight baseball, captain Glen Richards opened the batting in the seventh with the scoreline locked at 5-5 and drilled in a lead-off double.
Myles Barnden sacrificed his own bat by grounding-out that moved Richards to third base.
Tim Hansen then proceeded to knock in a single that gave Richards and his team the go-ahead run that would eventually turn into the winning run.
The Lions, who now sit eighth and two and a half games behind third position, will face sixth placed St Kilda in a mid-week match and fourth-placed Williamstown on Sunday.
Recognising the importance of this week, Richards is still optimistic about a finals’ showing.
“Finals are a possibility,” Richards said. “If we can win the close games then we are definitely a chance,” said Richards.
There are no such worries for the Springvale Division One women’s side that has already sealed a spot in the finals and is now tussling for second position.
Springvale went down 12-5 to Mulgrave but coach Mick Wearne was not fazed in his post-match comments citing lack of match time as the key reason for the loss.
“It was our first game back after a fairly substantial break… we were a bit under prepared,” said Wearne.
The Lions have not played a match since the 19 December after last week’s match was postponed until February.
Springvale needs to win two of the remaining three matches to secure second position.