Shae Lillywhite at the plate for the Springvale Lions. 71865
By Jarrod Potter
MISSED opportunities plag-ued the Springvale Lions on Sunday, as they lost to Berwick City 5-3, after leading 3-2 with two outs at the top of the ninth innings.
A dropped catch at first base would have made the final out and won them the game, but the Cougars rallied to hit in three more runs and leave Springvale scoreless in their last at-bat.
“It was a bit of a heartbreaker,” Lions coach Mick Wearne said. “We were 3-2 up in the ninth, had two outs and with the player at the plate we dropped the ball.
“The game would’ve been over but we couldn’t close it out.
“Did well enough to win it but didn’t get over the line.”
Rob Hogan pitched well for Springvale and import Dominic Ramos continued to impress with two hits and precise fielding at shortstop.
The seconds lost 8-3 to Berwick City, with the squad depth a concern for Wearne with many players having to fill in for the firsts who are also injury-ravaged.
“Once again we were a little bit undermanned,” Wearne said. “Berwick seconds are a good bunch of guys with lot of enthusiasm and when they got out to a lead, we couldn’t peg them back.”
The Lions head to Melbourne Ball Park for a Thursday night match against Newport before heading up the highway to face Sunshine on Sunday – a team Springvale has generally struggled against away – with the only consolation that they get Miles Barnden back from injury.
“We’ve got Newport on Thursday then the horror trip out to Sunshine on Sunday,” Wearne said. “Hoping to bounce back and get one win from where we started.” In the thirds, Springvale won a high-scoring affair, beating Berwick City 17-12 at the Cougar Dome and pumping home a massive victory in the fourths, winning 17-2.
In the women’s baseball pool A, Springvale A beat Malvern A 7-5 and Doncaster B accounted for Springvale C 6-4. In pool C, Springvale B was comprehensively beaten by Moorabbin 15-7.
