Losses ring alarm bells

By Stuart Teather
SPRINGVALE’S men’s division three baseball side has lost consecutive games for the first time this season, after going down to Williamstown on Sunday.
Last week the ladder leading Lions lost to second-placed Berwick, and with Williamstown in third, alarm bells are ringing just one game out from finals.
For the second week in a row fielding errors cost the Lions, and Williamstown went on to claim a 12-9 victory.
The Lions got the jump early with three runs in the first, but Williamstown hit back and the game tied up at four-all in the third.
Williamstown pounded out seven hits in the next two innings for an eight run reward, blowing Springvale out of the water.
By the ninth frame, the Lions were down by five and needed a miracle to push the game on to an extra innings, but fell short, going down by three.
Despite the loss, four hits to Matthew Greene were a positive sign for the club, along with Peter Higgins who picked up three.
Hogan threw the full nine innings in place of regular Glen Richards, who had a break after playing for Australia in the friendly series against Chinese Taipei throughout the week.
Lions player Mick Wearnesaid there was no reason to be concerned over the side’s recent form slump.
“I guess the motivation has fallen away a little bit, if you’ve got to have (a bad run), now is a good time to do it,” he said.
“Both weeks in a row we haven’t been too good defensively but I’m sure we can pick that up come finals.”
The women’s side had a better result, coasting to victory over Malvern.
The Big Cats won 15-6 in the penultimate game of the season, and will face Doncaster in the final round this Saturday in what could well be a grand final preview.
The men face Port Melbourne for their final match on Saturday, and need to win to maintain their hold on top spot on the ladder.
Both games are at Springvale’s K.H. Wearne Reserve.