Bats beat cobwebs

By Gavin Staindl
THE Springvale bats were back out at Wearne Reserve for the first game since Christmas and despite beating Moorabbin 3-1 it did look as if there were a few cobwebs hanging from the handles.
Springvale’s Division 2 team got the job done behind Scott Bailie who pitched just under seven innings but coach Mick Wearne admits it wasn’t convincing.
“We were a little bit rusty,” Wearne said.
“The guys haven’t done any training as a team over the break so it was to be expected that we would be a bit slow.
“We knew we were up against an easier team (in Moorabbin) first up, but it was a bit of a shock in the end; the guys thought it was going to be a bit easier than it was.
“But we did enough to win and get over the line.”
Scoring twice in the fourth innings, the Lions never relinquished the lead and in doing so extended their winning streak to five games.
Wearne admitted he was not too fazed by the “lacklustre” performance but knows his troops must step up when they play league leaders Melbourne next week.
For various reasons, Springvale will be without Lucas Price, Rob Novotny, Tim Hanson and Shae Lillywhite for the critical match.
“We’ll be missing seven or eight players next week so it’s going to be interesting.
“We’ve got a tough run over the next coming weeks so I’m looking forward to seeing how it pans out.”
The female Division 1 Springvale sides will resume their seasons in a fortnight.