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Mens 1 sts - lost to Newport 5-4
Melbourne jumped out to an early two run lead but Newport scored 4 runs in the 4th innings and never looked back. On the mound Daryn Cassidy started for Melbourne going 6 innings before giving way to Brendan Ratcliffe, but it was Newport pitcher David Asp that better had the measure his opposition batters, going 8 solid innings. Melbourne’s four runs were driven in by Jay Willis, Ben Smith, Ben Wenke and Ian Semple. The loss brings Melbourne back to the field at the top of the table and will make the race for minor premiership bragging rights over Malvern very interesting.
Mens 2 nds – lost to Newport 6-3
The seconds slim finals hope were erased on Sunday as they played a lacklustre 6-3 loss against Newport. Tim Frost probably did enough on the mound to get the job done but there was not a whole lot of help, with much of the team producing a sub par effort. Regardless, the seconds were still in with a crack right up to the end, but keeping in line with the overall feel of the game the chance slipped through their fingers. Hits went to Jordan Mitchelhill, Tim Frost (double), Richard Williams (double) and seconds newcomer Jake O’Reilly (double).
Mens 3 rds – beat Newport 10-7
A quick glance at the scorebook and you would swear this was a tight seesawing affair – not so. With the exception of one innings the thirds were in control all day, at least that’s what they’re saying now they’ve got the last out. And why wouldn’t you say that when you get efforts like the one Rob Hondo turned in on Sunday, 4 for 5 with 5 RBI’s, a flyball on the warning track and a save. Ry Stanes was on the hill for most of the game and as usual got better as the game got older. He didn’t have his best stuff but it didn’t matter - the other guy was struggling to make the distance on the full.
Mens 4 ths – lost to Newport 10-5
This was a must win game to keep finals hopes alive for the fours. In the game early, with the scores locked at 5 - 5 at the halfway mark., some costly fielding errors allowed the Newport team to steam ahead and add 5 runs in the last 3 innings. A pleasing aspect of this game was that the team actually out-hit its rivals with 8 hits to 7 for the day. The fours now require the teams above them to lose games and with 2 tough games to finish the season their race to the finals will be very difficult.
Hits: Ross Arthur 2, Chao, Tom Andronas, Julian Davis, Aaron Hoskins, James Arthur & Aiden Davis 1 each.
Ladies – lost to Footscray 5-3
In a tight battle of the ladder leaders, Melbourne girls were great, with the hitting being hard but unfortunately to the fielders. The girls worked hard to keep the lead small but in the end it just wasn't their day.
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Masters – lost to Sunshine 7-1
With the weather threatening it was a dark gloomy night with the Masters machine struggling to get out of first gear. Solid defence and some spectacular outfield catches by the Sunshine line-up limited the strong Melbourne batting line-up to just one run. Some costly fielding errors meant that the score line could have been much closer. Seems the All-Star break hasn't helped with many of the masters struggling to get back into pre Christmas form. Their next game is also at home against Werribee which should see the Masters machine get back into the winners circle.
U12 - beat Waverley Cougars 15-5
This match was a must win game as the Waverley team almost beat 2nd side Cheltenham the week before. The game started well with good batting from our lead off boys Ravi, Brandon, Patrick and some good team batting from Jai and Andrew to stamp our authority on the game. Jai came out pitching really strong with plenty of pick-offs landing one out in the process. Jack was working hard behind the mask and caught well all day. The outfielders Chris, Michael, Patrick and Edward had a quiet day with not too many hits to Waverley. Our middle game slumped a little allowing Waverley back trailing by only 4 runs. Brandon came in to close the pitching and held Waverley to 1 run. Melbourne then closed the game strongly with 7 runs in the final dig. A good batting performance with hits to Andrew (2),Ravi, Brandon, Edward and Jack. The result from the Blackburn V Cheltenham game was unfolding and Blackburn pulled one out of the hat defeating Cheltenham 12:6 advancing the Demons to SECOND spot behind Waverley Panthers potentially for the double chance in the finals. Well done boys!
Friday Night
The return to Friday Night matches was a little slow with many players late for the start time of 6:00PM throwing the games into disarray. Please make sure the players are ready to train at their respective games by not later than 6:00PM. There are 3 more games leading to the finals with both U12's and U14's likely to challenge for the flag. All teams are still challenged on numbers so those players not currently playing are encouraged to come on down for the potential to play finals Baseball.
This Friday's games ( 11th Feb) are:
- U12's RED host Doncaster Knights
- U12's BLUE play Doncaster Wizards at Doncaster.
- U14's BLUE host Malvern Mets
U14's RED play Ormond GOLD at Ormond.
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