Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong for Werribee Giants in an 11-1 mauling from Springvale in the Baseball Victoria summer league division 2.
Not only did the Giants succumb under the 10-run mercy rule, they have lost shortstop Wade Balzer for an extended period of time.
Balzer tried to capitalise on a fielding mistake by rounding second base and going hard to third, only to feel a “sharp tear” in his hamstring.
“That might have had a mentally negative effect on the team,’’ Giants coach Phil Balzer told the Weekly.
“He’s been our leading hitter for the season so far.
“It’s not just the fact he was out of this game; who knows how many more games he will miss.”
The Giants’ only shining light was Wes De Jong.
The young starting pitcher threw five innings for eight strikeouts and had command over the opposition batters.
The teenager should have left the game with a 2-1 deficit, but that was blown apart by his own teammate.
Third baseman Jonathan Lowe had a routine play for an out at first base, but his throw overshot the base and allowed runners on second and third to go home and De Jong exited with a 4-1 deficit.
The day went from bad to worse following Balzer’s injury, with import Chad Northcott enduring a rough outing in relief.
Northcott gave up four runs in the sixth and three in the seventh for the umpires to call the game under the mercy rule, which allows umpires to end a game if a team is leading by 10 runs or more.
“He [Northcott] left the ball up and the hitters jumped all over him,” Balzer said.
To cap off the nightmare, the Giants had little by way of offensive production.
Balzer says his men were timid in the batters box. “There was no real authority,” he said.
The Giants (3-3) have a chance to atone for their performance when they meet Mulgrave (2-5) at the Melbourne Ball Park in Altona tonight from 8.50.
They will follow up with a game against the same opponent on Sunday at Presidents Park.
“It’s good for the guys to be able to get straight back on the horse,” Balzer said.
“The players were pretty devastated and quiet after the game and that tells me they do care about what’s going on.”
