Werribee Giants have fumbled their way to grand final defeat in the Baseball Victoria women’s division 2.
The Giants committed a raft of errors to gift-wrap the premiership to Melbourne, who claimed a 5-4 win in the season decider at Surrey Park on Saturday.
Giants coach Tony Culph was disappointed his team hit the self-destruct button on the biggest day of the season.
“They didn’t really win it, we just lost it,” he told Star Weekly. “I don’t think they made any errors, but we made errors at the wrong times and that was the difference.”
It was not just his own team in Culph’s sights.
He was left questioning an umpiring decision in the sixth inning that went against his side.
“It was just a throw to first base for a third out,” he said. “He called it safe and she [the Melbourne baserunner] looked out by a good step.”
At the time, Werribee was leading the game by a run.
In games in this division, a maximum of two hours are allotted, so once the two-hour mark arrives, the teams play out that final inning and the match is over.
Melbourne used their third-out in the sixth inning wisely, not only taking the lead on the scoreboard, but chewing up valuable minutes on the clock.
“If the call had’ve gone our way, it would’ve been side away and we still would’ve been one run up with one inning to play,” Culph said. “It went their way so we were down, we didn’t score at the bottom of the sixth and we lost by one.”
Culph is not blaming one decision for the loss.
He knows his side could have done a better job in the field and been more efficient with the bat.
“If we hadn’t made errors and we got hits, we wouldn’t have been in that situation,” he said. “We just couldn’t do the right thing at the right time.”
Emma Pastowski was on-song on the mound for the Giants once again.
The star pitcher threw the whole six innings, but did not get the defensive support to pick up the win.
“She hit all the spots,” Culph said. “She was the stand out for us.”
It was Culph’s last game as coach of Werribee.
He leaves the team set up for success under a new coach next summer.
“I think my days of throwing [at training] are over,” he said before undergoing off-season shoulder surgery. “Hopefully someone comes through and steps up.
“It’s disappointing we didn’t win today, the premiership is what you’re after, but once the disappointment goes, we’re in division 2 again next year and we should go alright again.”
