Werribee’s baseballers did what they had to do on Saturday, emerging from a Vic Summer League clash with Ballarat City with a hard-fought one run win.
Travelling to Ballarat for a rare Saturday fixture, the Giants had to work hard for every hit, base run and score, but a two-run fourth inning proved just enough to outlast the home side as Werribee returned home with a 2-1 win.
Giants coach Charles Thompson said the tightness of the match didn’t surprise him, despite Ballarat City sitting winless on the bottom of the ladder.
“It was a great game and Ballarat are always a tough team to play out there,” Thompson said.
“For some reason, it’s always pretty tough for us to play them out there and we always have a close game.”
Josh Lee started on the mound for the visitors and pitched most of the day before being relieved for the final two innings. With five strikeouts, he had a consistent day and gave up just one run.
“He came in after a week off and had full command of all his pitches,” Thompson said.
“I think it was only four hits for the day, he had his fast ball working, his change up was good, the split finger and the curve ball were definitely on that day as well.”
Werribee was able to get players on base through the early stages of the match, but was unable to drive them home until the fourth inning, when Oliver Box and Simon Hibbert got home when the Giants got some base hits with bases loaded.
Ballarat City hit back in the fifth with a run, but solid pitching and fielding efforts for the rest of the game saw the Giants prevail.
Dustin Biell was the best hitter across the day, with the Giant getting three hits from four at bats and bagging a triple, a double and a single along the way.
Thompson said that while it was good to come away with a win, there was plenty for the Giants to work on.
“We had our chances to put them away and we just couldn’t capitalise,” he said.
“We popped the ball up quite a bit. We were chasing pitches – we went out to pitches that we wouldn’t normally have ever swung at, and we got runners in scoring positions and couldn’t bring them home.
“It’s early in the season, and we’re just outside the top four, but you can’t win championships based on how you start – it’s about how you’re looking and your form at the end of it all. The guys are still working out how each of us plays, so we will get that chemistry rolling soon.”
