Harper Sercombe
Werribee Giants didn’t missed a beat in the Baseball Victoria state league firsts, crushing Essendon in its first game back from the break.
The Giants worked their way into the game on Sunday and were firing on all cylinders during the sixth and seventh innings, collecting six runs in each.
After losing to Essendon in the penultimate round before the break, coach Andrew Christou said it was good to win 19-1.
“It was really good to bounce back and beat the team that beat us just before Christmas, so that was really good,” he said.
“It was a really good day. It was actually a really windy day, and it was blowing in from the outfield so it was a tougher day to hit the ball up in the air, so we did well to get so many people on base and keep hitting the ball hard and score so many runs.
“[To get six runs in the sixth and seventh] was really good, right in the middle of the game to kind of put the game to bed.”
This match also marked the return of brothers, Addison and Cooper Bishop-Worn, who last week competed for Victoria in the under-18s and under 16s respectively.
“They’ve both been away playing in their state tournament and they both had a good showing in that,” Christou said.
“They’ve come back pretty fresh and it was the first time for young Cooper to pitch in the ones team as well, he did really well.
“He and his brother Addison pitched the whole game for us, so that was a cool little quirk to the game which was really good.”
This is the last week of baseball until mid-week games return for the season, Christou said there is plenty to organise before the games come thick and fast again.
“Getting the younger guys like Addison and Cooper a bit more experienced pitching because when we get to the mid-week games it gets pretty tough with the pitchers having to play so many games in such a short amount of time,” he said.
“So we need the extra pitchers, so it was good to see them perform well and when we ask them to pitch, they’ll be ready to go.”
On Saturday, the Giants are back at home against Pakenham which is sure to be another tough test as Pakenham make a push for finals.
“It’s nice to not have to travel out to Pakenham, it should be a good game,” Christou said.
“They got pretty close the first few times, I think it’s only been two or three runs in each game, so it’s been a good contest so far and it should be another good one.”
