Werribee Giants have enjoyed a bumper day on and off the baseball diamond, rasing money for breast cancer research and winning their seniors games.
After hosting a strong crowd on Saturday, and the players and surrounds adorned in pink, club coach Charles Thompson said it was a great day for the club in what has become an annual event.
“Pink Day was awesome,” he said. “We had a lot of people down there – not just people from the club, but people from all over Werribee.
“I’m not sure on the final figures for how much we raised, but it was busy all day down there with the kids’ face-painting, a bake sale and a silent auction.”
The Werribee women kicked off the day in the morning with a thrilling 11-10 win over Melbourne.
Going into the final inning with scores tied, Jessica Curnow got a base hit to left field and then stole second base to get the home side in a strong scoring position.
Two more base hits were enough to bring Curnow home, closing out the game for the Giants.
“It was a bit of a thriller to start the day, and good for the team to get over the line in the end,” Thompson said.
The Werribee men enjoyed a high-quality game later in the day, runs flowing freely as the Giants snatched a comeback 9-8 win over Ballarat in the final inning.
The home side took an early 2-0 lead in the second inning, but Ballarat was able to hit back straight away with three runs in the third.
Trent Evins started on the mound for the home side, and with the exception of the third inning, did a good job.
After the Giants scored runs in the fourth and fifth to take a 4-3 lead, Ballarat made its move, levelling the scores in the seventh when Ryan Balzer took over pitching duties for the Giants, before running home four runs in the penultimate inning to take a stranglehold on the contest.
While the Giants looked out of the contest at the bottom of the ninth and 8-4 down, they had other plans.
After grabbing a run early in the inning, Simon Riches hit a grand slam to empty the bases and deliver the win for the home side.
“It was very pleasing as a coach to see them come back and win that,” Thompson said.
“It’s a testament to how well they prepare … they just never roll over when they are down in a game and never feel like they are out of a game.
“It’s a huge thing in my eyes – I’m loving the boys at the moment and the way they’re playing and never giving up.”
