WERRIBEE Giants were shut out on the road in an 8-0 loss to high-flying Berwick City Cougars in the Baseball Victoria summer league division 2 on Saturday.
The result was not totally unexpected as the Giants were missing a big chunk of first-team regulars.
Darryl George, Wade and Ryan Balzer and John Curnow did not make the trip, leaving a youth-driven outfit to take on one of the hottest teams in the league to date.
“We had four of our starting line-up out, so we were always going to struggle,” Giants coach Earl Byrne told the Weekly.
“I gave a couple of kids a chance and I think that’s a positive. They’re getting experience with every game they play. It’s rather exciting actually.”
The Giants were disappointing in the batter’s box.
They got hits, but not in bunches, and never seriously threatened.
“We’ve just got to continue to work on our hitting at training,” Byrne said.
The big positive to come out of the game was the work of young starting pitcher Wes De Jong.
The state under-18 representative was in command over six innings, giving up just three runs.
De Jong was limited to 80 pitches because of a demanding training load and holiday period schedule, which will see him play for Victoria Blue at the nationals in Geelong next month.
“He gets annoyed when I take him out but understands why I am doing it,” Byrne said. “I lived it. I was 16 once and I wanted to pitch all day.”
Chris Webb had a tough time of it in relief. He gave up five runs in two innings, but the game was already out of the Giants’ reach due to their inept batting.
The Giants, third last with just three wins from 11 games, will travel to fifth-placed Bonbeach on Saturday.
RESULTS
Firsts: Berwick City 8 Werribee 0
Seconds: Berwick City 5 Werribee 4
Thirds: Werribee 5 Berwick City 10
