Werribee Giants inflicted a double dose of pain on Port Melbourne Mariners in a productive week in Baseball Victoria’s summer league division 2.
The Giants won both the mid-week and Sunday encounters with identical 9-0 scorelines.
The Wednesday night victory at Melbourne Ballpark in Altona was built on a big seven-run inning, while Sunday was more death by a thousand cuts.
Giants coach Phil Balzer said Sunday’s performance was the more complete.
“When we beat them on Wednesday night, we scored seven runs in the one inning – it was a close game and showed they can play pretty well,” he said.
He said the mindset going into Sunday’s game was to not underestimate the opposition.
“We scored two in the first and got to the fourth or fifth and scored a couple of more runs,” he said. “Over nine innings, we scored in about four of them and I’m happy with that.”
Young Giants starting pitcher Wes De Jong is going from strength to strength.
De Jong kept the Mariners’ batters in check over seven innings and 82 pitches.
If not for a strict pitch count designed to ensure his arm is fresh for the national championship, De Jong might have pushed for a complete game.
“He was exceptional,” Balzer said. “I know Wes would like to throw a complete game if he could and he was on track to do that.
“There was no need to throw 100 pitches today and he won’t throw 100 until after the national championships.”
Chad Northcott returned to the mound for the first time since his struggle against Springvale on November 17. The Canadian was more polished in this two-inning outing.
“He came back fresh and did really good today,” Balzer said. “It’s important that we keep all of our pitchers active.”
Oliver Box provided the highlight for the Giants with a home run over left field.
Box has been down on his usual output so a 3-from-5 outing represents a massive upswing in form.
“He is only hitting around .230 or .240, which is not a great average so it was good for him to come out with three hits today, including the home run,” Balzer said.
Jason Kriehn, with a 2 RBI hit to start the game, and Jonathan Lowe, two hits and a sure hand on second base, were the other Giants to stand out.
The third-placed Giants (6-3) will get a serious examination of their credentials when they host highly rated Fitzroy (6-5) at Presidents Park on Sunday.
