WILLIAMSTOWN coach Dean Marnell will miss at least one game with bruised ribs this week after an all-in brawl marred game one of last week’s Division Two semi final series against Fitzroy.
The Wolves qualified for the grand final series with a 15-5 win over Fitzroy on Saturday, however both sides were missing all their starters from game one after Baseball Victoria handed out one-game suspensions to each player involved in Wednesday’s incident.
The brawl, which erupted when two Fitzroy basemen attacked a Williamstown runner for a controversial, yet fair collision with the catcher at the plate, has unfairly taken away from the quality of the game, according to Marnell.
“It was disappointing because the two guys that threw were amazing with the way they pitched, and it kind of took away from those two,” he said.
“Everyone’s talking about the brawl but instead they should be talking about how well these two guys threw the ball on the mound.”
Marnell was referring to Williamstown youngster Jason Lester and star Fitzroy import Adam Rowe, who both shared a whopping 36 strikeouts between them.
Though Williamstown’s place in the grand final was decided with a makeshift “seconds” line-up knocking off a similarly-affected Fitzroy outfit, Marnell insists the events of game one, three nights earlier were much more crucial.
The game was perilously poised at 1-1 when the brawl broke out in a tense 10th inning.
But after the dust settled it was Williamstown who held firm, eventually coming up with the winning run at the bottom of the twelfth.
“It was a terrible incident and I think both clubs wish it didn’t happen but we got on with it and I think we coped with it a bit better mentally,” Marnell said.
“We were still switched on and they were still quite a bit frazzled by it and mouthing off, but we came away with the chocolates and it was good.”
Also crucial to the win was the way Williamstown managed to use Fitzroy’s biggest weapon, Rowe, against them.
“Game one was the key, we had to win game one because we were facing probably the best pitcher in Victoria in Division One or Two,” Marnell explained.
“Our plan was to make him throw as many pitches as possible.
“We were taking strikes just so he’d throw his 15 to 20 pitches per inning because the more he threw the more chance we had of getting him out of the game.”
Having seen that plan work last week, Marnell revealed the same approach will now be taken for Mulgrave pitcher Michael McGillivary.
Mulgrave booked their place in the deciding series after upsetting Williamstown’s local rival, the Division One-bound Newport Rams, 7-2 on Sunday.
The series kicks off on Wednesday night and will be decided over the weekend.
