By Adrian Ceddia
A SINGLE run was enough to give Newport its 13th loss of the season in round 23 of Baseball Victoria’s Division One on Sunday.
The Rams, now seventh on the ladder after 16 rounds, were defeated 1-0 by Essendon at home.
“It was a really good pitchers’ battle. We just weren’t able to get a run or a couple of runs to compete,” Newport coach Mark Jowett said.
Despite the fact the Rams will miss out on the finals, Jowett has been pleased with the team’s output, having produced several positive results against the competition’s top teams.
“All our teams have been a bit more competitive this year,” he said. “Although we’re not in the hunt for the finals, I think we’ve been very competitive.
“I think the league itself has stepped up a level this year. We’re not far away from being a finals contender.”
There were mixed results for the other Rams combinations on the weekend, with the seconds falling 8-2, the thirds ending their match equal at 4-4 and the fourths missing out by one run in a high-scoring encounter 12-11. Earlier in the week, Newport’s firsts match against ladder leader Geelong was abandoned due to rain.
With a few games remaining in the season, the Rams are looking to cause a few upsets and finish full of running.
“We want to finish the season off on a positive note,” Jowett said. “We’ve got four games that we believe are all winnable and we’ve got to go out and try to win them.
“We don’t want to just throw away the year, and we might try out a few kids to give them an opportunity to cut their teeth on the league.”
In Division Two, Werribee lost to second-placed Cheltenham 7-2.
With only four matches remaining in its season, the Giants are stuck to the bottom of the ladder on eight points, four behind Preston in seventh spot.
The seconds and thirds both failed to score in their matches, losing 10-0 and 6-0 respectively.
The fourths scored an encouraging 10-4 win away from home to remain in fourth spot on the ladder.
Williamstown managed to sneak a point from its round 17 match with Division Three frontrunner Port Melbourne on the weekend, the scores locked at 12-12 at the end of play.
It remains in fifth position, just one win away from St Kilda in fourth.
The club’s second side lost 16-10, while the thirds picked up win number 13 after defeating Port Melbourne 13-4.
In round 15 of the women’s competition, Footscray defeated top-of-the-table Werribee 8-1 to stay ahead of St Kilda in fourth position.
