By ADEM SARICAOGLU
SUNSHINE is still winless in Division One baseball, but it may not be far away from a win.
The Eagles hit the road on Saturday to face fellow Conference Two battler, Doncaster, but could never recover from a poor start that led to a seven-run buffer for the host halfway through the game.
However Sunshine’s offence steadied through the middle and latter portions of the contest and by the final inning had managed to get itself back within a sniff.
With their deficit pegged back to three runs at 8-5, the Eagles had their chance to snatch victory with bases loaded at the death, but they couldn’t get the job done, sinking to their fifth consecutive loss.
Coach Earl Byrne, who with the bat managed three hits and two RBIs for the day, is understandably disappointed with his side’s start to the season.
However, Byrne can also see the upside.
“We probably won the second half of the game, so that’s a positive for us that can come out of it, but it’s just disappointing,” Byrne said.
“It’s five losses in a row now, so I’ve just got to try something to get the boys revved up to start winning some games.”
According to Byrne, scoring runs has not been a concern for Sunshine to this point in the season.
Instead, it’s the rate at which his Eagles give them away on defence that largely accounts for their 0-5 start to the year.
“We’re not that far off,” Byrne said.
“We had one real bad game against Essendon (a 23-6 loss at home), but we haven’t been too far off and in most of the games, we’ve scored five or six runs.
“So we’re scoring runs to win games but we’re just leaking runs as well, which is a bit disappointing.”
Sunshine will be hoping it can finally score a win this Sunday on the road against Blackburn.
