It was an unfortunate return to baseball for the Sunshine Eagles after the break as the Victorian Baseball summer season got underway for the year.
With the league now split into the premier league and premier league minor, and Sunshine in the former, every game now is set to be a challenge. The Eagles had their first matchup of the new year in the league with the reigning back-to-back premiers Upwey on Tuesday, losing 9-4.
“There are no easy games now, beforehand we could pick and choose games that were probably against sides that were just coming up from division two or whatever and we could pitch other people against them,” coach Stuart Clayton said.
“Now everyone can beat everyone, so it’s going to be tough, every game is going to be tough.
“Our pitching just wasn’t up to it. We didn’t throw enough strikes early. They out-hit us only 8-6, but I think we gave them five or six walks and a couple of pitch-hit balls which just gave them extra runners to get on top of us.
“The fielding was good, the hitting was reasonably good, our pitching just wasn’t on. But the young fella is only 15 and that’s the only poor outing he’s had all year so he’ll learn from that.”
Clayton said while it wasn’t an ideal performance, it was good to blow the holiday cobwebs off as the Eagles prepare to face Upwey again, at home on Saturday (past deadline).
“We had a three and half week break, we came back to training last week and only had two sessions then straight into a game so everyone was a little bit rusty, but they were obviously better than us on the night,” he said.
“Hopefully we can turn it around on the weekend and we can get them back.
“The pitcher that pitched against us last time threw again last night, and we just couldn’t get a hold of him. But I’m sure on Sunday they’ll have a different pitcher and we’ll throw a different pitcher and it’ll be a good contest.
“They’re a quality side, they’ve won it in the last two years, so it’s good to play them and work out where you are.”
