Sunshine coach Grant Weir is confident the tide is turning for his side in the Baseball Victoria summer league competition.
Having been promoted to division 1 in the off-season, the Eagles have produced many encouraging moments against some of the league’s top sides.
They’ve been competitive in almost every match this season, even in going down to Blackburn 2-1 on Saturday.
Unfortunately, the good form hasn’t translated into a positive win-loss record.
The Eagles are in 11th spot on the ladder, with just two wins from seven games.
At the heart of the issue is its continual struggle to put runs on the board.
The Eagles have scored 13 times for the season, among the lowest of any side in division 1.
Weir said the depth of opposition pitching units had been the key element his side needs to counter.
In division 2, most opposition sides would have one or two quality pitching options. This season, the Eagles are facing sides that run three or four pitchers deep.
“Opposition pitchers are a lot sharper at this level and that’s the adjustment all of our hitters need to make,” Weir said.
“When you’re facing better pitching, you tend to think you need to swing more. But what actually happens is that you’re swinging at bad pitches.
“Then what you tend to do is guess more. We need to get back to basics.”
Sunshine’s two wins of the year came against Geelong in round three and Newport in round five.
While scoring has been problematic, Weir has given the rest of his side’s play a tick.
The likes of Rory Meddick and Griffin Weir have dished out their own form of pitching payback, with Sunshine giving up just 29 runs for the year.
That’s among the lowest number of runs conceded in the division 1 competition.
The club has also been defensively sound, errors kept to a minimum.
It’s that sort of grounding that gives the Eagles confidence that they are capable of moving quickly up the ladder as the season progresses.
Sunshine will have the perfect chance to test those skills in coming weeks with matches scheduled against premiership contenders Melbourne and Blackburn.
“We just need to maintain the attitude that we will beat these sides,” Weir said.
“I think we can match it with, or beat, all sides in the competition.
“Essendon has won the last three flags, and we should have beaten them in round two – we lost by one run.
“That shows we’re more than capable.”
