Tara Murray
Sunshine Eagles got back to their brand of play in the Baseball Victoria summer league premier league 1s nine competition on Saturday.
The Eagles were able to respond from an off day the previous week to come away with a 4-0 win over the Berwick Cougars.
Eagles coach Stuart Clayton said they were pretty happy with that performance.
“We played well,” he said. “Our pitching, fielding and hitting was all really good.
“It was how Sunshine wanted to play and it hadn’t been that way in the first three to four weeks of the season.”
Clayton said the win was set up by the pitching with Jeremy Young and Billy Parsons having 13 strikeouts between them.
Import James Williams III had two clutch hits with all four runs coming off those hits.
“We knuckled down this week and we got the routine right,” Clayton said. “It was fantastic.
“James has turned it around with the bat and is having some success now.”
Clayton said for the side one of the pleasing things was that they had three players out of their usual side.
He said they have a bit more depth now to cover absences going forward.
Another positive for the Eagles is that Billy Parsons will still be able to play some matches for the side while being part of the Melbourne Aces line up.
The win takes the Eagles to 3-1 after the first five rounds with their opening match washed out.
Clayton said they were happy with how it was progressing so far.
“We always said we wanted to be around the mark at Christmas time,” he said. “We’ll get a few players back after Christmas.”
The Eagles this Saturday face the Werribee Giants. The Giants are without a win but have been competitive in their return to the top flight.
Clayton said the Giants have shown they’re not afraid to throw the bat.
“Every game is a challenge.”
The Eagles women had a 13-5 loss to Alfredton in the top of the table clash in the women’s regional west competition.
