Sunshine Eagles are unlikely to play off in the Baseball Victoria summer league finals following back-to-back poor performances.
The Eagles were in a strong position but with just two games to go, following Saturday’s clash against Berwick (played after deadline), everything would need to go right for a finals berth.
Coach Stuart Clayton said it has been a tricky period for the Eagles with players being hit with injuries of varying degrees.
“There’s a lot of guys that are going down at the moment,” he said.
“I don’t know whether it’s because we’re playing so many games or what it is, we’re getting a bit older too and maybe just not recovering as quickly as what we used to.”
In last Tuesday’s game against Waverley, the Eagles narrowly lost 4-1, despite Jai Pouaka-Grego throwing another good game.
“Young fella Jai pitched a really good game, he was fantastic,” Clayton said.
“We made an error in the third or fourth innings and then they got a runner on and they then got a couple of hits back to back which gave them that extra couple of runs to put us away.
“We had our chances last week, if we had won on Sunday that would’ve put us within a game of Essendon (in fourth position) but having lost it kept us out of finals.”
Last time the Eagles faced Berwick, they dominated in a 22-1 win. Speaking before the game Clayton said he hoped history would repeat itself.
“Everything we hit we hit on the nose and went in the gaps, that was a freaky game that one,” he said.
“I’m pretty sure they’ll come out fighting this week. We’re looking to finish the season off with three wins and then go into next season with a positive attitude.”
