Sunshine struggled at the plate all day against a crafty Melbourne pitcher as the Eagles fell to their second loss of the Vic Summer Baseball League season on Sunday.
While neither side had a strong hitting day, two Sunshine errors allowed Melbourne to run in two players midway through the contest, which proved enough as the Demons took a 2-0 win.
Sunshine coach Jared Van Hoon said his side simply had an off day.
“We just got weak contact all day, and couldn’t make the adjustment at the plate,” Van Hoon said.
“We had our chances in terms of having at bats, and we had maybe four base runners for the day, so we didn’t help ourselves or give ourselves the best chances to bring guys home.”
Tayler Rowe started on the mound for the Eagles and pitched the first six innings, but some errors in the fourth saw Melbourne open the scoring, and a missed double play doubled the lead.
Jeremy Young took over pitching duties in the seventh and closed out the game clinically, but the story of the day was the home side’s inability to make good contact when their chance came to bat. The Eagles registered just two hits for the game.
“This is the first time we’ve faced Melbourne, and they’re a good ball club but by no means are they better than us,” Van Hoon said after the game.
“I think the difference is we gave them a couple more outs and they took advantage of them.
“We were in it the whole game, and our focus was there, but at the end of the day if you can’t get base runners it’s hard to score.”
Van Hoon said the Eagles’ second loss of the season might serve as a wake up call.
“I’ve got all the faith in the world in our guys, and we’re six weeks into the season so there is a long way to go,” he said.
“Today it was their day, but I guarantee if we see them again it will be a different outcome. I think it’s a good reality check that things aren’t always going to go our way and we’ve just got to grind through sometimes.
“We’re still in a good spot, and it’s still early so we look forward to getting back on the winners’ list next week.”
