Sunshine’s third win in a row has it well placed as the summer baseball season starts to tighten up.
The Eagles came from behind early to snatch a narrow 2-1 win over Moorabbin on Saturday, their fourth win from the opening eight rounds to have them knocking on the door of the top four.
Sunshine coach Stuart Clayton described the game as a battle of the two pitchers and said it was pleasing to come out on top.
“Their pitcher was very good, and ours was just as good so it was a tight contest,” Clayton said.
“It was one of those games where a couple of lucky hits could get you over the line, and we were able to take our chances when they came and then worked well defensively to close it out.
“The wind was blowing in a bit, and with two quality pitchers it was a tough day for batting but, luckily for us, the luck went our way this time.”
It’s no surprise that the Eagles’ resurgence in form has coincided with the return of Australian pitcher Jeremy Young. Young threw the whole game on Saturday to maintain his strong form.
Moorabbin was able to get on the scoreboard first, with a fielding error in the outfield and a hit seeing the Panthers jump out to a one run lead in the first, but from there the Eagles improved.
A third innings run of hits from Allister Lovelock, Jordan Young, Lachie Ruyter and Allan de San Miguel allowed Sunshine to level up and then take the lead. Strong pitching and defensive work ensured the game stayed tight from there as Sunshine took the win.
Clayton said Young’s influence was huge for his group, which has now recovered from an indifferent start to the season.
“He’s [Young] a gamer, there’s no doubt about that,” Clayton said.
“He just loves being out there, and we were able to keep his pitch count low, under 100, which is good for the long term for him and the side.
“It’s a very tight league, and we can’t rest on our laurels after getting back into the season. We’ve just got to keep working on things at training, trying to minimise our errors and keep working hard and more improvement will come.”
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