AN incredible pitching effort from Lachlan Ruyter led the Mitchell Majors to a 7-4 triumph over Melbourne University at Minnitt Park on Saturday afternoon.
After not having much luck last week, the Majors were keen to bounce back against a similarly placed Melbourne Uni outfit who had started the season with two wins from three games.
Player-coach Ruyter took it upon himself to kick the game off, and a shaky start placed runners at first and second with no outs.
But that quickly changed thanks to the brilliance of Steve Bertucci at short stop who collected a ground ball hit to his right, stepped on the bag at second base and lasered one to Ben Owen at first to make a double play.
Not to be outdone, less than a minute later Ben Harkom leapt to pull down a screamer that prevented Melbourne Uni from scoring and ended the innings.
The Broadford-based club were also in a good position during its first at-bat, but couldn’t capitalise on a bases-loaded, no-out situation.
The Majors continued to be stingy in the field throughout, restricting the visitors to just four runs for the game thanks to the efforts of Ruyter on the mound.
He threw more than 120 pitches across the game, trusting his own arm to hold Melbourne Uni’s big hitters at bay as his own team put the scoreboard pressure on.
It was a team effort from all batters to get the side in front, and sharp running proved to be a defining factor to hand the Majors a three-run win.
In the A4-grade matchup, the home side were no match for an impressive Melbourne Uni who piled on 16 runs despite being held to just two through the first four innings.
Stuart Partridge did what he could on the mound, using his excellent arm speed to blow pitches by his opponents.
Unfortunately for the Majors, low numbers this season have forced the team to pull their E-grade side.
But the remaining two teams will hit the park again this Saturday, travelling to Watsonia to take on the Saints who are languishing at the bottom of the A3-grade ladder.
