Surfers fails to fire in defence of title
DEFENDING Greater Brisbane League champions Surfers Paradise concede they “have some soul-searching to do” after sinking to a big loss yesterday.
Seven days earlier, the Bluewave appeared to be on the up after clinching a 14-12 thriller against derby rivals Coomera for their first win of the season.
But the wheels have since fallen off, with a 3-1 loss to Carina on Wednesday night followed by a pair of home defeats by Ipswich.
It leaves Surfers anchored to the bottom of the table with a 1-9 record and in desperate need of a form surge before they fall too far off the pace.
Yesterday at their home ballpark, Surfers were in the hunt trailing 3-2 in the top of the fifth before losing their way.
By the top of the sixth, the deficit had blown out to 11-2.
Surfers have remained upbeat throughout their slow start – on Thursday, coach Matt Corbitt said “we’re really close to getting on a roll” – but you could tell this one really hurt.
A shattered Corbitt was bereft of words post-match.
“We just need to do the basics right,” he said.
“We’re not doing the basics right at the moment and until such time that we can put into practice the fundamentals, then we’re going to keep going the way we’re going.”
The Bluewave have another three-match week coming up, with a home series against Pine Hills on Wednesday night and Sunday split by a Friday night make-up match at Carina.
Pine Hills will enter on a high after sweeping Coomera this weekend.
The Cubs made a positive start to their match yesterday – having been trounced 11-3 on Friday night – before being rundown 6-4.
They had opened up a 4-0 lead through two innings but the Lightning gradually drew level and added the matchwinning go-ahead runs in the bottom of the eighth.
Hiroki Sawasaka was nonetheless impressive for Coomera with two hits, two walks and a run-batted-in, while pitcher Patrick Day struck out seven through six innings. Next up for the Cubs, now 5-5, is an away series against Carina.
WE’RE NOT DOING THE BASICS RIGHT AT THE MOMENT