Wild Dogs down in GCL
Warragul District went down to Bairnsdale at Hallora in round two of Gippsland Cricket League.
A half-century from Hayden Erfuth helped Bairnsdale to 190, a total which proved too much for the Wild Dogs to chase down.
Erfuth received valuable support from former Sale-Maffra player Dylan Bolton (34), Tim Bell (24) and Mikael Hulme (23), who all got starts.
Bryce Monahan and spinner Jason Croft did their best to restrict Bairnsdale, each taking three wickets.
Two run outs early in the run chase didn’t help the Wild Dogs’ cause.
The Wild Dogs were able to maintain a good run rate, but lost wickets at regular intervals to be bowled out for 125 in the 39th over.
Andrew Martin top scored with 30 while Jordan Wyatt chipped in with 25, but they received little support with Tom Kiely (14*) the only other batsman to reach double figures.
The Wild Dogs fared better in the under 18s, with a half-century from Sam Whibley helping his team to victory over Bairnsdale at Eastern Park.
Whibley held the innings together, scoring 76 as wickets fell around him before some late hitting from Sean Masterson (47*) helped the Wild Dogs set Bairnsdale a challenging target of 184.
Several Bairnsdale batsmen made starts, but the Wild Dogs were able to take wickets at regular intervals to bowl the visitor out for 140 in the 45th over.
Dane Fawcett led the way, returning the figures of 3/22 from his 10 overs while Masterson and Harry Wans were the other multiple wicket takers.
Warragul went down to Sale-Maffra in a low scoring affair at Wurruk during the third round of the under 16 competition.
Despite a half-century from Connor Hughes, the Wild Dogs were able to restrict Sale-Maffra to 109.
Caleb Serong was dangerous with the ball, sending down nine overs for the figures of 4/6. Angus Emery picked up 3/18, while David McConnell (1/5 from seven), Aidan Phillips (1/10 from six) and Joel Batson (1/5 from five) were also economical.
The Wild Dogs lost wickets early in the run chase and fell just short, bowled out for 96 in the 45th over.
Phillips dug in for 16 from 75 balls, while Serong top scored with 20 at number nine to keep the Wild Dogs alive.
Lack of numbers hurt the Warragul Hot Shots as they went down to Morwell in the women’s competition.
The Hot Shots had initially been scheduled to play Leongatha before a change to the fixture due to the Leongatha team withdrawing from the competition.
It followed the previous postponement of the second round when Leongatha and Bairnsdale could not field sides.
With just eight players taking the field Denise Sanders and captain Jacklyn Borsato made a bright start, but the Hot Shots finished 7/67 in the 27th over.
Despite some economical bowling from Jessica Sanders and Madlyn Borsato, the Morwell team were barely troubled in reaching 0/72 from 18 overs.