It was a close game on Saturday for the Shoalhaven Mariners 2nd grade against the Berkeley Eagles, at Eagles field, Fred Finch Park.

The Mariners got off to a good start and scored 2 early runs, when Lee Lawson and Gabe Tate walked, stole bases and were brought home by Michael Vine and Kai Meuronen.  The lead was quickly reversed in the bottom of the 1st inning, Mariners starting pitcher Kai Meuronen struggling to find the strike zone and was replaced by Brenton McMahon before recording an out. McMahon steadied the ship,  but the Eagles had jumped to a 4 – 2 lead.

In 2nd inning action the Mariners hitters didn’t put up much of a fight. Eagles pitcher Graeme Miller facing just one more then the minimum to retire the side. In the bottom of the inning Mariners were haunted by walks, hit batters and errors as Eagles were gifted another 4 runs, this time all unearned.

The Mariners now down by 6 rallied to score 2 runs in the third and 3 runs in the fifth as the Eagles bats went quiet. It wasn’t long enough for the Mariners, going down 7-8.

Hits from the Mariners came from the bats of Lee Lawson. Michael Vine, Kai Meuronen, Brenton McMahon and Marcus Atkinson.