The Canberra Cavalry took a big step forward, but tripped over the broom as they went to sweep the Sydney Blue Sox.
A good start soon went horribly wrong as the Blue Sox made them pay for a few defensive errors on their way to an 11-1 victory at Blacktown on Sunday.
Cavalry shortstop Justin Lopez got the visitors off to a good start, but it went down hill from there.Credit:Joe Vella SMP Images / ABL Media
Despite the loss, the Cavalry still won the series 3-1 to climb out of the ABL north-east division cellar.
Canberra looked on track to continue their good form over the weekend when designated-hitter Zach Wilson drove in shortstop Justin Lopez to open up a 1-0 lead in the opening inning.
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But then they fell into a hole they would never get out of.
Sydney were able to pile on eight unanswered runs in the second and third innings, a Robbie Perkins throwing error seemed to derail the Cavalry and starting pitcher Josh Warner started to struggle from there.
In the blink of an eye, the game was gone.
The Blue Sox piled on three more runs late to complete the rout.
"There was a couple of plays we didn't make defensively, which extended the inning and led to a couple of runs and kept the inning alive," Cavalry coach Michael Collins said.
"They were able to get a couple more hits which turned those innings into big runs for them.
"If we made a couple of plays we could've got out of there with just a couple of runs given up and who knows what happens in a closer ballgame."
It was the first time Jack Murphy played against the Cavalry, having been part of their Claxton Shield and Asia Series winning teams.
The now Sydney catcher has struggled with the bat since pulling on his Blue Sox and it took until his very last at-bat of the series to get his first hit for his new team – his 26th visit to the plate.
Collins said they know firsthand what Murphy was capable of.
"We all expected him to break out at some point, hopefully not against us," he said.
"He can get hot next week now. He got his hit to finish today, he can get hot next week."
The Cavalry now get ready to head into the unknown as they prepare for their historic first trip across the Ditch to play the new Kiwi team, Auckland Tuatara.
Tuatara sit below the Cavalry with one less win, but they've also played one less game due to rain.
They showed they're not a team to take lightly over the weekend, taking two wins off reigning champions Brisbane.
"That'll be fun, that'll be interesting, a little bit of an unknown there," Collins said.
"There team has some unknowns, the travel and what to expect when we get to Auckland is somewhat of an unknown, but everyone's very excited for it."
AT A GLANCE
CAVALRY 100 000 000 1R 5H 2E
BLUE SOX 035 000 03x 11R 17H 0E
David Polkinghorne covers the Canberra Raiders, local rugby league, Canberra Cavalry, racing and cycling, along with every other sport, for The Canberra Times.
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