Cougars slip and slide

By Gavin Staindl
BERWICK can only blame itself for Sunday’s 9-6 loss to Bonbeach as errors and blown opportunities returned the Cougars to the middle of the Division Two ladder.
With a top four position up for grabs heading into Sunday’s match at Cyril Molyneux Reserve, Berwick jumped out to a 3-2 lead before a few fatal errors gifted the league leaders with the win.
“For some reason we decided to make 500 errors and give them a bunch of runs,” Berwick coach Wayne Porter said.
“We had lots of walks, missed double plays, tunnel balls and even when we loaded the bases up in the last two innings we couldn’t do enough.
“They (Bonbeach) tried to help us out but we couldn’t finish.”
In the eighth innings Berwick loaded the bases with one out and had a chance to regain the lead but back-to-back strikeouts left the Cougar runners stranded.
Four errors in a row loaded the bases again in the ninth, but once again, the Cougars failed to make the most of their opportunities and went down swinging.
Not even the tunes coming from Berwick’s “shuffle day” contest could inspire the Cougars and despite the missed opportunities with the bat, Porter said it comes back to the errors committed earlier in the day.
“Errors kill you,” Porter said. “If we’d cut the errors down we could have hoped for an exciting finish but when you play a seasoned team like Bonbeach they’re going to make you pay for your mistakes.”