Canberra Cavalry slump to sixth straight ABL loss

The Cavalry suffered their sixth straight loss and third straight series defeat, this time going down 12-9 to the Sydney Blue Sox at Narrabundah Ballpark on Saturday night and having lost all three games of the series so far.

Cavalry manager Keith Ward, who was ejected in the fifth inning, said things weren't desperate yet, but with the midpoint of the ABL season fast approaching they needed to start stringing some wins together. Soon.

While he was happy with the fight to come back from 12-2 down, and also happy with the 17 hits his bats accumulated, he admitted some of their defensive errors were "pretty ordinary".

They were credited with four for the night, which might've been a bit kind by the scorers.

"Tonight's loss shows to me irrespective of our record the guys are never going to give in, which is the typical Cavalry approach," Ward said.

"Our defence tonight, we made some pretty ordinary mistakes, there's no better way to summarise it.

"But the guys are busting their backsides ... we're just in a funk at the moment."

The Boss toss is normally a light-hearted competition between Cavalry boss Donn McMichael and someone from the crowd, seeing who can throw a baseball through a hole in the netting.

But it quickly became the worst possible start for the home team when former Cavalryman Boss Moanaroa tossed a three-run home run out of the park in the top of the first.

The Cavalry defence then tossed away a heap of chances and the game in the process.

It didn't look too bad at first glance, with second-base Tucker Nathans driving in Cam Warner to make it 3-1 after one inning.

But the Cavalry couldn't capitalise on loaded bases in the second and that's when things fell apart.

Canberra shortstop Gavin Cecchini dropped a simple line drive that could've led to a double play to end the third, but gave up a run instead.

But it was the fourth where disaster struck.

With bases loaded, Cavalry outfielder Taylor Kohlwey dropped a Moanaroa fly ball to score a run.

Canberra starter Dushan Ruzic walked in another on the way to a seven-run frame and a 12-2 scoreline.

It marked the end of the game for Ward, who complained about a dubious call by the first-base umpire.

With Ward's assistant Lee Mills assuming the mantle, the Canberra bats finally came alive.

An extra hour of hitting practice before the game on Saturday might be starting to pay off.

Kohlwey hit a solo homer and then Jordy Barley hit a grand slam to make it 12-7 and make a contest of it.

Cavalry first-base Zach Wilson hit a solo homer and Kohlwey brought home Tucker Nathans to round out the scoring.

Ward felt that fight was a good sign.

"We're four [wins] and 11 [losses]. When you think it's a 40-game season there's obviously pressure there to get wins under our belt," he said.

"More than anything else we want to find some consistency to display the type of players and team we think we are."

Yokohama pitcher Kosuke Sakaguchi will start game four on Sunday as the Cavalry look to avoid a Blue Sox clean sweep.

They also need the win to stay in touch with their arch rivals, who are now five wins ahead of them on top of the eastern conference.

"He's been pitching really well for us. He's going to give us a great chance to win a baseball game [on Sunday], be the stopper for us to a degree," Ward said.

"We've dropped a few games in a row now. Hopefully he can get some zeroes for us and we can give him some run support nice and early."

AT A GLANCE

SYDNEY 302 700 000 12R 14H 0E

CANBERRA 101 051 010 9R 17H 4E