Bristol Badgers bounced back after last week’s defeat to beat St Austell Claycutters 21-3 in Sunday’s South West Baseball League (SWBL) match at Somerdale Pavilion in Keynsham.
In Exeter, the Bristol Bats were gunned down 16-1 by the Exeter Spitfires and a strong pitching performance by the Devon side’s Eli Hackney-Rose.
The Badgers’ victory was built on an MVP performance from Par Eliasson who hit his first ever home run, drove in six runs and made a great play at third base.
Pitcher Deivydas Trinkunas had another strong outing from the mound striking out 10 Claycutters over 5.2 innings while newcomer Rob Davies got his first ever hit and turned it into a triple after some great heads up base running.
“It was a much better performance this week and gets us back on track for the second half of the season,” said Tom Hollies, the Badgers’ manager. “I am particularly delighted with the way guys new to the game are learning every week and making significant contributions on and off the field.”
The Bats lost the lead early in Exeter and never got to grips with the Spitfires’ pitching with only Ashley Pooley and Rich Green registering hits.
The Spitfires’ batters broke free with 11 runs in the 4th and 5th innings which included a three run home run.
“We knew we were going to be in for a tough game against a quality pitcher,” said Bats’ manager Billy Vickery. “The important thing is to learn lessons from Sunday and work on specific drills during training to.”
Both Bristol teams have a weekend off but resume league fixtures on Sunday 25th June with the Badgers hosting the Exeter Spitfires at Somerdale while the Bats travel to St Austell to take on the Claycutters. Both games start at 12 noon.