The Bristol Badgers and Bristol Buccaneers both went to the top of their respective divisions after sweeping their opponents at the weekend.
The Badgers left it late in their double header against Birmingham Metalheads with outfielder John Brownlee hitting a walk off single at the bottom of the ninth inning to secure a 5-4 victory.
The Badgers were trailing 3-0 in the middle of the seventh inning of the regular game when Seyi Awofadeju singled to score catcher Michael Comport. This was followed by another single by infielder Deivydas Trinkunas which scored Vil Katinas and Awofadeju to tie the score and take the game into extra innings. The Metalheads then scored in the top of the eighth before a single from Comport retied the scores by driving in Rhodri Theaker. Theaker pitched a clean 9th inning to keep the scores at 4-4 before Brownlee drove in Katinas for the win.
The second game was dominated by the Badgers’ offense, which scored from the first inning, as the Bristol side ran out 15-5 winners. First baseman Anthony Desgardin led the way with two hits and five runs driven in, with fellow infielder Mattia Papini showing great discipline at the plate walking three times and driving in four runs. Doug Scriver and Josh Boulton both hit doubles, while Scriver kept up his good form from the mound pitching a complete game and striking out three Birmingham batters.
The Badgers are now top of their BBF AAA division and lead Richmond Roebucks by one game.
“I was delighted with the way we fought in the second game against Bob Rowe, Birmingham’s starting pitcher, who was close to throwing a perfect game,” said Badgers’ manager Rhodri Theaker. “We know every game is going to be closely fought and getting the two wins was extremely important.”
Photo credit: richardjohnsonphoto.com
Also at Somerdale, the Buccaneers took on fellow unbeaten rivals the Weston Jets and pulled out two one-run victories to claim top spot in the BBF/SWWBL A Severn Division.
The Buccaneers survived a late comeback by the Jets to hold on to win 8-7 on the back of another strong pitching performance from Will Marshall. Third baseman Paul Blackburn and shortstop Noah McCurdy starred with the bat with five hits and three runs driven in between them.
The second game was even more thrilling with the Buccaneers coming from 4-1 down to claim a 5-4 victory. The fourth inning proved decisive as the Buccaneers added four runs to take the lead.
Marshall started the comeback after Tim Clough had reached second base on a fielding error and a stolen base. With two out, outfielder Justin Trory singled to score Marshall and singles by Wai Fu Lam and Noah McCurdy drove in the decisive runs. McCurdy rounded off a good day striking out seven Jets batters over his four innings pitched.
“They were two amazing games of baseball which showed the team at its best in clutch moments,” said Rod McCurdy, the Buccaneers manager. “Weston are a strong outfit and we needed to be at our best to beat them.”
The Bristol Bats travelled to Southampton to take on New Forest Thunder and came away with a split in the double header, despite hitting three home runs – including a grand slam by Drew Mayhew.
Fielding errors and a shortage of pitchers in the first game allowed the Thunder to come back from an eight run deficit to claim a 17-16 victory despite being out-hit by the Bats. Man Hoi Kwan, Sam Kaiser and Mayhew were responsible for nine of the Bats’ 17 hits and drove in eight runs between them.
The second game featured successive home runs by Ayo-Oluwa Salawu and Darius Tamosiunas as the Bats claimed a 14-11 victory behind a strong pitching performance by Declan Meads. Kaiser was again in good form with two hits, including a double. Meads completed an excellent game with three hits and three runs driven in.
“The first game was so disappointing as we had hit really well but injuries to our pitching staff hit us hard at the end,” said Rich Evans, the Bats manager. “We showed great character to take the second game and tightened up our defense.”
For the Brunels, a trip to Cardiff to take on Merlins 2 ended in two heartbreaking single run losses, as they went down 13-12 in both games.
In the first game the Brunels out-hit the Merlins, with Charlie Ricketts and Michele Botta leading the charge with six hits between them. Third baseman Grant Mathieson drove in three runs as the Brunels wracked up 16 hits in the Principality but a run surge by the Cardiff team coupled with Brunels errors and giving up too many walks proved too much.
In the second game, the Cardiff pitchers kept the hits to a minimum which allowed the Merlins to walk-off the Bristol side in the last inning.
“It was doubly disappointing as we have now lost five games by one run and come so close to getting that illusive first win,” said Alex Lane-Kieltyka, manager of the Brunels. “Next week is the derby against the Buccaneers and it would be great to get that first win over the league leaders.”
Next up: Next weekend sees the aforementioned first derby of the season. with the Buccaneers and Brunels up against each other at Somerdale Pavilion, while the Bats travel to Taunton to take on the Muskets.