The Bristol Bats offense overwhelmed the Taunton Muskets at the weekend to sweep their opponents and stay in the race for a playoff spot in the BBF/SWWBL A league.
The first game saw the Bristol teams’s offense run riot to win 13-2 with Alex Brown, Michael Comport, Jamie Hartley and Charlie Deeks all having multi-hit games.
Brown, Comport and Deeks all hit doubles as the Bats scored heavily from the very first inning.
Pitcher Tyron Porter was in dominant form and struck out three Muskets over his five excellent innings. He was on the way to shutting down the Muskets until a late fielding error cost him that milestone. Porter also hit a double to round off a successful afternoon.
The second game was closer but the Bats scored heavily to win 17-10 with Brown again starring with the bat in his hand.
Infielder Brown had three hits and drove in two runs, while Comport hit two doubles. Neptali Ortega-Gutiérrez, who was returning from injury drove in three runs while Jamie Godwin, Hartley and Porter all had a multi-hit game.
“The games against the Muskets are always competitive and I was delighted that we hit well from the first pitch,” said Ortega-Gutierrez, the Bats player/manager. “We are in a tough division so every win is vital if we want to make the playoffs.”
In Richmond, the Badgers staged a remarkable comeback in the first game of their BBF AAA double header.
Down 6-0 after two innings, the Badgers ran out 14-11 winners after scoring 13 runs in the third and fourth innings.
Outfielder John Brownlee hit his second home run on successive weekends and drove in three runs. Seyi Awofadeju got two hits as all the Badgers contributed in the mid-game explosion of runs.
The second game went the way of Richmond Knights who claimed an 8-2 victory. The Badgers couldn’t get to grips with strong Richmond pitching but remain tied at the top of the south west division.
“It really was an amazing display of hitting that brought us back from the brink in the first game,” said Rhodri Theaker, the Badgers player manager. “Every player got on base and we were able to take advantage of that and get runs across the plate and support the pitching of Tom Hollies.”
At Somerdale Pavilion, the Buccaneers went down 14-8 and 17-7 to Bournemouth Bears in the SWWBL A double header.
The Buccaneers fought hard with Paul Blackburn, Henry Mcnamara and Phil Midgley having good days with the bat but 14 fielding errors across the afternoon cost the home side as they tried to compete with a strong Bournemouth team.
This weekend the Bats will take on Cardiff Merlins II at Somerdale at 12 noon.
On Sunday 12th June the Badgers have a top the the table clash against the Bournemouth Bears AAA while the Buccaneers and the Brunels face each other in their annual SWWBL A derby match. Both games are at Somerdale Pavilion starting at 11.00am.