Bristol Bats gained quick revenge over Bournemouth Bears A in their South West & Wales Baseball League (SWWBL) double header, winning 15-8 and 15-4 at Somerdale Pavilion.
Last weekend, the rivals split the double header on the south coast but Sunday saw the Bats offense in fine form as the Bristol side kept in contention for a play off spot.
In the first game, shortstop Alex Brown went four for four at the plate and drove in four runs.
Infielders Billy Garrett and Ben Briggs also had multi hit games driving in five runs between them. Briggs also stole five bases as the Bats scored heavily from the first innings.
Pitcher Ty Porter had a solid game, striking out nine Bears over his five innings pitched.
The second game saw the Bats rack up 15 hits with Garrett again in fine form, hitting a triple while Briggs went one better with an inside the park home run.
Outfielder Graeme Lawton got three hits and three RBIs while Adam Weavers, Paul Carter, Neptali Ortega, Jamie Godwin all supported pitcher Carter with great hitting displays.
“It was an important win for us and nice to get the chance to show what a good team we can be,” said the Bats’ Paul Carter. “It was particularly pleasing to see how well we dealt with the Bears’ pitching and reduce our errors in the field.”
It was another frustrating day for the Buccaneers who went down in both games against the Weston Jets.
The first game was a tight 11-8 win for the Jets despite a five run third inning from the Buccaneers.
Paul Blackburn, Alex Benson, Josh Williams-Trim and Henry Mcnamara all had good games with the bat in hand to tie the game up at the bottom of the third.
The second game was also close until the fourth and fifth innings which saw Weston score 12 runs to put the game beyond reach of the Buccaneers.
Mcnamara, Dani Searson and Jake Harris all did well with the bat but the team left too many runners on base to push the Jets harder.
“There were some really solid performances and it was frustrating again to come so close to winning,” said Phil Midgley, the Buccaneers player manager.
The Brunels travelled to Cardiff to take on the unbeaten Merlins and their excellent pitching staff.
The rookie team from Bristol put up a strong fight before going down 16-2 and 10-2 but registered more hits and runs against Taka Kano, the front-line Cardiff pitcher, than any team so far this season.
Outfielder Tom MacLennan had a great game getting the Brunels’ first hit and taking some important catches at centre field.
Michael Comport, Jo Sutcliffe, Rich Evans, Jon Exon and debutant Matt Workman all got hits in the second game but they weren’t enough for the Bristol team to pull off a shock victory.
“It says everything that the Merlins players were very complementary about the team after the game and despite the result, we put in a brilliant performance,” said player manager Rich Evans. “It was a great afternoon’s baseball and we all relished taking on a very, very good Cardiff pitcher.”
In Bournemouth, the Badgers took on the Bears AAA and came close to sharing the spoils of the double header.
The second game was decided by a walk off hit in the eighth inning to give the Bears a 7-6 victory after scores were tied at the bottom of the fourth.
John Brownlee hit a homerun for the Bristol side and drove in four runs. Rhodri Theaker and Luke Claflin also hit well against the strong Bournemouth pitchers.
The Badgers were shut out 10-0 in the first game, with only Doug Scriver and Par Eliasson managing to get hits off former Houston Astros player Jose Lopez.
“The second game was such a tight affair and a great game of baseball,” said Badgers player manager Rhodri Theaker. “It was disappointing we couldn’t find an extra run or two to push us over the line for victory.”
Next Sunday, the Badgers face BC Vetra while the Bats and Brunels stage the latest Bristol derby. Both games are at Somerdale Pavilion and start at 12 noon.
The Buccaneers travel to Newquay to take on the Cornish Claycutters while members of the Bobcats will be in Bournemouth next Saturday as part of the WB-UK Women’s Baseball tournament.