The Bristol Brunels celebrated their first wins of the season by sweeping New Forest Knights in Southampton on Sunday. The club’s development team had come so close to a win on previous weekends but the 23-13 and 21-15 victories took them off the bottom of the BBF/SWWBL A Severn Division.
In the first game, outfielder Charlie Ricketts led the offense for the Brunels with two hits and three runs as the team scored heavily in each inning. The Brunels were also very disciplined at the plate taking advantage of some wayward pitching to rack up 27 walks.
(Picture: Laura Wehner)
Game two followed a similar pattern with the Brunels scoring from the first inning and causing havoc on the base paths, stealing eight bases. Outfielder Grant Mathieson was in fine form with three hits and four runs while Ricketts, Sam Lacey, Ryan Harris, Alessia Waller and Brodie Back drove in 14 runs between them.
(Picture: Laura Wehner)
“I am absolutely delighted that the hard work on the training field has finally paid off with these two victories,” said Brunels manager, Alex Lane-Kieltyka. “Over 75% of the team are playing in their first season and the wins are a tribute to the effort and commitment they have put in so far.”
At Somerdale, the Bats kept up their push for the playoffs with two convincing wins over the Cornish Claycutters in their BBF AA clash. The first game was dominated by starting pitcher Jake Boyer, who struck out 17 Claycutters while allowing just two walks.
The Bats scored four runs in the first innings with another four coming in the fifth and sixth innings as the Bristol team eased to an 8-1 victory. Kwan Cheung returned to the side after injury with three hits and two runs driven in.
The second game followed a similar pattern with Kwan dominating from the mound striking out eight Claycutters as the Bats completed the sweep with an 11-3 victory. Ayo-Oluwa Salawu was the key offensive player with three hits and three runs driven in. Michale Doar, Sam Stainsby and Drew Mayhew all had multi hit games to back up Kwan’s work on the mound.
(Photo: Richard Johnson)
“After the disappointment of the previous games, the team responded with a really good all round performance,” said Richard Evans, the Bats manager. “Jake and Kwan pitched so well and they were backed up by clutch hitting, good base running and excellent fielding”.
The Buccaneers traveled to Weston to take on divisional rivals the Jets and came away with a crucial split series to keep themselves top of the Severn Division.
The first game went down to the wire with the Jets securing a walk off 9-8 victory. Third baseman Tim Clough had a good game at the plate with three hits while Noah McCurdy hit a big triple as the sides headed to the final inning with the scores tied. Some excellent Jets fielding kept the Buccaneers off the scoreboard, before a single by Weston’s Alex Howells drove in the winning run.
The second game was dominated by the Buccaneers who ran out 19-9 winners behind yet another solid pitching performance by Will Marshall. Luca McCurdy was outstanding with the bat with three hits, including a triple, and three runs driven in. The Buccaneers also tightened up their fielding for the second game, making just two errors, with Jean-Pierre Bernard outstanding at first base.
“This was a crucial weekend against a very good Jets team and I am delighted that the second game win keeps us two games ahead of them in the race to finish as division champions,” said manager Rod McCurdy. “There is still a lot of competitive baseball ahead but we are in a good place and won’t be taking our foot off the pedal.”
Next Up: Next weekend, the Buccaneers welcome New Forest Knights to Somerdale. The other Bristol teams all have the weekend off.