The Buccaneers and the Bats were both involved in thrilling wins at the weekend as they swept their opponents.
At Somerdale the Buccaneers took bragging rights in the first derby of the season beating the Brunels 15-14 and 15-11.
The first game went down to the wire with the Brunels leading 14-12 as the teams headed to the bottom of the fifth and final inning. A single by first baseman Rob Horne, who had three hits in the game, advanced Paul Blackburn, who then stole third and scored on a groundout.
Horne had reached third before he levelled the scores on a Brunels throwing error. It was then left to Wai Fu Lam to drive in the winning run on a single to seal the victory. Outfielder Rod McCurdy continued his fine season for the Brunels with three hits and four runs driven in.
“It was a great game and we managed to get the runs across in the final inning to even it up before Fu hit the walk off single,” said Buccaneers manager Charlie Deeks.
The second game was just as close. The Buccaneers surged into a 15-8 lead with Fu Lam and Charlie Deeks getting five hits and driving in five runs between them. The Brunels fought back to get within four runs, with McCurdy again hitting well with a double.
“We felt we could have won both games and will be looking to reverse the results on Sunday,” said Alex Lane-Kieltyka, manager of the Brunels. “We committed way too many errors and they cost us dear, particularly in the first game. We need to iron that out in training this week.”
Next weekend, the teams will battle out the second derby at Somerdale, with the Brunels looking to even the score as the home team.
In Oxford, the Bats came away with two wins against the Kings to cement their position at the top of the BBF AA D Division.
The first game was a real thriller with the Bats winning 9-8 in extra innings. The lead bounced between the two teams from the start, with Bristol pitcher Jake Boyer in fine form from the mound. The Kings were ahead 4-3 going into the sixth inning, but great hitting by Lachie Ng and Kwan Cheung put the Bats two runs ahead in the middle of the final inning.
Oxford scored one run to draw level and the game headed into extras. The Bats scored another three through great base running before Gus Robertson singled to drive in Michael Buser. With a lead of just one run, relief pitcher Sean Wilkins got the three required outs to bring the game to a thrilling end and a victory for the Bristol side.
The Bats dominated game two, running out 13-2 winners over five innings. The Bristol team took control from the first inning, scoring four behind the strong pitching of Nerius Tamosiunas who struck out four Oxford batters over his five innings pitched. Infielder Kwan was again dominant at the plate with three hits including a massive double to centre field. Wilkins was also in good form with bat in hand, driving in three runs on two hits.
“The first game showed our character and skill to get the win against a very well drilled Oxford team,” said Bats manager Richard Evans. “We played well from the first pitch with some good fielding and clutch hitting which saw us through to victory.”
The Badgers sadly had to forfeit their planned fixture against New Forest, falling to 9-9 on the season, 4.5 games behind Bracknell with 10 left to play.
Next up: Next weekend the Bats travel to Bournemouth to take on Bears 2, the Badgers host Cardiff Merlins at Somerdale in their BBF AAA match up, and as mentioned the return leg of the Bristol Derby sees the Buccaneers “travel” to face the Brunels.
All games start at 12 noon.