Bats pitcher Paul Carter shut out the Bournemouth Bears A offense to help the Bristol side split the South West and Wales Baseball League (SWWBL) double header on Sunday.
Carter struck out five Bears and allowed just five hits over his five innings pitched and also shone with the bat driving in six runs as the Bats ran out 23-0 winners in the second game.
Alex Brown, Tom Rowe and Ben Briggs provided run support for Carter with shortstop Brown hitting a triple and five RBIs.
The first game saw the Bournemouth team get runs on the board early and despite a late fightback by the Bats, which included a triple by outfielder Billy Garrett, the Bears ran out 11-7 winners.
“Paul gave a superb all round performance and it was a real shame we couldn’t get runs on the board in the first game,” said player manager Tom Rowe. “There is no doubt we are improving game by game and are still in with a shout of challenging for the title.”
At Somerdale Pavilion, the Badgers went down in two close games to the Bournemouth Bears AAA team in sweltering conditions.
The Badgers launched a comeback in the first game after giving up 11 runs in the first inning before going down 18-14 in extra innings.
Shortstop Mattia Papini and pitcher Doug Scriver led the fightback driving in five runs between them. Third baseman Rhodri Theaker and outfielder Seyi Awofadeju also contributed to the late charge with two RBIs each.
The second game also went to extra innings before the Bears ran out 9-6 winners scoring three runs in the top of the eighth.
“It was a tough afternoon to come so close against a very good team,” said Rhodri Theaker. “I was delighted with the way we responded and kept the pressure on the Bears and delighted with individual performances.”
In Weston, the Buccaneers lost both their games to the Jets going down 16-14 and 14-11 in a tense afternoon at Hutton Moor Leisure Centre.
Despite good hitting performances, which saw seven Buccaneers having multi-hit days, late runs by the Jets in both games did the damage.
“It was a frustrating day to lose two games we could have won,” said Phil Midgley, the Buccaneers player manager. “We have had so many one and two run losses, we just need to work on our skills more at training to turn the corner.”
Next week the Badgers travel to Bournemouth while the Bats welcome the Bears A to Somerdale Pavilion.
The Buccaneers get a chance for revenge when the Weston Jets arrive at Somerdale. The Brunels take on the league leading Cardiff Merlins across the Severn Bridge.