Surging Badgers reach national AA finale
A late, seven run surge took Bristol Badgers to the national British Baseball Federation AA final this weekend as they beat Kent Buccaneers 8-3 at Somerdale Pavilion in Keynsham. Trailing 2-1 at the bottom of the seventh inning, Par Eliasson and Vil Katinas both hit game changing home runs which scored five Badgers after Tom Hollies and Justinas Raupenas both scored on a single by Nils Eliasson. Raupenas was the winning pitcher and had a great day on the mound, striking out 13 Buccaneers over eight innings. Ben Smith went 2-3 at the plate, hitting two doubles, and made some crucial defensive plays at shortstop. The Badgers will face the East London Latin Boys in the final on Sunday at the national baseball complex at Farnham Park near Slough. “This was always going to be tough and the never-give-up attitude of the team came to the fore late in the game with players holding their hands up and taking responsibility,” said player-manager Tom Hollies. “We have one more game to go and it will be a real challenge, one that we must be at our best for. We are looking forward to it.” Just 300 yards away, the Bristol Bats overwhelmed Weston Jets 81-12 in their South West Baseball League encounter. The Bats racked up 72 hits over seven innings, scoring freely against a team in their first year of baseball action. Taeho Park and starting pitcher Nerius Tamosiunas both got 12 hits each with catcher Tom Rowe hitting ten, including a grand slam home run. Tom Knox and Naval Bhandari both pitched well, striking out four Jets between them while Tamosuinas struck out four in his two frames. Josh Williams-trim and Jon Brownhill both had good days at the plate driving in 13 runs between them. “Despite the final scoreline, the Jets have had a great first season and we look forward to them continuing to improve over the coming years,” said Bats manager Keith Weinberg. “It is fair to say that as a team, the improvement in the Bats has been fantastic which has been helped by the great atmosphere among all 17 guys on the roster.”