Baseball Nichols and Day shine as Brunels enjoy double success
IIt was a real team performance which showed our character after the heartbreak of opening day
NFIELDERS Jordan Nichols and Ash Day kick-started the Brunels’ offense to a sweep of Bournemouth Bears 3 at the weekend.
The Bristol team ran out 21-9 winners in the first game of their BBF/SWWBL A double header, and maintained their form to take the second 17-7.
Nichols and Day notched up seven hits, five RBI and five runs between them, while Nichols completed a double play in the field.
Outfielders Justin Trory and Ryan Harris also contributed with the bat with four hits and seven runs.
Trory also did well in the second game with another two hits and an RBI, as Brunels took advantage of the Bournemouth pitchers at Ferndown Leisure Centre.
Brunels also ran amok on the bases stealing 14 during the second game.
Debutant Harley Jones pulled off the defensive play of the day with a stunning leaping catch to end the game.
“It was a real team performance which showed our character after the heartbreak of opening day,” said Alex Lane-Kieltyka, the Brunels’ manager. “I was particularly pleased with our discipline at the plate and the fact we made just the one fielding error.”
At Somerdale, the Bristol Buccaneers took on Taunton Muskets, last year’s SWWBL beaten finalists, and came close to winning both games.
The Buccaneers went down 11-10 in the first game, despite not being able to take advantage of runners in scoring positions during the final inning. Charlie Deeks and Wai Fu Lam both had multi-hit games with three hits each, but four fielding errors cost the Buccaneers five runs in the penultimate inning.
The second game was dominated by pitchers with each side only managing seven hits between them. Pitchers Jake Boyer and Santiago Palmos were too strong for the Taunton side and struck out eight Muskets between them as the Buccaneers recorded a comfortable
10-3 victory. “It was good to get the split but we really had the first game in the palm of our hands and failed to capitalise at the crucial moment,” said Buccaneers manager, Michael Buser.
“It was a shame our fielding wasn’t as tight as it should be but I know the team is committed to putting that aspect of our game right.”
Next weekend the Badgers travel to Cardiff for their second BBF AAA fixture, while the Bats hit the road to take on Guildford Mavericks in their BBF AA doubleheader.
Buccaneers and Brunels are both at Somerdale on Sunday and welcome the Cornish Pioneers and Cornish Claycutters for their next round of fixtures. Both games start at noon.