GAME week six of the South West and Wales Baseball saw the Pistols host the Bournemouth Bears at Taunton Green, while the Muskets made the short trip to Weston to take on the Jets in the reverse of last weekend's fixture.
Similar to last week there was little to separate the Muskets and Jets, with the sides again splitting the double header, Muskets winning 8-4 and the Jets taking game two 7-4. The Pistols fared much better against the Bournemouth Bears, sweeping the double header, winning 17-9 and 10-9.
After narrowly missing out on their second win last weekend against Cardiff Merlins A, the Pistols were looking to build on their early season form. They hosted a Bournemouth side that was yet to record a victory this season. However some close defeats suggested they needed to be taken seriously.
The first game of the double header was an impressive all round display for the home side. Everyone in the lineup contributed at the plate, while defensively they managed to turn two double plays, which led to a 17-9 win for the Pistols.
Game two was a much tighter affair, with the home side needing 4 runs to walk it off 10-9 in the last inning.
Two junctions away in Weston-super-Mare the Muskets took on the Jets in two evenly contested games. Game one was 4 apiece until the Muskets found their rhythm, scoring 4 unanswered runs, it was enough to seal an 8-4 victory.
The second game swung in the Jets favour; they capitalised on some wayward pitching to jump to a 7-2 lead.
Unfortunately, the Taunton side couldn't find the gaps, only adding two runs in the last inning, losing 7-4.
Wesley Whitaker, Pistols team manager, was full of praise for his side, “two fantastic results, everyone played well and that led to two great games of baseball. We can see the improvements game to game and that's great.”
The Tricky Cider MVP winners were Robert Ford (Muskets) and Leon Brooke (Pistols). Rob racked up 3 RBI across the two games, boasting 1.000% in slugging, batting average and on-base percentage. In the field he had 4 chances for putouts and made all 4 count.
Leon, in his debut season, had a fine game against Bournemouth. Scoring 3 runs and stealing 6 bases, while in the field he started a double play, snagging a flyball in left field and then picking off the retreating runner at 2nd base.
Both Taunton sides will be back in action on June 2, with the Muskets hosting the Cornish Pioneers, while the Pistols make the journey to junction 21 to take on the Weston Jets.