Bournemouth Bears @ Yeovil Whirlwinds

Last Sunday saw the Yeovil Whirlwinds look to continue their great start to the 2025 season in the South Wales & West Baseball League against the visiting Bournemouth Bears.

Game 1 saw Chris Spurway start at pitcher for the home side. Good team defence helped keep the visitors from scoring in their first at bat. Yeovil in contrast managed to find a few gaps in the field and get runners on base. This, plus a couple of walks, saw the Whirlwinds take an early 5-0 lead.

Another defensive masterclass saw a booming drive caught by Dave Martin in the deep (his second catch of the day) and a double play from Simon Causer again kept Bournemouth scoreless. Yeovil’s offence also kept the pressure on with savvy base running seeing another 4 runs added to their total for a 9-0 nil lead.

The Bears opened their scoring with an impressive 5 run haul in the third inning but this was matched by the home side. A further run for Bournemouth in the 4th inning took their tally to 6 but the Somerset side again scored well, a further five runs saw their lead extend to a daunting 14 runs going into the last inning.

One last defensive push from Yeovil saw three quick outs and, with no further runs scored, the game ending with a Whirlwinds victory, 19-6.

David Cheetham was on the mound for game 2 for Yeovil which would prove to be an offensive, run heavy slugfest. Bournemouth opened the game with 3 runs in their first inning. In reply, an inside the park home run by Aidan Johnson and Dom Sutton’s first hit of the year helped Yeovil score 5 runs to secure an early lead.

The home side extended their lead in the 2nd inning, outscoring the Bears three runs to two but  Bournemouth were now starting to get into a rhythm with the bat. Nine runs to Yeovil’s seven over the next two innings, plus a defensive double play for the visitors cut the lead to a solitary run.

Yeovil went into the final inning with a slender 15-14 lead although again were only three outs away from the win. A putout at 2nd base and a strikeout gave the Whirlwinds two quick outs. A high fly ball teased the third out however fell agonisingly short of Dave Martin but allowed Bournemouth to score 3 runs. A fly out to left field finally ended the inning but not before 2 more runs scored.

With five runs needed for another win the Whirlwinds’ run chase started badly, also with two quick outs. With the pressure fully on, six consecutive hits earned the 5 runs needed and another win in the books.

That win sees the Yeovil Whirlwinds extend their record to seven wins from eight games this season. Their next game is the away fixture against Bournemouth on 18th May.

By Chris Spurway