Cardiff Merlins @ Yeovil Whirlwinds

The Yeovil Whirlwinds hosted the Cardiff Merlins at Bradford Abbas in a crucial South West and Wales Baseball League matchup. The Whirlwinds, riding a strong run of form, faced off against the Merlins, who needed to close the gap in the playoff chase.

In the first inning of game one, Yeovil's defence held strong, limiting Cardiff to three runs, including an impressive solo home run. The Whirlwinds capitalized on their opportunities, scoring five runs in the bottom of the first inning and extending their lead to 8-3 by the second. However, Cardiff's bats ignited in the third inning, scoring five runs to level the score. Yeovil responded with a towering home run from Jason Tew, earning three RBIs. Another walk and a single were then batted in with a Barnabas Csicso double down the left field line.

This ended the inning with a 13-8 Yeovil lead.

The Merlins rallied in the fourth inning, scoring 16 runs before Yeovil could secure three outs. Despite their best efforts, Yeovil couldn't post any runs in the bottom of the inning, resulting in a 24-13 loss.

Disappointment lingered in the Yeovil dugout, but after a motivational team talk and words of encouragement, the Whirlwinds regrouped and took to the field for game two, once again defending first.

In the second game, Cardiff took an early 5-2 lead, but Yeovil's defence stiffened in the second inning, thanks in part to a crucial play by third-baseman Jonny Foster who fielded a pop up before getting the ball to first-baseman Gordon Soutar to put out the base runner who became stranded on the way to second. The Whirlwinds took a narrow 7-6 lead, but Cardiff regained the advantage at 11-7 after three innings.

The fourth inning was declared open. With the challenging final inning from the first game still fresh in the mind, Yeovil dug in to try and get three outs quickly to give themselves a chance of making up the difference to win the game. A Yeovil pitching change and some fielding adjustments soon paid dividends. Cardiff were limited to two runs bringing the score to 13-7.

Yeovil mounted a heroic batting effort, narrowing the deficit to 13-12, but ultimately fell short, with the Merlins' pitcher earning a crucial strikeout to strand the tying run at third base and sealing the win.

The doubleheader loss puts Yeovil's record at 8-4 for the season. The Whirlwinds will look to exact revenge when they visit Cardiff next week.

By Robert Martin