Bad weather along with a couple scheduled breaks meant a prolonged gap in the season for the Yeovil Whirlwinds Baseball club. Three games over two weekends against the table topping Exeter Spitfires ended that break, with all having very similar results and proving why Exeter are the league’s pace-setters.
First up was a double header at home, two seven inning games back to back. The big hitting Devonshire unit flew out of the blocks in game 1, securing nine runs in the opening two innings with the hosts only scoring two in reply. Yeovil limited, but couldn’t stop, Exeter’s scoring over the next three innings with them driving in eight more runs. In reply the Whirlwinds added six to their own tally, the visitors’ lead extending to nine runs. Great defensive performances meant neither side managed to trouble the scorers in innings 6 or 7 so the game ended 17-8 to Exeter.
Game 2 started with another Spitfire blitz – 5 runs in each of their first two innings saw them take an early 10-4 lead. The Whirlwinds struggled to make headway against Exeter’s excellent pitching unit, managing only a couple more runs through the rest of the game. A four run 6th inning saw the Spitfires eventually winning the contest 16 runs to 6.
Highlights from the day included a strong hitting performance from Simon Causer plus good catches from Jack Amphlett, Kris Csicso and Elijah Dyer, the latter taking a towering fly ball which was voted Play of the Day.
The third game was the following weekend at Exeter. The Spitfires ran out 19 – 5 winners however this scoreline masks how tight the game was. Exeter scored 15 of their 19 runs in innings 1, 3 and 8 (5 runs in each), this was aided by some fortunate gap finding in the field by their hitters plus a number of tight calls going against the Whirlwinds. The defences were on top for much of the rest of the game, in particular for Yeovil, Chrisi Wilangowski’s solid performance at first base, a deep field throw out to third base by Dave Martin and Ed Blades’ (Play of the Day worthy) pitching in his first game of the season.
If you’re interested in baseball and want to give it a go or are just looking for a new and different hobby then reach out to Yeovil Whirlwinds via Facebook or Instagram!
By Chris Spurway
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