Bristol Baseball Club can be proud of their efforts this season as they prepare for their end of season presentation night on the 22nd September.
Bristol Badgers played in their first ever BBF AA Final on Sunday 26th August in atrocious weather conditions. They went down 12-8 against the East London Latin Boys but team manager Tom Hollies was proud of their efforts:
We have had a fabulous year and although we didn’t quite pull off the final victory, every single member of the team has produced when needed and I would like to thank our supporters and our other team, the Bristol Bats, for their support throughout the season.
Trailing 11-0 to the London team early in the game, centre fielder Jamie Prout led the comeback getting on base in the bottom of the third innings. His hit proved the spark as the Bristol team scored four runs as the conditions worsened at the national baseball complex at Farnham Park near Slough.
Pitcher Deivydas Trinkunas, who replaced Justinas Raupenas after the starter injured his arm, pitched brilliantly given the conditions.
He kept the Latin Boys to just one run in the fourth and fifth before the Badgers began a second push for glory.
Trailing 12-4 with bases loaded and two outs at the bottom of the sixth inning, a Par Eliasson fly ball drove in two runs on a fielding error before Jamie Prout scored on a passed ball to make it 12-7.
The Badgers scored one more run before the rain made conditions impossible for both sides and the game was called with the score at 12-8.
“It was a real shame the weather spoilt what would have been a great game and with a lack of matches due to sides forfeiting games against us our bats weren’t in the best of form,”
said Hollies.
“Our fightback after one bad inning showed the true character of the team and if the rain had stopped I am sure we could have got closer to the win.”
Unfortunately postponed games was a theme in the latter part of the season for both the Bats and the Badgers. This ranged from dry, cracked pitches with the extremely warm weather to (more worryingly for the sport) opposition who couldn’t raise a team at the last moment. This is disappointing to the Bristol club’s who have a team of volunteers, let alone the players, who take time off work or away from their loved ones to organise pitches and transport only to be let down.
Still overall it’s been a positive 10th season for the club and more details about their presentation night can be found on their excellent website here.