Bears beat Mets for the first time and 2024 Women's League Opening Day
BBF NBL
London Mets @ Bournemouth Bears
Bournemouth Bears defeated reigning National Baseball League champions London Mets for the first time in their history in a two-game series split at Ferndown Leisure Centre.
Bournemouth Bears celebrate their first ever victory over champions the London Mets
The home side are still bottom of the NBL table, but their second win of the season was a welcome one which put an end to a run of five consecutive defeats.
Despite winning eight of the last nine NBL titles, the Mets have fallen behind this season following an uncharacteristically poor run of form. They now have only one victory in their previous four games.
A home run from right-fielder Geremias Dominguez helped the Mets to a 2-0 lead at the top of the first inning, but the Bears fought back immediately.
Brave baserunning from centre-fielder Owen Bourgeois saw him steal both second and third base to put him in a fantastic scoring position. He was eventually batted in by third baseman Roger Cedeno for the Bears' first run of the game.
Cedeno was quickly driven home himself for the tying run before Rafael Ugas gave his team a 3-2 lead at the end of an eventful first inning.
The south coast side held their lead for the remainder of the game to record a historic 5-3 victory in the second game of the series.
Game one between the sides was equally as tight with the game tied at 3-3 after four innings.
It was a strong fifth inning which eventually pushed the side from the capital over the line as Jordan Edmonds, Dominguez, and Thomas Flaherty all scored in an eventual 6-4 victory which ensured the Mets would return home with at least one victory to their name.
“We had some good things happening in some of the guys lower in the line up are really building confidence in there ability. We still aren’t fully firing on all cylinders just yet. It was a tough loss in the second game but we will be better,” said Mets manager Derrick Cook after the game.
Sheffield Bruins travel to Ferndown Leisure Centre in a fortnight for a bottom-of-the-table clash which could see Bournemouth Bears leapfrog the northerners.
One week later, Finsbury Park plays host to a London derby between London Mets and London Capitals in a repeat of last season's championship game.
BBF Women’s Baseball League
Saturday saw the start of the 2024 BBF Women's Baseball League season where seven out of the eight teams in the division were in action.
Action from WBL Opening Day
Picture credit : Tim French
Belles Baseball, Manchester Jetts, and Sheffield Bruins all got off to fantastic starts after winning their opening two games.
Bruins’ Dora Lau and Antonia Ferguson were star performers in the division, each recording eight runs in their teams’ emphatic victories over Norwich Iceni Queens and Leicester Diamonds.
Picture credit : Tim French
Belles’ shortstop Jessica Hastings hit the first home run of the 2024 WBL season in her team’s convincing 13-3 win over Leicester.
Scores:
Belles Baseball 13-3 Leicester Diamonds
London Mayhem 6-11 Manchester Jetts
Sheffield Bruins 23-3 Norwich Iceni Queens
Norwich Iceni Queens 7-12 Belles Baseball
SWWBL Serpents 22-4 London Mayhem
Leicester Diamonds 3-17 Sheffield Bruins
Manchester Jetts 15-9 SWWBL Serpents
BBF AAA
London Metros 1-0 & 7-6 Richmond Roebucks
New Forest Thunder 6-7, 0-15 & 2-12 Bracknell Inferno
Herts Cardinals 6-7 & 18-2 Cambridge Lancers
Croydon Pirates (AAA) 6-5 & 10-5 Hurricanes Baseball
BBF AA
Guildford Mavericks 0-7 & 0-7 Bristol Bats
Herts Ducks 1-21 & 10-11 Essex Archers
London Mustangs 7-4 & 2-5 Formosa Islanders
Richmond Knights 20-10 & 5-15 Richmond Dragons
BBF A
Bracknell Phoenix 9-10 & 17-9 Brighton Jets
Herts Ravens 6-1 & 20-0 Essex Redbacks
Hastings Pirates 2-15 & 3-15 Guildford Millers
Croydon Pirates 7-0 (Forfeit) & 7-0 (Forfeit) Herts Eagles
London Mercury 10-1 & 10-11 London Minotaurs
Richmond Dukes 7-10 & 5-12 Richmond Barons
Canal League
Limehouse Cutters 14-1 Suez Tomb Raiders
