Bournemouth Bears win their first NBL game and Essex Arrows record walk-off home run victory
NBL
Bournemouth Bears v BC Vetra
Bournemouth Bears won their first-ever National Baseball League game in a split series against BC Vetra at Saltford Sports Club.
Bournemouth Bears recorded their first victory in the NBL following on the AAA championship performance in 2023.
After losing the series' first game, the Bears scored a stunning seven runs in three innings to blow away the Saltford-based club in an eventual 9-4 victory.
Bournemouth’s star man offensively was catcher Jonny Guevara. He scored runs in the third, fourth, and seventh innings and also drove home two more runners.
The result saw the Bears take a step away from the bottom of the table, and left Sheffield Bruins as the only winless team in the division this season.
In the first game of the series between the two sides, BC Vetra recorded their first victory since the opening day of the NBL season.
A brilliant second inning did the damage for Vetra where they scored four of their total five runs in a 5-1 victory.
Miguel Sánchez picked up his first pitching victory of the season after striking out five Bears batters. Vetra manager Tadas Sarakojis was full of praise for his pitcher following the result.
He said: “Miguel Sánchez did a great job on the mount he pitched seven innings and the Bournemouth Bears scored just 1 run. This was a key to the victory.”
Both teams return to action next weekend at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead. Bournemouth Bears play the London Capitals and BC Vetra play the Essex Arrows before the two sides play each other once again.
London Capitals v Essex Arrows
Angel Perez scored a walk-off home run to kick off a two-game sweep for the Essex Arrows over the London Capitals at Townmead Playing Fields.
Angel Perez hit a walk off home run in the last inning to secure the game one victory for the Essex Arrows v London Capitals
Picture : Jody Demay-Davies
Strong pitching performances from Johan Villanueva and Giovanni Pappalardo kept the game scoreless coming into the bottom of the last inning.
That is before Arrows’ star hitter Perez smashed a home run deep into left field to secure a 1-0 victory in the first game. The centre-fielder now leads the NBL in home runs with two in total.
Pappalardo’s shutout gained him his third pitching victory of the season, the most wins of any pitcher in the NBL. His earned run average of 1.24 is the best of any pitcher to pitch over ten innings.
Yonathan Novas mirrored Pappalardo’s efforts with another shutout in game two. The pitcher has now pitched ten innings in 2024 without giving up a single run.
Perez once again proved to be an issue for the Capitals pitchers. He scored two of his team’s seven runs in a 7-0 win.
The centre-fielder’s 0.412 batting average is now the second-highest in the division for any batter with 15 or more at-bats.
Arrows’ manager Eduardo Rodrigues was pleased after his team’s two-game sweep. He said: “Two great games and wins against a very good team.”
London Capitals have the chance at revenge against Essex Arrows next week at Grovehill Ballpark. After that match, the Capitals play Bournemouth Bears and Arrows face BC Vetra.
Next weekend all the NBL teams will be in action. London Mets and the Sheffield Bruins are at Enfield, while BC Vetra, Bournemouth Bears, London Capitals and Essex Arrows star in a series of games at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead.
AAA
New Forest Thunder 4-5 & 2-8 Bristol Badgers
Essex Saxons 12-10 & 13-0 Cambridge Lancers
Richmond Roebucks 13-3 & 9-0 Hurricanes
AA
Oxford Kings 9-10 & 24-11 Bournemouth Bears 2
London Mustangs 3-8 & 10-11 Formosa Islanders
Milton Keynes Bucks 15-9 & 10-4 Herts Hawks
London Meteors 8-5 & 12-5 London Sidewinders
Essex Archers 2-4 & 4-15 Norwich Iceni
Richmond Dragons 5-0 & 15-9 Richmond Knights
A
Richmond Dukes 12-13 & 2-15 Herts Eagles
Guildford Millers 1-7 & 7-8 Bracknell Phoneix
Cardiff Merlins 1-9 & 7-8 Cornish Claycutters
Herts Buzzards 3-15 & 6-11 Herts Ravens
London Minotaurs 16-6 & 19-3 London Mercury
Taunton Muskets 27-2 & 20-15 New Forest Knights
Bristol Buccaneers 23-3 & 20-0 Taunton Pistols
Cornish Pioneers 5-10 Weston Jets (Game 2 postponed due to weather)
BBL Lower
Bootle Trojans 0-13 & 16-5 Leeds Locos
East Of England Baseball League
Cambridge Monarchs 11-12 & 6-10 Cambridge Royals
Norwich Warriors 21-13 & 13-15 Harwich Town Bay Area
Canal League
London Mayhem 2-9 Limehouse Cutters
Limehouse Cutters 11-4 Suez Tomb Raiders
Suez Tomb Raiders 17-2 London Mayhem
Match report by Michael Thomas
All the latest results, standings and stats are available here
