The Tonbridge Bobcats hosted the Hastings Pirates June 7th in a double-header of the top two teams in the British Baseball Federation Division 5 South. The games were played at Borley Field, in Tonbridge, Kent with Game 1 starting at 10:00am.
Game1
Game 1 was an exciting battle between the Pirates and Bobcats. Hastings jumped to a strong lead with four runs in both the 1st and 2nd innings but the Bobcats stayed in contention with three runs. Then in the 3rd inning, with Chris Henderson on the mound, the Bobcats held the visitors scoreless then put up the maximum runs themselves off of hits by Grant Theis, Gareth Nutt, Tim Barretto, and team captain Niall Cafferty. Unfortunately for the hosts, Hastings made the most of the final stanza by earning 10 runs and then held Tonbridge to just two runs, to win the game 18-10.
Game2
In Game 2 the Bobcats clawed back and earned a split from the double-header. Joe Bartlett was the starting pitcher for the home team and Mike Bartlett took over in relief in the 2nd inning whilst the visitors turned to Tim Whittlesea, who pitched the full game. Tonbridge racked up more hits (11 to 4) and stole more bases over the first three innings to take a 13-9 lead into the final frame, when the home team didn’t allow any runs and ended the game with a fantastic double play by shortstop Bing Xie.
The Bobcats next play on 14 June, against the Hurricanes in Hildenborough.
