Week 7 of the 2019 Swindon Softball League season saw the first Monday game of the year, meaning all six teams were due to be in action.
Sadly the Dodgers could not raise a legal team in time for their game against Aries on Thursday evening and as a result forfeited the game 7-0.
A friendly game was played anyway which turned out to be a relaxed, high scoring affair with some good batting performances all round. The highlight of the game was undoubtedly Craig Maddock’s (ringing for Aries) walk off grand slam . Shame it didn’t count Craig!
Bombers vs Las Panteras
Monday night saw the Bombers host Las Panteras in a game that was a close matchup for the first three innings. The Bombers took to the field first and limited the Panteras to a single run. Las Panteras were equally stingy, leaving the Bombers with a scoreless first inning.
Both teams managed to squeeze in a single run in the second and at the end of three innings the score was 4-2 to League leaders Las Panteras. The fourth inning made all the difference however.
Las Panteras scored 5 and defended the advantage, holding the Bombers to no score. This break by Las Panteras opened the flood gates for a 14-Run fifth inning. Bombers followed up with 6 runs of their own, but it was just short of the amount needed to prevent the ball-game being called by mercy rule.
Spitfires vs Jaguars
Thursday night’s game on Diamond Two saw the Spitfires (who were sporting their great new kit!) host the Jaguars.
The Spitfires had put up some great performances in recent weeks and were aiming for their first win, while the Jaguars were looking to keep pace at the top of the table following their sister team’s win on Monday and Aries being granted a win by forfeit.
After big first innings by both teams where the Jaguars lead 7-4, the game settled into a defensive struggle from then on with three runs combined scored in four half innings.
After shutting the Jaguars out for two innings, the Spitfires took the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning with four runs scored to add to their five rookie runs.
It was the in the sixth inning, however, that the Jaguars’ experience showed through with a 10-run batting performance. The Spitfires could only score one run in reply and with both teams shutting each other out in the seventh inning the Jaguars were victors by a score of 21-17.
Fun facts for the Spitfires: Despite still searching for their first win as a team, they posted a team record three shutout innings in this game and scored in every inning for the first time. Great job guys!