With the Jaguars and Bombers both scoring single figures in week two, it would be easy to assume that their contest would be a tight defensive struggle.
But this was neither the case for Jaguars v Bombers or the neighbouring fixture of Aries v Spitfires. In fact, Week three of the Swindon Softball League saw over 100 Runs scored in two games!
Over on Diamond 2, the game started perfectly for the Jaguars, with a deep catch at left centre field removing the Bombers’ lead-off batter. After a relatively careful first innings for both teams, the game exploded into life from then on with both big hits into the outfield and solid hits through the infield as both teams ran up big scores.
Both teams fell into a groove, with Bombers hitting high into the centre and Jags getting the ball to ground early and working the spaces. Both teams seemed to thrive under pressure, scoring heavily on two outs. And after a close, blow-for-blow shootout for the first four innings, it was such a situation, at two out, that saw the Jaguars build a final lead that they held to the end. With the final two innings being much more defensive than the first four, the score stuck at 35-21 to the Jaguars.
Click here for full Bombers vs Jaguars game stats.
On Diamond 1 Spitfires were playing their second ever game as a team against defending champions Aries, who were making their 2019 season debut.
Despite having a runner on third base every inning, it was a combination of excellent batting and good fielding that really got Spitfires off to a flying start, including great fielding performances by MVPs Gemma Harris and Jesse Januszkiewicz who between them did a great job defending the skies on the left side of the outfield.
With the Spitfires’ rookie runs added in the fourth inning, the great batting performance by the rookie side continued and by the bottom of the fifth inning Aries were chasing a 10-run deficit.
Some wholesale fielding changes, a pitching change and a substitution all seemed to do the trick for Aries in the fifth inning as they held the high-flying Sptifres to one run over the last two frames.
This also ignited a batting charge for the league champions who rammed in a combined 19 runs in the fifth and sixth inning, the highlights of which being a home run into the trees in left field by Danny Maskule and Aries MVP Mason Thompson hitting for the cycle.
In the end the bottom of the seventh inning wasn’t needed as Aries prevailed 29-21. Despite being shot down late on in the game, this was a great performance by the Spitfires who really showed their potential as a force to be reckoned with.
Click here for full Aries vs Spitfires game stats.