Shropshire Star

Telford aces shine as they pitch in for a winning treble

Telford Baseball Club have cause for celebration following a winning treble.

Published

Telford Giants stunned Worcester Sorcerers with two huge away victories. The commanding 10-1 and 13-2 triumphs moved the men’s team top of the West Midlands Baseball League.

Meanwhile, the 26ers – Telford’s women’s side – sealed an dramatic 7-6 victory over Bristol Bobcats in the final game of their debut season, to sign off their campaign in style.

Giants started game one at Worcester on front foot with pitcher Charlie Mayhew on form with two strike outs in the opening inning. He then capitalised on a throwing errors to secure a first run.

Telford’s strikers then erupted with a stunning six-ball blitz which effectively sealed the win.

Harry Pickup, Jack Pollard and Martin Clowes all recorded run batted in (RBI) hits as the Giants blew the game open 7-1.

Following two more scoreless innings from Mayhew, the Giants added three insurance runs in the fourth inning courtesy of efforts from third base Arnas Stasiunas, catcher Ricardo Trak and second base Andres Carrasco. The contest was over when the two-hour time limit was reached by which time each of the Giants’ nine hitters had either scored or driven in runs.

Game two started slowly with two zeroes across the plate after one innings, before the second played out in a similar fashion to the previous contest, with eight runs recorded from six hits and four walks.

Telford’s batters continued to stay hot throughout the second game, with three runs coming in the third inning and two more in the fifth.

New pitcher Pickup collected his third win of the season while collecting three hits, three runs and two RBIs. Stasiunas, Trak, Pollard and Clowes each had two hits and Stasiunas pitched two dominant innings to close the game out, striking out four.

That same day, Telford 26ers snatched a dramatic 7-6 victory against the Bobcats in London’s Finsbury Park.

Patience ultimately opened the door for Telford’s women to snatch a dramatic 7-6 victory having fought back from 6-3 behind with only one out remaining in the game in the nail-biting contest.

Pitcher Sarah Meeks started, having led her team to their first-ever victory on her last outing. Bristol started strong, with their first three hitters getting on base and scoring, before strong work on first and second base from Rebecca Offland and Miya secured two outs.

Telford replied with three runs, with lead-off hitter Chiemi Saito, thenMiya and Lauren Ross crossing the plate and runs batted in by Sián Howes and Sarah Meeks. In the second inning, Bristol managed to score three before Telford got out of it with two strikeouts by Alhieza Perez-Dela Paz.

The visitors were 6-3 down but a glimmer of hope arrived as pitches began to miss the zone. After three walks – which occurs when the umpire calls first base – centre fielder Ross then scored the match-levelling run on a wild pitch.

Patient appearances from Nev Lindley and Howes drew their own walks, forcing Alhieza to third, who when scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch.

Telford 26ers finish fourth in the National Women’s League with a record of three wins, six losses and one draw.

The Giants return to the Recreation Ground in Ironbridge on the 5th of September to host Stourbridge at 12pm.