Taunton Baseball Club continued the South West and Wales Baseball League season on Sunday (July 14th), with the Pistols hosting the Weston Jets and the Muskets traveling to Truro to face the Cornish Claycutters.

The Pistols battled against the Weston Jets, but succumbed to two defeats, 20-1 & 17-0. In Cornwall the Claycutters and Muskets shared the spoils, the Muskets taking game one 11-7, before the Claycutters won game two 10-3. 

The Pistols faced a tough task hosting the recently resurgent Weston Jets. It was not an easy day for the home side, with the Jets limiting them to just three hits across the two games.

The Pistols were also tested in the field and they produced some good defensive plays to limit the Jets. Unfortunately it was not quite enough for the Pistols and they ended up losing 20-1 and 17-0, however the players will take positives from the way they played.

In Truro the Muskets took on the division leading Claycutters in the reverse of last weekend's fixture where they inflicted the Cornish side's first defeat of the season.

Game one saw the visitors take an early lead which they never relinquished, with pitcher Andres Bianco dominating the game on both sides of the ball recording ten strikeouts and three RBI, with Scott Morse and Chris Cranmer chipping in with a couple of RBI each too.

It led to a solid 11-7 win for the Taunton side. It was the home side that came out swinging in the second game. After surrendering the lead in the bottom of the first inning, the Muskets failed to make the most of their opportunities, leaving eight runners stranded on base across the game. Despite a solid pitching performance from Fumihito Yasuhara the Muskets lost 10-3.

Anna Smith, Taunton Pistols player, spoke to us after the game, “we may have lost both games, but we gave it our all and we can use it as a valuable learning experience.”

The Tricky Cider MVP winner for the Pistols went to Jayden Sherman, son of a Muskets original Kevin Sherman, making his debut this season. Jayden put in a solid performance for his first game and capped it off with a nice catch in the outfield. For the Muskets Robert Ford took the honours, making a couple of nice plays at third base, an important double and an RBI in game one. 

Next weekend (July 21st) sees only the Pistols in league action, taking on the New Forest Knights at Taunton Green.