Honours even for Bucs and Stars

The Belfast Buccaneers and Belfast Northstars will have returned home unsatisified with their respective road trips this weekend having split their games against the Cavan Comets and the Ashbourne Giants.

Both teams would have travelled in the belief that they were more than capable of taking both wins and closing the gap on the Hornets in the Baseball Ireland B league North.

The Bucs were rocked early in the first game, falling behind 8-2 by the fourth inning. Showing great spirit, the visitors would claw the game back, pulling the score to 9-5 and loading the bases in the last. Not enough outs remained however and the Comets closed it out.

The second game was a much more comfortable affair for the Buccaneers – an 8-0 lead after two innings settled them down, a 13-1 scoreline after four even more so. With a mercy rule loss staring them in the face it was then the Cavan side’s turn to dig in. Unfortunately for the home side they had too much hill to climb and they would ultimately fall 15-6 to the Belfast team.

The Northstars travelled further south to a sunny Corcaigh Park in Dublin to take on the Ashbourne Giants. The first game was a comfortable win for the visitors but the second would provide more talking points.

A slugfest with no small amount of drama (eventually leading to the ejection of Northstars coach Darwin Sanchez) that would ultimately result in a walk off balk call, 19-18 was the frustrating final scoreline that no doubt left a bad taste in the mouth of the Northstars as they travelled back up the M1.

The Northstars and Buccaneers will get little time to recover as they have to square off against each other on Wednesday evening at Hydebank. First pitch 7pm.

The Stars will be looking to claw back from a 3-0 series deficit as the season moves into its second half. In the first, the offensive punch provided by David Gray and William Mitchell (4 H, 6 RBI combined) to support their starter Melvin Woods was not enough to keep up with the balanced output of the Buccaneers. Ultimately the five errors committed by the Northstars would send them to a 12-9 loss.

The second tilt was a rough outing for Kleiber Sanchez, thanks in no small part to one of the more dominant first outings seen in Baseball Ireland.

Catcher Alex Linderman hit two home runs in the game, driving in six and catalysing the Bucs to a 19 run explosion, providing more than enough run support for starter Sean Shackley’s solid outing ( 4 R, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 3K); 19-4 the final.

The third game would show little letup for the Northstars with the Buccaneers lineup proving as consistently powerful as ever. Another quality start for Carter that included ten strikeouts was more than enough to drive the Bucs to a 13-3 victory.

Coach Darwin Sanchez will be hoping that the potential-filled Northstars lineup will finally click and provide a consistent offensive punch.