After four defeats on the bounce, Weston Jets returned to winning ways as they won both matches of the South West & Wales Baseball League (SWWBL) doubleheader against Bristol Buccaneers on a blazing hot day at Robson Field.

Bristol’s strong hitting belied their lowly league position as they raced into an early lead, but Weston were able to stay in the game thanks to some solid hitting of their own and some aggressive base running.

“Any thoughts that we might have expected an easy game against the team currently occupying the basement position in the league were soon extinguished when Bristol easily scored five runs in the very first innings,” second baseman Dan Kirby-James said.

“We found getting outs quite hard to come by, not helped by a couple of missed easy chances, but once we made some adjustments to the positioning of our outfield we began to find defensive success."

The turning point proved to be a spectacular double play by James Mortimer, who took a brilliant running catch to his left in centre field and then sent a perfect throw to first base to get the runner out before they could safely tag up.

The Jets were on top form from that moment on and were able to earn a deserved win thanks to some patient batting, excellent base-running, some very accurate pitching from Marshall Hanney and some more stand out plays in the field, including a great catch by Aaron Moore and a double play at second base by Kirby-James to finish the match with a 16-14 win.

Weston Mercury: Catcher Darren Hines in action for Weston Jets against Bristol Buccaneers.Catcher Darren Hines in action for Weston Jets against Bristol Buccaneers. (Image: Richard Hemming)

Game two followed the same pattern as the first with both teams scoring highly in the early innings.

And Moore, taking the mound, followed up his great game last week with another excellent pitching performance for the Jets.

The Buccaneers found their scoring restricted in the middle innings, as the Jets' defence got on top, helped by another superb catch in the outfield, this time from right-fielder Richard Hemming.

Hanney’s aggressive base-running tortured the Buccs, stealing whenever he spotted a lapse in concentration from the visitors, including stealing home on one occasion.

The final score was a 14-11 Weston win and Kirby-James added: “Overall it was a very pleasing performance from the team, as we secured wins in both games without needing to bat our final innings each time."

The Jets move to second place as the season passes the halfway mark and next weekend travel to Bristol to play the Buccaneers once again in the return fixture.