Published: Friday, 26th June, 2009 1:00pm

Bears suffer first loss since May

Baseball

Windsor's Kyle Purewal.

MIDSUMMER"S Day saw the Windsor and Maidenhead Bears posting their first loss since the beginning of May at Croydon Pirates where they went down 11-5.

In the first of a string of away games which see them on the road until August, the Bears travelled to Croydon for their last regular season match up with the Pirates for this year.

Having won both games in their previous meeting (a double header in Maidenhead) but forfeited their first scheduled tie in April due to an insufficient squad size, Windsor were hoping for the win which put them top of the AA Division 1 South League with two games in hand but unfortunately it was not to be.

Windsor went ahead with three unanswered quick runs in the first inning and the Bears looked likely to continue their run of form, but Croydon started to claw that lead back in the fourth, and by the sixth they had taken the lead. 

After the sixth inning which saw many errors by Windsor and five runs scored by the Pirates, the heads of the Bears dropped somewhat with the realisation of the mammoth task ahead of them. Although the Bears had fought back from such a position in previous weeks, the hill was too steep to climb this time with Windsor rallying for a couple of late runs but unfortunately to no avail. 

Croydon pitcher Timothy Ssali was incredibly strong on the day both on the rubber and at the plate, and was Croydon"s stand out player of the match. He is the best pitcher that the Bears have faced in the league so far, and is no doubt a big influence in the Pirates" solid lead in the league. 

Windsor had stand out performances from youngsters Cailean Madden (third base) and Kyle Purewal (first base) who are both only 15. They excelled with strong defence, good hitting and intelligent base running on the day.

The Bears have done well to have won two games out of the four meetings with the Pirates and remain the only team in the league to have defeated the Pirates but a loss hurts nevertheless. Windsor will be looking to pick up a couple of wins this weekend, when they visit Kent Mariners for a double header, to solidify their second position in the table and stay within reach of Croydon.

The club - who train and play in Cox Green, Maidenhead - are still looking for more players, adults (over 15) or youths (under 13) with or without experience. So if you are interested in playing baseball visit www.eteamz.com/windsorbears/ for more inforamtion or contact coach Jeremy Neads on bears_headcoach@yahoo.com.

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