Best performance yet by Torrington Riptides

The Torrington Riptides nearly caused a major upset in their away fixture against the Exeter Spitfires on Sunday, with two games where Torrington took early leads against a much more experienced opponent.

The Spitfires came to the fixture as the only unbeaten team in the league and expected to dominate these games as they had done when they visited Torrington at the start of May. But it was the Riptides who put in a dominant performance for the first three innings of game 1.

Player-manager Jess Cooper scored a hit in each of her four at-bats, driving in six of Torrington’s runs and she was well supported by the rest of the Riptides’ line-up, including three hits each from Daisy Rowlands and Ed Willmott.

Confident fielding by Torrington, and great pitching by Fred Batt, who struck out eight Exeter batters, helped Torrington maintain their lead and by the middle of the third inning, they were ahead 12-4.

As a large, long-established club, Exeter were able to bring a much bigger squad than Torrington, and they substituted in four more experienced players to change the direction of the game.

The Spitfires took the lead in the fourth inning and, although Torrington briefly regained it in the fifth, they were unable to prevent Exeter from scoring the winning run and ending the game with a 15-16 scoreline.

With a squad size that allowed for just one change to the team for game 2, Torrington still managed to rally from 0-2 down in the second inning, with hits from Batt, Willmott, Ed Keech and Mike ‘Juggernaut’ Curtis giving them a 4-2 lead.

Strong pitching by Willmott, and a vital catch by Josh Owen prevented Exeter scoring in that inning, but the Spitfires’ ability to replace tired players was now paying dividends and they scored five unanswered runs in the third inning and three in the fourth to win the game 4-10.

“We were one out away from pulling off the biggest baseball upset the Westcountry has ever seen,” Cooper said after the game. “Heck of a day, just great all round.”

“We’d really love it if more people joined our team,” Cooper added. “It would give us more depth and more options so that we can maintain our advantage when we need to.”

The Riptides play at home (at Great Torrington School) against the Newton Abbott Brewers on July 6 before closing the season with an away game against the Cornish Pioneers on July 27.

To join or sponsor the team, email Jess Cooper at torringtonriptides@gmail.com