The defending European Division I champion Patch Panthers swept the Bamberg Barons 21-1 and 10-8 Saturday at Bamberg to forge a tie with idle Heidelberg for the East Region lead.

Bamberg shrugged off a 10-run outburst in Patch’s last at-bat in Game 1 to forge an 8-8 tie in the nightcap as the two-hour time limit was winding down, according to Bamberg coach Jim Davis.

Patch, the home team in Game 2, went up 10-8 in the bottom of the fourth on Justin Quimby’s two-run homer, and the Panthers retired Bamberg in the top of the fifth with a runner on third to claim the victory.

For the doubleheader, Ryan Tannenbaum was a combined 6-for-7, Austin Lemay a combined 5-for-8, and Jack Smith a combined 3-for-5 for Patch (7-1).

Dylan Measells started both games for the Panthers and struck out nine in four innings of work on the day.

Brandon Fields stroked a bases-clearing triple to boost Bamberg (4-4) in the nightcap, Davis reported. Eric Ozuna went 2-for-2 in Game 2, and Derek Shreve, the losing pitcher in Game 2, struck out four in four innings pitched.

Next up for Patch is a doubleheader Saturday at Vilseck. Bamberg is to play at Ansbach on Friday.

In other baseball of note:

Kaiserslautern 3-12, SHAPE 2-4: Saturday at Kaiserslautern, Ian Acosta and Zach Jones picked up the pitching victories as the Red Raiders improved their season record to 10-2 with the West Region sweep.

According to Kaiserslauern coach Tom Burriss, Acosta, who pitched four innings in the opener before giving way to Jones and Aaren Blossom, struck out 10 and allowed just two hits.

Rick Westrich was the only SHAPE batter to get to the K-town trio in the opener. He stroked a two-run single in the fifth, but Blossom came on to record the save.

Joe Broughton took the loss for SHAPE despite striking out nine and allowing just three hits.

Jones allowed four hits and struck out two in two innings of work as the Game 2 starter. He was backed by a solo homer from Acosta, who struck out two batters in his closer role in the last inning.

Broughton again took the loss for SHAPE (3-3) despite striking out five and stroking a solo homer. Ben Engle drove in two runs for SHAPE.

Next up for the Spartans is a Saturday doubleheader against visiting Alconbury. K-town is scheduled to host Ramstein that day.

Aviano 4-8, Vicenza 2-9: Saturday at Aviano, Peter Perry went 3-for-3 in the nightcap to help Vicenza (2-6) to the South Region split.

According to Aviano coach Dave Izzo, Jeremy Huller picked up the pitching victory for Vicenza, which broke an 8-8 tie in the sixth and final inning.

Vicenza survived 2-for-2 games from Trey Lee, who doubled and tripled, and Keyshawn Gatson, who doubled twice. Also hitting the ball well for Aviano in Game 2 were Myron McRae, who was 3-for-3 with a double, and Christian Lee, who was 2-for-3.

Christian Hall went 2-for-2 at the plate and was the Game 1 winning pitcher for Aviano (1-7). He allowed just one hit and one run in working the final three innings after taking over for starter Nik Weiser. The two combined to limit Vicenza to four hits, two of them by Josh Ganci.

Grant Trochesset went the distance for Vicenza. He gave up eight hits.

Both teams are idle until May 21, when they are to play each other again, this time at Vicenza.

Ramstein 4-14, AFNORTH 0-2: Saturday at Ramstein, Caleb Guerrido and freshman Tyler Hughes picked up the victories as the Ramstein Royals swept the AFNORTH Lions.Guerrido piched three innings of one-hit ball in the opener, according to Ramstein coach Glen Porter, allowing just a Texas League single to Sam Young and striking out six.The Game 1 starter for AFNORTH, Jake Reynolds, was almost as effective as Guerrido, Porter reported. Reynolds allowed five hits, but the Royals got two of them in the first inning en route to a 3-0 lead. Rylee Moore drove in two of those with a deep sacrifice fly.Ramstein cashed in one of five walks given up by Reynolds for its fourth run. In the third inning, Moore walked, stole second and scored on a passed ball.In Game 2, Hughes went the distance, striking three and limiting AFNORTH to just three hits as Ramstein improved to 9-1 in West Region play.Jon Groteleschen gave the Royals a quick 3-0 first-inning lead with his fifth homer of the year, a three-run shot. Ramstein put the game away with a six-run second fueled by Guerrido’s two-run double. Next up for Ramstein is a Saturday doubleheader at 10-2 Kaiserslautern. AFNORTH (0-6) is next scheduled to host winless Alconbury on Friday.

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