Summer returns as baseball reigns in the sunshine

For some teams it had been over a month since they last played competitive baseball, with the London Tournament and heavy rain impacting the schedule during July. But when ball was finally played, everyone played ball.

Mercy rule wins, walk-off hits and webgems aside, the story of the weekend was to be found well off the beaten track, in deepest, darkest Oldham.

Without a win in over three years, and receiving a mauling to start the season at the hands of the Bolton Robots of Doom (42-1 and 22-1 respectively), few would have fancied the North Stars to prevail when they welcomed their closest divisional rivals, the Manchester Torrent, to their part of the north west.

After rain wiped out the scheduled matches between the two teams the week before, the Torrent fired with a 14-6 win to send the North Stars to their umpteenth consecutive loss. But the rot would stop, and with aplomb. Leading throughout the second fixture, only a blip in the seventh let the Torrent in, and even then it was a four-run rally that was four too short as the North Stars won 10-6 to crack their unhealthy goose egg.

The Cambridge Royals romped to their tenth win of the season over the Tonbridge Bobcats and the Southampton Mustangs II returned to winning ways in single-A with a 19-9 win over the Braintree Rays. Second place in Pool B becomes a little more interesting as the Guildford Mavericks II edged a 16-15 win over the London Marauders, drawing the Surrey side to within a game and a half of the London club.

AA South went true to form, with the higher placed teams in contests winning their match-ups. However, there were upsets in the form of the Humber Pilots earning a split against the Bolton Robots of Doom in AA North, while in AA Midlands the Nottingham Rebels moved to within half a game of the Birmingham Maple Leafs with a win over the second-placed club.

Similarly, AAA South witnessed two sweeps for the London Metros and Oxford Kings over the Windsor & Bracknell Bears and Richmond Knights respectively, reflecting the positions of the clubs in the division. But a first win for the Essex Redbacks over the Bristol Badgers in 2011 ensured a split between the top two teams, and the playoff run now becomes interesting. The Badgers have four games against each of the Kings and Metros over the next six weeks, with all three teams vying for the big prize.

The NBL saw a split between the London Mets and Lakenheath Diamondbacks in Pool B, but there were sweeps elsewhere as the Croydon Pirates moved ahead of the Bracknell Blazers, and the Southampton Mustangs and Richmond Flames stay well ahead in Pool A. In all likelihood, both the Mustangs and Flames will be in the playoffs, along with the Diamondbacks, and the Pirates, Mets and Southern Nationals – who haven’t played in July due to international commitments – will probably make up the other three clubs to get to the post-season. But there’s still a lot of baseball left this summer, and a lot can happen as holiday season kicks in.

In International news, the GB team won their opening match in the qualifiers for the World Baseball Championship. And in a mercy rule-shortened seven innings no less, with a 14-3 victory over Lithuania. However, only a few of the players representing GB are familiar names for those following the British leagues, as the extensive national scouting policy is paying dividends.