Post-season round 1 – NBC contenders confirmed
A couple of weeks ago I made my predictions for who would be attending the NBCs this weekend. Although I felt my choices were fairly reasonable, I was made aware that my short views on some teams’ chances were not as well received as I’d hoped.
British Baseball’s funnest team, the London Marauders, were one such outfit. They are among the best bunch of guys who play the game here and a real credit to the fact that beer and baseball are not mutually exclusive. Though I wrote off their acumen as single-A challengers, I thoroughly loved seeing them make the post-season just two years after failing to win a game in their debut season.
Unfortunately, there was to be no last-minute romance and the Cambridge Royals took them apart 17-2 on a rainy Sunday in Richmond. The Royals then met Southampton Mustangs in the regional playoff final after the Hampshire team had defeated the Old Timers 22-13. And the final was close until a four-run fourth sealed the fate of the Mustangs, with the Royals doing as they had all season in winning to go through to face the best of the North and Midlands.
That turned out to be the Birmingham Maple Leafs, who came through first against the Manchester Torrent (14-4) and then against the Humber Pilots (15-10) to represent the regions at the NBCs on Sunday, the game due to start at 10:30am.
GB Baseball’s hosting of the tournament will also include a couple of new faces to this stage of the competition in AA as well. The Latin Boys, playing on home turf at Croydon but far from their desired environment, came through in the third closest playoff game of the weekend with a 2-1 win over the Poole Piranhas in soggy south London. The Guildford Mavericks were to be their regional final opponents after they made it past the the Essex Archers 14-5 (5-5 until the heaviest rain and pitching changes decided it for the Mavs). The two sides had split their series this season, so it was always going to be close, and the Latin Boys ended up edging it 8-4 to head to the NBCs.
There they’ll meet the Bolton Robots of Doom. Their win over the Nottingham Rebels was hard-fought, requiring all the innings to walk off against the hosts in a 9-8 score. And then they had to watch their opponents fighting it out as the MK Bucks won their 20th competitive game of the year beating the Sheffield Bladerunners.
After three innings of the final the scores were tied at 5-5, and it was about to become a classic. Bolton edged away, and took 8-5 and 9-6 leads, only to be pegged back, before then going to 11-9 in the fifth inning. The game clock was running down and it was up to the Bucks to go hard or go home, so they tied it to make things interesting. The Bucks stole a run in the sixth to lead at the most important part of the day, but Bolton drew level in the seventh and took it to extra innings for some of the most exciting action to hit British baseball this year. And the Northerners knocked another run over in the ninth frame to lead 13-12, shutting out the Bucks and sending themselves through (thanks there to Will Lintern, BSUK Midlands Region Coach, for his numerous Twitter updates during the afternoon).
In AAA only one NBC berth was up for grabs; a shoot-out between the 2010 National Champion Oxford Kings and the Essex Redbacks. The Redbacks had won all six meetings during the regular season, but only three of them by more than one run, and Oxford set a blistering pace with two runs on only one out before a forty minute rain delay. Vince Warner then came out to set them down, and with the bats flourishing to take a 7-2 lead after four innings, he kept the Kings quiet for the remainder of the day. Chris Oates pitched well for the Kings, but his bats couldn’t back him and their abdication was confirmed when a deep fly ball from manager Santo Bains was snapped up in centre field to send the Redbacks through to face the Liverpool Trojans on Saturday morning.
Just two places were available for teams in the NBL for their final four at the NBCs. My predictions had so far come true in all the leagues, but a clerical error meant I had not accounted for the London Mets and Southern Nationals playing each other BEFORE the NBCs. I probably would have backed the Mets to win, but the Southern Nationals are a great side and won 7-3 at Finsbury Park to book their spot at the final four.
The Croydon Pirates were the last team to book a playoff place, relying on the Bracknell Blazers losing on Sunday 28 August and then themselves splitting a pair with the Essex Arrows on Bank Holiday Monday. They were unable to beat the Southampton Mustangs, though it was close throughout, and the 12-8 win was true to form. The Mustangs will face the Lakenheath Diamondbacks on Saturday, while the Nationals take on the 2010 National Champions Richmond Flames.
It’s been an exciting post-season so far, with results tending to stick with form. Which has meant my predictions, made solely on paper, have come through in all but the NBL! But in seeing the fruits of these games, we also note an interesting anomaly.
There are no Bracknell, Croydon, Herts or London teams at the NBCs, while only one Richmond team represents the five power houses of the southern divisions. Of the clubs that will take places in the final four, only three have more than one senior team in their ranks (Southampton Mustangs, Richmond Flames, Essex Redbacks). But none of them have any shortage of desire to win, so there will be some awesome baseball on display.
Games start at 11am on Saturday and 10:30am on Sunday at Grovehill Playing Fields in Hemel Hempstead (postcode: HP2 6NH) and support for all the teams and players would be great. In addition, there’s the chance to meet some of the stars of the GB Baseball team and maybe the chance to pick their brains on some crucial matters: what’s the best beer in Tel Aviv; when will the weather finally represent the season we’re in; who’s going to win the whole darn thing?
