As the memories of baseball in 2012 drift off into the horizon – or rather, succumb to the mist and fog that we played through when it wasn’t raining – already the new season is nearly upon us with the schedules released just last week for all the divisions. Forget the World Baseball Classic, forget the Majors. This is what the summer was made for…

NBL

The National Baseball League gets going first, with opening day scheduled for Sunday 7 April. Newly-promoted Essex Redbacks kick off with a home double-bill against 2009 champions Bracknell Blazers, while elsewhere double-defending champions Harlow Nationals travel down to Southampton to take on the Mustangs, the Lakenheath Diamondbacks take on the London Mets at Finsbury Park and the newly rebranded South London Pirates make the journey to Herts to take on the 2012 runners-up Falcons.

The Essex Arrows have a bye-week, getting off the mark against Southampton on Sunday 14 April.

The three Essex-based teams produces an interesting subplot to the competition this year. Stay tuned for further assessments and predictions as the first pitch draws closer.

AAA North

AAA North reduces from six teams back down to four, as it was in 2011, as Manchester As drop down to AA North following the club’s struggles at the tail end of last year. Bolton Robots of Doom, who won it all in 2011 and won nothing in 2012, also fall back to AA North, meaning it’ll be a four-way shootout between Menwith Hill Patriots, Cartmel Valley Lions, Halton Jaguars and double-defending champions Liverpool Trojans.

Their season gets going the following week, on Sunday 21 April, a week after the other AAA divisions. Liverpool welcome Menwith Hill and Halton travel to Cartmel Valley for the opening double-headers, with a good start imperative in a division where it could be difficult to build up momentum following early defeats.

AAA Midlands

For the first time in recent memory, all the teams from last year’s AA Midlands league have banded together to move up to the AAA level. Their league-wide promotion is warranted, as they picked up both possible trophies in the competitions they were eligible for in 2012, as well as making up three of the four finalists in their AA and Single-A Championship matches.

As Stourbridge Titans failed to win any matches last year, it’s difficult to predict them faring any better in 2013, although they’ll start by welcoming the 2012 AA NBC Champions, and last year’s Midlands runaway winners, Nottingham Rebels on Sunday 14 April. MK Bucks, who finished second to Nottingham in both races last year, take the week off while old rivalries resume between the Leicester Blue Sox and Birmingham Maple Leafs at Leicester’s Western Park home.

The Bucks’ extra week of practise will set them up nicely for a trip to Stourbridge on Sunday 21 April.

AAA South

With last year’s divisional winners Essex Redbacks moving up, and Bracknell & Windsor Bears dropping out of the league altogether, the remaining teams are evenly placed and should enjoy another cracking season.

On Sunday 14 April, Bristol Badgers travel to face the London Metros, London Mets II (a predominantly under-19s team) escape to the country to take on Cambridge Royals, 2010 AAA Champions and perennial playoff challengers Oxford Kings travel to London to take on Leones de Feltham (a rebranded Latin Tigers/Latin Boys side) and the Herts Ravens’ league debut will be hosting the Richmond Knights, with the two storied clubs looking to make an early impact.

In a straight eight-team race for the title, rather than the pool play of last year, winning early and often will be important, but there will be many ‘six-pointers’ through the season (excuse the cross-sport pollination pun) and the table will be an interesting one to follow.

AA North

Welcoming the Robots of Doom back to the fold and having seen the merger of Manchester As and Torrent means that AA North will be a seven-team division in 2013. Sheffield Bladerunners, who ended up looking comfortable during the final few weeks of the year, will open up on Sunday 28 April against Harrogate Tigers, although the Bladerunners’ bye-week on opening day could have an impact in this likely top-of-the-table clash.

To start, then, Harrogate cross the Pennines to face Bolton, Hull Scorpions make the slightly longer trek to Manchester and Oldham go one further in travelling up to Newton Aycliffe to play the Spartans on Sunday 21 April. All matches, based on previous encounters, promise to have some significant bearing on the outcome of events later in the year, but more importantly the league will hope to complete all its matches this season. Hopefully the weather won’t be as disruptive this year as it has in the past.

AA South

A tale of four quarters has emerged in previous seasons in this division, with the multiple pools generating teams that are significantly better and significantly worse than the average. So rather than ask teams to move up or down divisions, AA South becomes a straight 13-team league in what is an interesting change to the British baseball landscape, making it look more like a football division (and perhaps easier to understand for the uninitiated!)

With six match-ups combining for eight games on opening day, the division remains the biggest across the country in terms of teams playing. On Sunday 21 April, Hove Tuesday make their debut in the division against the Poole Piranhas, travelling along the coast for a double-header, and the Daws Hill Spitfires take on nemeses Guildford Mavericks in the other two game set. Kent Mariners travel to Richmond to play the Dragons, Sidewinders travel to Southampton to take on Mustangs II and in another huge fixture with club pride at stake, London Mammoths will take on Herts Hawks hoping to overturn their double defeat in the league that ultimately cost them runners-up spot in the division last year.

Redbacks II have the week off to prepare, and will be watching the antics of their first opponents, Southampton, carefully prior to their trip to the south coast the following week.

Single-A South

Split into three pools of four this year, with teams from Leicester (2Sox) and Milton Keynes (Coyotes) joining the Herts Eagles and Herts Raptors in the ‘northern’ tier. Braintree Rays have folded, but been replaced by Haverhill Blackjacks, while Hove Tuesday’s promotion means the division is wide open for a team to storm it, as has been the case the past two seasons (Cambridge Royals going unbeaten in 2011, Tuesday following suit in 2012).

All 12 teams are in action on Sunday 21 April to kick off the year, with the 2Sox’s debut under the new moniker coming in the form of a match at Western Park against the Herts Raptors. Herts Eagles travel up to MK to play the Coyotes, while Haverhill’s debut comes against the Essex Archers at Waltham Abbey. Essex Redbacks III host the Old Timers and Tonbridge Bobcats travel to Richmond Dukes – two of last year’s weaker teams hoping to get off to a flyer against the other. In the final match of the weekend, London Marauders will want to show Guildford Mavericks II that they mean business this year, with many predicting the Marauders to carry the flag for the division in 2013.