Classic East vs West tussle for AAA South title

Restructure of division makes for interesting competition

The AAA South will be made up of eight teams in 2012 after the Latin Boys (promoted from AA South) and Cambridge Royals (up from Single-A after an unbeaten Championship-winning 2011) will join the six teams from last term.

Teams will be split into divisions geographically, to reduce the costs and times of travelling, with the longest journeys instead to be played at neutral venues (the Bristol Badgers will take on Cambridge and the Essex Redbacks at grounds halfway between the towns, for example), as some teams may otherwise need to do 300+ mile round-trips on game days.

The Badgers, Bracknell Blazers, Richmond Knights and Oxford Kings will take up the western side of the division, while the Redbacks, Royals, London Metros and Latin Boys will fight it out in the east.

With two divisions, playoff places are hoped to be contested by teams all season – after about six weeks last season it was becoming clear which teams would challenge for September’s baseball action. The aim is to keep it competitive all the way through, as in the NBL last year, where no team was mathematically eliminated from the postseason until mid July, with only six games remaining.

How the west will be won

The Bristol Badgers bossed in early 2011, but the weather and being unable to complete their schedule meant that by the playoffs, despite winning the division, they bowed out to perennial contenders the Oxford Kings after a lack of match practise and player availability. The Badgers outhit opponents all season, clubbing more home runs than any side in the division, and possibly in the country, and they will hope that they can match last season’s form.

The Kings had lost to the Essex Redbacks in a playoff match and weren’t supposed to be at the National Baseball Championships, but dumped the Badgers out en route to losing in the final to the Liverpool Trojans. The Kings won the Championship in 2010, but other teams caught up to them last season in a big way. However, they’re a side that is always difficult to beat and will be consistently good throughout the summer.

Making up the quartet are representatives from some of the oldest clubs in the country.

The Richmond Knights struggled when they stepped up to AAA last year, having won the AA Championship comfortably in 2010, but may benefit from receiving a few players from the now dormant Richmond Flames (who won’t be playing in the NBL this year).

The Bracknell & Windsor Bears, a combination of teams from the two towns, formed last year to mix experience with youth. It was a baptism of fire, and other teams overcame them consistently, but there is a belief that in 2012 they will fight back in a big way. Both teams are enjoying their twentieth anniversaries this year, and will meet on open day to fight for bragging rights and early advantage in the standings.

This has now become genuinely one of the toughest divisions to predict a winner in (one of the others being the eastern half of the league!), especially before a ball has been thrown. I would back the Badgers and the Kings to be slugging it out all the way, but this could be one where only three games separate all the teams by the end of the season.

Eastern promises

The top-ranked team in the east will be the Essex Redbacks, having finished in a strong second place last season. They’ll be looking to win it all in their third year, having recruited heavily and promoted many of their junior players through into senior baseball as they mature. The addition of the NBL’s third-highest strikeout pitcher from last season, Richard Chesterton, really bolsters a pitching rotation led by former GB-superstar Vince Warner, who continues to defy his age.

The London Metros nearly pipped the Kings to third place in the division last time around, with only their head-to-head record against the Oxford outfit keeping them fourth place with a record that might have won the division any other year. With the addition of a fourth team at the London Club, opportunities for new players to come through will keep the Metros on their toes, while recruits may also mean former NBL players might appear on their roster.

The Cambridge Royals made an immediate impact when they brought baseball back to their part of East Anglia last season. In winning every game they were only held close a couple of times, and out-hit and out-pitched their opponents at every opportunity. Even in the Championship match they beat the Birmingham Maple Leafs, who have consistently been challenging for silverware over the past decade, by slaughter rule. They may have jumped up two divisions, but no team should underestimate their potential for playing hard.

The Latin Boys joined the Royals in starting afresh in 2011, and they produced some of the most exciting baseball of last summer. They beat off a number of very worthy and established teams in going on to represent the south at the NBCs, and only lost in extra innings to the Bolton Robots of Doom. Like many other clubs in the division, they too have launched another team in 2012 (the Latin Tigers) to strengthen their development and they will be a handful on the diamond.

Putting my loyalties aside, I would suggest that the Redbacks might just pip this half of the draw, but it really depends on player availability and pitching, perhaps more so than any other division. The Redbacks have two bonafide aces who can go seven innings or more if asked, but the depth behind may be lacking. The Metros have a number of talents from the mound to choose from, while both the Boys and the Royals will need to quickly adapt to double-headers each week.

The NBC representation – who’ll fly the flag for the deep south?

Two teams from the southern divisions will take a place at the Championships in August and it’s impossible to say which of the eight will be there. Based on progress from recent seasons, you’d have to think that the Redbacks and Metros will be there or thereabouts again, while the Kings and Badgers will play out for a pennant in the west. But nothing is certain. Watch this space…