Holidays, hijinks and hustle in dog days of August

Most of the playoff places have now been decided, with only a couple of positions still being fought for, but with the season closing quickly, there’s still a lot to play for. Even those well out of contention could be a thorn in the side of teams looking to play in September.

Each of the NBL’s Southampton Mustangs and Richmond Flames could only split their series against the Southern Nationals and London Mets respectively, so the Flames look strongest for the automatic NBC place from Pool A. While the Mets and Nationals are both playoff-bound, it will seem as though the Mustangs will join them in having to fight out for NBC spots, most probably with the Bracknell Blazers. The Lakenheath Diamondbacks swept the Croydon Pirates to confirm their Pool B title and NBC berth.

In AAA in both North and South, the division winners have been decided for a long time (Bristol Badgers and unbeaten Liverpool Trojans respectively), but Bristol have played only four games in six weeks, while Liverpool have only played a couple more since their foray south to the London Tournament. The Essex Redbacks have all but secured second place in the south, while with a sweep of their close rivals the London Metros, the Oxford Kings have given themselves every chance of retaining their AAA crown this year.

With 53% of the teams still playing baseball in Britain this year qualifying for the playoffs, there may appear to be less prestige with getting there, but the important thing is playing at the level you should be competing at. The Bolton Robots of Doom and Milton Keynes Bucks will both be playing for the AA National Title having won their leagues, while Nottingham Rebels and Sheffield Bladerunners will be joining them there. The other four teams (Humber Pilots and Manchester Torrent from North, Birmingham Maple Leafs and Leicester Blue Sox) will drop down to single-A, hoping to win a title for a team outside of the south – something that didn’t happen in 2010. The Blue Sox and Bucks switched codes from where they competed in last season’s playoffs, but both will hope to make the NBCs again like last year.

So in AA South it’s looking like there are only three teams vying for position. The Latin Boys and Essex Archers will take the Pool A positions, while the Guildford Mavericks will definitely take the Pool B crown. Though they’re likely to be joined by the Sidewinders after their win over the Poole Piranhas, the Piranhas and Thames Valley Bisons will hope that their games in hand can be of use. They play each other next Sunday and the winner will eliminate the other from contention, but have to rely on the Sidewinders dropping games against the lowly Herts Hawks and Essex Redbacks II.

And single-A’s playoff positions were decided in the South this weekend as well. The London Marauders confirmed they’ll be going to September baseball with a win over the Tonbridge Bobcats, while the Braintree Rays lost against the Herts Raptors. The Old Timers will take second place in Pool A after the unbeaten Cambridge Royals, but previous form suggests that the Rays will still take the playoff place and need to play the Southampton Mustangs II for the right to go further this season.

The holidays over the last month have evidently taken their toll on some teams more than others, especially those with parents or high numbers of younger players. There have been more forfeits in the past fortnight than through the remainder of the season, which coincides with the start of the summer holidays, while the teams that have persevered have also edged ahead in the standings.

Though the ‘dog days’ of August don’t quite match the intense afternoon heat of the North American major leagues in central Texas or the close mugginess of South Carolina, there is evidence of fatigue, more mental than physical, and so many teams will be happy that they’ve already finalised their positions in the playoffs at this stage.