Mustangs stampede to top of NBL rankings

The weather finally made little impact on the British Baseball schedule this weekend as all senior action planned went ahead with some cracking games across the board. After last week’s average of 43 runs per game, Single-A South just got silly this week, despite some close games. But let’s instead start with the premier competition in the UK, the National Baseball League.

NBL – movers make shakes as shakers slip up

The Southampton Mustangs were the big winners in a fiery contest at the weekend as they moved top of the NBL with a sweep, both by mercy rule, over the Essex Redbacks. They join the Herts Falcons with 5-1 records after their first six games, while the Redbacks dropped to the bottom of the standings at 2-6 after their first month in the big league.

Splits for the other Essex teams – the Arrows took one from the Bracknell Blazers to disrupt a seven-game winning streak for the youthful Blazers, and the Harlow Nationals stumbled in the second match of a double header with the South London Pirates – saw both join the Pirates with 2-4 records, Bracknell falling to 3-3 and retaining a dangerous mid-table position.

AAA North – Trojans fall from top spot

After only two games in 2013, the Liverpool Trojans had their worst record in living memory. They were ‘only’ 1-1 following a comprehensive victory for the Cartmel Valley Lions in the first game of a pair, but Liverpool bounced back to be in positive numbers by the end of the weekend, although they now have to play catch-up to the Halton Jaguars.

The Jaguars took two from the Menwith Hill Patriots; insodoing they moved to 2-0 and were the first team to be ahead of Liverpool in the standings in over three seasons. That said, it’s still very early and the safe money would be to back Liverpool to get back to the top very, very quickly.

AAA Midlands – Rebels roll and Bucks bite

The Nottingham Rebels’ season has gotten off to a flyer, going 5-0 after the first three weekends of action. This week their victims were the Leicester Blue Sox, who at least put up a fight in a six-run defeat, limiting Nottingham to ‘just’ 10 runs.

Knowing their main rivals had won must have been the inspiration for the MK Bucks in their two victories over the Birmingham Maple Leafs. Neither were easy, and the first was an absolute corker, the Bucks winning 2-0 over seven frames. The two run difference was the same, but it was only after an eight run outburst in the final inning to establish their only lead of the game in a 16-14 match.

For the Blue Sox (now 1-2) and Maple Leafs (1-5) it already looks as if silverware this season will have to be fought for outside of the division as the Bucks and Rebels are running away already. The Stourbridge Titans (0-3) will also hope to record their first ever win(s) during the year.

AAA South – Streaking Mets II mixing it with the big boys

Despite being the London Mets’ Under-20 development squad, the Mets II are showing experience beyond their years and talent in buckets as they make their voices heard in AAA South. Two wins over the hearty Leones de Feltham (now 2-2) give the London club a 5-1 record after six weekends, in which they’ve scored nearly twice as many runs as any other team in the division.

The much-fancied Bristol Badgers (3-3) had to settle for another split against the Oxford Kings (3-1), while London Metros (3-3) and Cambridge Royals (4-2) swept the Herts Ravens and Richmond Knights to stay in the mix. After only three weeks of the season it might already be shaping up for a fight to avoid the wooden spoon between the Ravens and Knights, who fall to 0-4, and may struggle to get back to something resembling .500 with tough match-ups in the coming weeks.

AA North – Scorpions sting while Robots malfunction and Bladerunners are blunted

The Sheffield Bladerunners have been one of the top teams in the division for a number of years and expectations were high for a great campaign this year with Bolton dropping back down, Manchester re-tooling and the Scorpions adding the British Baseball Hall of Fame star Gary Marshall. But Sheffield’s season openers were disrupted by the Harrogate Tigers in an absolute demolition, outscoring their Yorkshire rivals 41-22 over two matches.

The Manchester As (2-2) didn’t slip up against Newton Aycliffe Spartans (1-3) as they pulled themselves back into the hunt with two mercy rule victories, but perhaps surprisingly was the manner of Hull’s two wins over the Bolton Robots of Doom. Winning by margins of 20 and 11 runs in the two games, with a revamped line-up after struggling for a couple of years, Hull (4-0) could return some glory to the Humberside region, and Bolton (1-2) will be looking for answers after a tricky 18 months.

AA South – Stags win first game for two years, Mavericks make presence felt

The Brentwood Stags last won a game in June 2011 but they’ve regrouped in 2013 and after their first weekend have a 1-1 record, taking Game 2 from the league-leading Richmond Dragons, who slipped to 4-1. The Guildford Mavericks stayed hot on the heels of the leaders with two solid wins over the London Mammoths only a few hours after being told they would no longer be able to use their field at Broadwater School following complaints about noise from neighbours. It’s strange that the school didn’t have to close because of the thousands of children to go there every day, probably making quite a din, but 30 or so baseball players each weekend has led to uproar.

Elsewhere in the division, the Daws Hill Spitfires (2-0) made a huge announcement in their two wins over the Southampton Mustangs II (0-3). In recruiting GB Softball star Steve Hazard and being able to use 19 players over the two games, the loss of pitching phenom Chad Munger to the Mavericks hasn’t hurt them too badly and they’ll hope to kick on for more glory. Hove Tuesday (2-1) easily got past the South London Pirates III (0-2) thanks to errors from the Croydon outfit, while the Kent Mariners (0-4) look to be this season’s basement dwellers despite a spirited display against the dangerous Sidewinders (2-0).

Single-A South – pitching woes continue as batters dominate

Last week’s average was 43 runs per game, this week saw that creep up closer to 50 at 47.8 in the five contests. But only one of the matches ended after a seven-inning slaughter rule was brought in and two of the five went down to the final batter in one-run wins.

The Tonbridge Bobcats (2-0) look a dangerous force in 2013 after limping somewhat over the past few years. They scored 47 times against the Herts Eagles (0-2), conceding 17, in the only shortened match of the weekend. Joining them at the top of the standings was the Herts Raptors, who defeated the Old Timers (1-1) in one of the closest contests these clubs have endured.

The other game settled by a run was a maiden victory for Leicester 2Sox (1-1), who edged Haverhill Blackjacks (0-2). It was a gutting end to the game for the Blackjacks, who have only scored two fewer runs than their opponents in their first two games, and still lay bottom of the pile.

Their defeators last weekend were the Essex Archers, and in an all-Essex battle with the Essex Redbacks II it was the Redbacks who bounced back from opening day defeat to win a tight game at Forest Glade. Both Pool B teams now have 1-1 records after the first fortnight.