Standard levels out as close games define movers and shakers

An unprecedented number of fixtures this weekend were won by fewer than four runs across the divisions as the standard of play has improved massively since the early season, when teams were either hot from Spring Training or cold from inactivity.

Ironically, then, the indifferent weather has seen teams playing equally as well as one another, and with the isobars closing in from opposite sides, we’re sure to see some storms over the next few weeks.

Midseason has now been breached for most teams, barring a few postponed fixtures to catch up on, and the NBL sees four teams within half a game of the lead after the Herts Falcons secured a dramatic sweep of the Southampton Mustangs. In so doing, the Falcons propelled themselves to first place, while the Mustangs, who were top, now lie fourth after both Harlow and the Mets also got the brooms out.

The Harlow Nationals, who have a tie attributed to them but in reality, I understand, have that as a win to add to their column, picked up two in low-scoring wins in the all-Essex derby over the Arrows – further dropping Essex below .500 – while the London Mets took the dustpan with them to clean upin their journey across the river to Croydon, choosing to be brutal following the Pirates’ first win of the season last week.

The Lakenheath Diamondbacks were pushed hard by the Bracknell Blazers in Game 1, earning a 5-3 win, but were surprised in the second fixture with a walk-off 9-8 victory. The Diamondbacks drew level with the Arrows in fifth, the final playoff spot, and it looks as though these two will have to battle for the right to get to the post-season throughout the remainder of the summer.

Now if you’ve managed to catch your breath, let’s get stuck in to AAA, where the action was even tighter.

Only one double-header to report in the North – the Halton Jaguars swept a make-up fixture from earlier in the season against the Bolton Robots of Doom, although this included a nail-biting one-run win in the second game. After picking up the award for ‘Sefton Sports Club of the Year’, the Liverpool Trojans had a week off, but every contested game in AAA South saw teams separated by fewer than five runs.

The Bristol Badgers were the only team to secure a sweep, over the Richmond Knights, moving ahead in Pool A with a 12-4 record and consigning the Knights to 11-7, while the Oxford Kings (10-4) picked up two forfeit victories over the Bears. The Badgers were pushed hard, winning 15-9 over the two games, but Richmond have now lost the last six they’ve played and have gone from chip leaders to chip last, and host the Badgers again next week.

The Essex Redbacks split a pair with the Latin Boys in Melbourne Park – the third split between the sides this season – with the Boys rallying to score six times in the final two innings of Game 1 to steal an unlikely-looking win, before Vince Warner again threw well to shut the Boys out for his fifth win of the year. The London Metros split with the Cambridge Royals in the fens, their second split of three match-ups this season, and Pool B looks very competitive again. The Redbacks (13-5) are top, but the Royals (9-7), Metros (7-8) and Boys (6-7) are separated by only a handful of games. One word can describe the current standings: tight.

Things were a little looser at the top of AA South, but in the battle for middle spots, only three runs split the London Mammoths and Essex Redbacks II in a double-header at Finsbury Park, with the Mammoths sweeping to go 5-3 and the Redbacks II dropping to 3-7 after half the season.

A couple of games were rearranged, and the Guildford Mavericks and Poole Piranhas made light work of the Richmond Dragons and Brentwood Stags respectively – 45-6 over two games for the Mavericks, 24-1 in seven innings for the Piranhas, as they moved further ahead in Pool A, with the Stags (0-9) and Dragons (3-8) likely struggling to make the playoffs now.

In AA Midlands, the Nottingham Rebels won both games over the Milton Keynes Bucks to forge to a 7-0 record, while the Bucks dropped to 4-4 for the season. Meanwhile, the Birmingham Maple Leafs recorded a sweep of the Leicester Blue Sox, meaning only a single game separates second from fourth in a division where playoff places are going to be fought for all the way to the end, as always!

Harrogate was too wet for baseball this weekend, so the Tigers and Oldham North Stars will have to face off at a later date, while the Manchester Torrent’s efforts to host the Sheffield Bladerunners were washed out again as well. The Hull Scorpions travelled up the East Coast to Newton Aycliffe and their games against the Spartans ended in two big wins for the visitors (now just one game out of second place), which looked inevitable given their positions in the league.

And in Single-A, the Essex Archers thought they had improved to a seemingly unassailable 7-0 record after a hard-fought 18-13 win over the Old Timers – the first time the Archers have played a full nine innings all season. However, a complaint was lodged and upheld by the Herts Eagles over the use of an ineligible player in last week’s contest, meaning the Archers picked up their first loss of the season via a technicality. The Old Timers dropped to 4-1, but will be happy enough to sit second in Pool A behind the Archers. In the all-Herts derby, the Raptors beat the Eagles, meaning they leapfrogged their friendly rivals into third, while the Tonbridge Bobcats officially won their second game in two weeks with a walkover against the Braintree Rays.

**

In a short aside to youth baseball, even the youngsters experienced some tight matches in an excellent weekend of action. Horsham Hornets beat the Forest Glade Redbacks Pony (under-17) team 4-3 and 6-4, while the Herts Broncos (under-14) succumbed to London Sports 11-7 in both games, the second in extra innings.

Cartmel Valley beat the Manchester Saints 8-7 following an ‘easy’ (in the context of how close games were this weekend) 8-3 win over the Halton Polecats, while the London Mets Pony split with Cobham Cougars, the Cougars taking Game 1 by 10 runs and the Mets nabbing the other by just a couple.

The only big win of the weekend was by the Polecats against the Bolton Bears at Bronco level, 25-11.

**

The action doesn’t stop there – although we’ve reached midseason for many, there’s still another seven weeks of matches as well as the London Tournament before the playoffs for some divisions get underway, so let’s have a little preview of next weekend.

Single-A: Hove Tuesday vs Guildford Mavericks II (will Hove finally play again after rescheduling their game against the London Marauders this week?!); Marauders vs Richmond Dukes; Herts Raptors vs Tonbridge Bobcats.

The Marauders have the most at stake here, as a win will put them far ahead of their rivals in Pool B. However, the Mavericks II will want a win to keep pace or join the Marauders, while Hove Tuesday haven’t played since mid-May and have hit the diamond only twice so far this year. The Raptors and Bobcats both arrive in form, with the Bobcats probably marginal favourites with home advantage.

AA South: Sidewinders vs London Mammoths; Essex Redbacks II vs Richmond Dragons; Poole Piranhas vs Thames Valley Bisons; Latin Tigers vs Croydon Pirates III; Brentwood Stags vs Herts Hawks; Southampton Mustangs II vs Kent Mariners; Guildford Mavericks vs Daws Hill Spitfires.

The Sidewinders will want to win both over the Mammoths to keep top spot, as a successful sweep would give London the lead in the division. Herts Hawks will likely win both over the Brentwood Stags, which will also propel them nearer the summit, with the Poole Piranhas best placed for two wins over the Thames Valley Bisons as they look to get back on top in Pool A. The Southampton Mustangs II and Kent Mariners will be fairly evenly matched, as will the Richmond Dragons and Essex Redbacks II, all four hoping to bag a playoff spot, while the Croydon Pirates III and Latin Tigers will fight out a pair in Roundshaw for bragging rights, and position, in south west London. The Mavericks will be confident of brushing aside the Daws Hill Spitfires, although the Spitfires are good value for money and should push Guildford hard as they are the hosts.

AA Midlands: Nottingham Rebels vs Stourbridge Titans; Birmingham Maple Leafs vs Milton Keynes Bucks.

With the Blue Sox taking a week off, the Maple Leafs and Bucks will fight for the right to head the charge for second place. A split favours the Bucks, although on form the Leafs may have the upper hand. Anything other than a Rebels sweep would be a great performance for the young Titans, but if Stourbridge were to pick a up couple of wins against the run of form, it’d make for an excellent twist in the tale of the division.

AA North: Harrogate Tigers vs Sheffield Bladerunners; Manchester Torrent vs Hull Scorpions; Oldham North Stars vs Newton Aycliffe Spartans.

The marquee match-up is the Bladerunners-Tigers, with the smart money on Sheffield to win having gone unbeaten all season. Hull will take second if the Tigers are swept should the Scorpions themselves win twice against the Torrent, while history will be made in the matches between the North Stars and Spartans – either the North Stars will record their first ever sweep, or the Spartans will record their first ever win. All fixtures in the division are very weather-dependent, though!

AAA North: Liverpool Trojans vs Cartmel Valley Lions; Bolton Robots of Doom vs Manchester As; Halton Jaguars vs Menwith Hill Patriots.

As with AA North, the division sees first vs second when the Lions and Trojans do battle. Fresh off their epic award winning evening last week, the Trojans will want to secure a couple of wins and confirm top billing for the run-in, but the Lions have battled hard all year and won’t go down without trying to take a bite out of the defending champions. The Patriots will know that two wins for them could see a move into second, while the As will want two wins over Bolton to give themselves an outside shot of making the playoffs. Bolton are still looking for their first win at this level, and against the As have perhaps the best chance of breaking their duck.

AAA South: Cambridge Royals vs Essex Redbacks; Bristol Badgers vs Richmond Knights; London Metros vs Latin Boys.

With the Oxford Kings already winning two forfeits from the Windsor & Bracknell Bears, the Knights need a split as a minimum to stay within touching distance of a playoff spot in Pool A. The Badgers will be confident of recording one win, if not two, to keep their run going, and stay top of the Pool. The Redbacks and Royals occupy first and second in Pool B, but only a Cambridge sweep will see significant ground made up, while the Metros and Latin Boys will each want at least a split, else it could be difficult to make the post-season.

• Please note that I was too hasty in stating there had been a significant change to the AAA Playoffs a couple of weeks ago. Pool winners will still go through from AAA South, while the runners-up, rather than the teams with the 3rd and 4th best records, will play for the third NBC position available for the seven teams now competing for them. In AAA North, there remains a playoff between first and second to determine who represents the six teams from the region at the finals.

NBL: Herts Falcons vs London Mets; Harlow Nationals vs Southampton Mutangs; Croydon Pirates vs Bracknell Blazers; Lakenheath Diamondbacks vs Essex Arrows.

While the Pirates and Blazers are playing for pride, the Diamondbacks and Arrows will both be looking for a sweep in the potential 6-pointer (to steal a phrase from the wrong sport). If one side takes both, they’ll be best-placed to continue a run into the playoffs, while a split will make things incredibly tense for the remainder of the year. However, the big question is where each of the top four teams will land, with the Falcons taking on a side in the top half for the third consecutive week. A sweep over the Mets could make it very difficult for the London side to have a chance at winning the title, should Herts continue to pick up wins, while a London sweep would do the same for the Falcons. Harlow and Southampton will both want to win big this weekend, and perhaps Harlow are best placed coming in, but it’s a long trip from Essex to the south coast, and the Mustangs won’t make things easy, especially as they’ll want to bounce back following their drop down the table.

This one will be EPIC.