Tight games all over as summer finally gets going
After teams finally got back on the diamond last week, the British Baseball season can now be described as ‘up and running’. In fact, after this weekend, some teams have fulfilled more than a third of their regular season games, including the Poole Piranhas, who moved to 7-0 in AA South and the Sheffield Bladerunners (eight unbeaten in 2012).
And 11 of the 38 completed games finished with fewer than four runs between the sides, including splits in five of the 13 double-headers. Truly, as the weather improves, so has the quality of the competition and the closeness of the contests.
In the NBL, the season has seen ups and downs and surprises all round. The Essex Arrows can’t seem to get above .500, but will be happy to still be occupying fifth spot, the final playoff position, after splitting a series against the Bracknell Blazers. It was the Blazers’ first win of the season, but given their forfeits last week against Southampton it effectively leaves them at 0-7 after BBF rules mean teams are stripped of a victory for every two games they have to give to the opposition.
The Harlow Nationals won one and lost one against the Lakenheath Diamondbacks, meaning the Diamondbacks move to 3-6, the Nationals kept pace with the Southampton Mustangs (both with an 8-3 record) after the Mustangs and London Mets (6-3) shared a split as well.
But the Herts Falcons moved back to the top of the leaderboard with two wins over the Croydon Pirates at Grovehill. Behind the pitching of debutant Jeff House, the Falcons soared to a big 16-2 win, and though things were tighter through the opening stages of Game 2, a five-run rally in the sixth killed the contest and saw Herts (8-2) jump to where many expected they would be throughout the season. The Pirates have still yet to win a game this season, and memories of their unsuccessful 2009 campaign might be soon to surface.
Just two double-headers are scheduled for Sunday, with the Herts Falcons hosting the Essex Arrows – former Falcon Darrin Ward has been the Arrows’ staff ace this season – while the Harlow Nationals will look to move into a commanding position near the top of the table when they travel to take on the Bracknell Blazers.
Single A in the south saw three games – six of 11 sides in action. The Essex Redbacks III couldn’t notch their first ever win, instead their opponents the Eagles broke Herts (pun intended!) as they recorded their second victory at this level. A special mention here is deserved for Dave Bennett of the Redbacks,: he pitched all nine innings (his first ever complete game) and had five hits (including his first ever home run), but wasn’t able to help the Essex side complete a historic afternoon; Herts’ Theo Scheepers also went the distance and put up some great numbers in the batters box.
The London Marauders edged an absolute nail-biter in Guildford as they and the Mavericks II, both fancied to win a playoff position heading into the season, traded blows. 37 runs were scored, with the Marauders sneaking home 19-18, handing the Mavericks II their first loss of the season. The Tonbridge Bobcats couldn’t quite overcome their perennial rivals, the Old Timers, but again it was a thrilling encounter, only five runs separating them following the Bobcats’ one-run loss last week.
A full schedule awaits Single-A on Sunday: in the marquee match-up, the Essex Archers face the Guildford Mavericks II, both looking like playoff candidates and sitting comfortably atop their divisions. The Herts Raptors and London Marauders face off in another great rivalry between the two ball clubs, with the Essex Redbacks III taking part in another strong inter-club battle with the Richmond Dukes (see later – AAA South). Tonbridge will look to post their first win of the year when they play the Herts Eagles, while the Old Timer are due to host the Braintree Rays, but this might not get played (see later – rumour mill).
AA South was another excellently contested division this weekend, with big wins and tight finishes. Among them, the London Mammoths (now 3-2) conceded first place in Pool B to the Herts Hawks, with the Hawks (now 5-2) pipping the Mammoths twice in close games to leapfrog their opponents. The Mammoths were joined by the Sidewinders (now 3-2) who beat the Brentwood Stags (now 0-6) on two mercy-rule finishes, while the Daws Hill Spitfires improved to 2-3 with a big win over the Croydon Pirates III.
Two close games (4-1 and 9-10) between the Kent Mariners and Essex Redbacks II rounded out Pool B’s action, while the Southampton Mustangs II beat the Latin Boys twice (once on forfeit) to regain third place in Pool A. The Thames Valley Bisons handed two games to the Guildford Mavericks, conceding a win as well, as they now drop to 2-3, the Mavericks remaining unbeaten at 5-0, while the Poole Piranhas edged a tight one 5-4 against the Richmond Dragons, and found the going a little easier en route to a 7-1 win, lifting themselves to 7-0 and consigning the Dragons to joint last.
The Dragons welcome inter-pool rivals and old foes the Kent Mariners – both 1-5 this season – to Flood Field, both looking to record an important win to keep pace with their pools, while the Herts Hawks and Sidewinders each travel to the Latin Boys and Poole Piranhas in attempts to take games and make a move up Pool B. The London Mammoths face a test to get back to winning ways as they travel to Guildford to take on the unbeaten Mavericks – their game was rained off earlier in the season – while the Mustangs II will travel to play a double-header against the Thames Valley Bisons; the winners will move to third place in Pool A.
Further up the country, the Midlands saw AA action at Leicester’s new Western Park facility, where the hosts were unable to overcome the Nottingham Rebels in a double header. The Rebels ran riot as they moved to 4-0 in 2012, and the defeats saw the Blue Sox drop to .500. They were beaten into third after the MK Bucks (3-1), champions of the division in 2011, bested the Stourbridge Titans (0-4).
The perfect Rebels and the winless Titans compete in Nottingham this weekend, while the Blue Sox host the Birmingham Maple Leafs, with both teams needing crucial wins to keep pace with the two teams above them (the Bucks have the weekend off).
The Sheffield Bladerunners, as mentioned, moved to a perfect 8-0 after strong wins against the Oldham North Stars (0-6), but the move of the weekend was from the Harrogate Tigers (4-4) who improved to .500 after sweeping the previously undefeated Hull Scorpions (now 4-2) in their own back yard. However, with the Manchester Torrent (4-2) picking up two relatively simple wins over the Newton Aycliffe Spartans (0-6), the Tigers can only claim fourth in AA North as their own.
The Tigers and Torrent will face off in Harrogate this weekend, the winner taking at least third place if not making second theirs if the Hull Scorpions slip up against the North Stars. The Bladerunners will be confident of going to a perfect 10-0 when they host the Spartans in Sheffield.
Once again, the Bolton Robots of Doom struggled to make an impression on AAA North after stepping up from last season, dropping two high-scoring games against the Halton Jaguars in the only action in the division. The Jaguars, now 3-5, jumped over the Manchester As, but Bolton remain rooted to the foot of the table.
Bolton have a chance to get off the mark when they travel to Cartmel Valley on Sunday, while the Liverpool Trojans will put their unbeaten streak on the line against the Halton Jaguars at Bootle Stadium. Rounding out the league, the Menwith Hill Patriots take on the Manchester As, the As looking to get going again while the Patriots will be keen to maintain their great recent run.
The Richmond Knights were the big winners in AAA South, taking both games against the Latin Boys to cement the London team’s position atop Pool A. Both were hard-fought wins, but the Knights had enough in their arsenal to outpitch and outhit their cross-town rivals in Croydon, moving to 6-2 and subduing the upstart Boys to 4-5 after their impressive start following promotion last season.
The Bristol Badgers bounced back from a heavy defeat to the Essex Redbacks to split the series, 21-2 to the Redbacks and 5-2 to the Badgers were the final scores. Bristol stay at .500 in Pool A, their 4-4 record good enough for second behind the commanding Knights, while the Redbacks benefited from the Boys’ dropped games as they improved to 7-3 with a third of the season completed.
After splitting two close games the previous week, the London Metros travelled up to Cambridge to take on the Royals. The hots won both, the first more comfortably than the second, and jumped ahead of the Metros and Latin Boys in the process – regaining a .500 record and second place in Pool B. In Pool A, the Oxford Kings picked up two forfeit wins over the Windsor & Bracknell Bears, lifting the 2010 National Champions to 4-4, dropping the Bears to an effective 0-5 with the loss of their solitary win.
Only the Knights and Redbacks are above .500 in the division in 2012, and they’ll face off on Sunday in Melbourne Park to determine who has the upper hand. A split will see both teams retain their lead, while a sweep for either will see the other potentially sharing top spot with either the Royals or Bristol Badgers, depending on the outcomes of their match-up this Sunday in Cambridge.
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Sad news has emerged on the rumour mill from Essex this week as the Braintree Rays are said to be hanging up their gloves as a team. After reforming six years ago, the Rays enjoyed success in posting above .500 seasons three times, including making the playoffs twice, but unable to recruit heavily has seen them struggle to fulfil fixtures this season. They most recently played last weekend, where they fell foul of a 37-1 mauling from cross-county rivals the Essex Archers.