Category: Featured

Roosters win Series in final game of closest ever Hunlock race

Mike Cattermole played a key role in the Roosters' success (photo by Rob Jones)

The Herts Red Roosters won the 2012 Hunlock Series by the smallest possible margin in what proved to be the closest race in the history of the Series with just 1 game separating all four teams.

RED WINGS OUTHUSTLED

The day started with an exhibition game of softball as part of Herts Baseball Club’s efforts to build the first softball programme in the region. The game saw the Herts Hustlers overcome the Herts Red Wings. The game featured an equal number of male and female players from beginners to seasoned professionals. With around 20 players taking part and a growing mailing list of interested players the club will be looking at the next steps in the project and how to take the project to the next stage of establishing formal teams and eventually a league. For more details about getting into softball with Herts contact the club.

FREE AGENTS

Minutes before the first Hunlock Series games of the day, the teams confirmed their free agent picks. Last-placed White Lightning were waiting until the last second for confirmation on the availability of Matt Spaulding, however in his absence they used their turn wisely picking 23-year old former Minnesota Twins prospect, Xavier Gonzalez.  Blue Dogs selected new recruit, Serge Plata, who now lives in Hertford having arrived from Texas. Red Roosters picked the final available free agent, John Jansson.


LIGHTNING’S COMEBACK

White Lightning began the day with a record of no wins and five losses. They couldn’t reverse the 14-8 deficit in the suspended game versus the Red Roosters from last week, as Rooster’s closing pitcher and manager Ken Pike shut the door in the final inning. This didn’t deter the Lightning. The team was almost back to full strength. Dave Tretheway, Ryan Bird and free agent, Xavier Gonzalez, in addition to the teams existing squad, turned them into a formidable force perfectly-built for the “9th inning game” format of the final day of the competition.

Xavier Gonzalez impressed on his debut at Grovehill Ballpark. Herts is very much hoping that he will be part of the club in 2013 and beyond. (photo by Tomasz Kosak)

They quickly picked up 3 wins against the Blue Dogs. This included a home run by Dave Tretheway which lfew over the rightfield  wall of the old diamond. They followed this with 2 wins against the Roosters. It seemed like the unlikeliest of comebacks could become possible. A key moment came in the third game against the Roosters when Lightning had a runner on first and second base with no outs. A pop-up in the infield was correctly called as an infield fly by umpire Gabor Erdos, but the runners decided to take a risk and tried to advance. Both runners were caught in rundowns and tagged out to end the inning with a very rare triple play. Ken Pike was driven home in the bottom of the inning for a walk-off win to halt White Lightning’s ascendancy. That was a temporary hiccup as the men in white went on unbeaten in their next three games against Black Widows. However, crucially, the Black Widows who were missing their older players and could count only on their U17 players, showed the composure of MLB veterans playing good defence to record two 0-0 ties out of these three games. This was an almighty tussle which proved to be costly for both teams as they essentially knocked each other out of contention.

THE DECIDER

It was now between the Blue Dogs and the Red Roosters who fittingly met in the final matchup of the Series on the new diamond. They each took a win in the first two games, so it came down to the final game. The Roosters had the advantage as they went into the game with a ½ game lead in the standings, so a tie was going to be sufficient to win the Series. With the winning run on third base for the Blue Dogs, Red Roosters’ second baseman, John Jansson, got the final out to clinch the title for the Roosters. They won it by ½ a game ahead of the Blue Dogs and Black Widows, with the White Lightning in fourth just 1 game back.

A graph illustrating how often the lead changed hands over the 4 hours of baseball on the final day of the Hunlock Series with the new format in place, as well as the incredible comeback by the Lightning

Click to view Hunlock Series full scoreboard and final standings.

Roosters Manager Ken Pike paid a tribute to his players and to all the teams involved with a special mention for the injured, Joseph Osborne-Brade, who was in everyone’s thoughts today.

The winter period has now begun for Herts Baseball Club. A critical period for planning, recruiting and building for next season and beyond. Coaches, players, volunteers and front office staff in terested to be part of Herts Baseball in 2013 can contact the club at any time.

 

Former member of Minnesota Twins farm system among 4 free agents to pick from

With 3 or perhaps 4 new free agents available to pick from before Sunday’s final Hunlock Series games, the decisions to be made by the managers could be critical.

There was a late twist in relation to the picking of these free agents. Over the last few weeks the original order from the draft has been maintained with each team taking their turn every week to select new free agents becoming available. For this final week, the picking order was changed to resemble the picking order adopted by MLB giving teams which have finished last to pick first. White Lightning which is at the bottom of the standings has been given the first pick. Third-placed Blue Dogs will have the second pick, second-placed Black Widows will pick third and the leading Roosters will pick last.

At the time of writing this report there were 3 new free agents available to pick from, with possibility of a fourth free agent becoming available.

Catcher, Xavier Gonzalez, is hoping to challenge for a place with the Herts Falcons in the NBL next season and this Sunday he will have the opportunity to make his debut and impress the coaches who are already planning for 2013. Gonzalez is 23 years old and has played for the Spain National Team at junior and senior level, but the highest point of his career so far came when he was 17 years old and was offered a contract by the Minnesota Twins, which we understand was as part of the Twins’ farm system.

John Jansson, father of Herts U17 player, Tom Jansson-Wright and a member of the coaching staff of the Herts U14 team has also become available as a free agent. Will he be picked by the Black Widows to make it a father-and-son combination?

Serge Plata has moved to Hertfordshire and has just made contact with the club looking to be part of the Herts organisation in 2013. He is a Mexican-American in his 30s who has played at the high school level back in the USA. He is a shortstop.

We also understand that Herts Falcons left-handed pitcher, Matt Spaulding, may be available as a free agent in time for Sunday. White Lightning are waiting for a confirmation of his availability status before deciding which free agent to select with their first pick.

Hunlock Series race wide open ahead of Sunday’s final games

First-round pick Nick Russell (Blue Dogs) facing Brodie Caress (Black Widows)
The Red Roosters are in pole position going into the final weekend of the 2012 Hunlock Series after wins against their direct rivals last Sunday, but the Series are still wide open with all four teams in the running.
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The Roosters are half a game ahead of the Black Widows, while the Blue Dogs are one-and-a-half games back. Bottom of the table are the winless White Lightning, but those who are writing them off for the title should be careful. The Lightning will start the final day at 11:45am looking to complete last week’s suspended game against the Roosters. The score was 14-8 going into the bottom of the final inning with White Lightning having their last chance to come back into the game. If they manage to come back in this game and win they will be just 3 games back. The new “9th-inning” format for the final day of the Series means that the race is wide open and by 2pm on Sunday White Lightning could be top of the standings if results go in their favour.
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Before the Hunlock Series games get underway on Sunday, there will be a softball exhibition game featuring players who have been taking part in this summer’s softball sessions in St Albans organised by BSUK and Active St Albans with coaches from Herts Baseball Club. The game will also feature other male and female players including wives and girlfriends of Herts baseball players, Herts youth team players and their parents. The softball game will start at 10:00am and it is not too late to get involved in either the softball or Hunlock Series baseball games this Sunday. For details on how to get involved contact Herts Baseball Club.

TIMETABLE (SUNDAY, 14 OCTOBER)
DATE

TIME

VENUE

LEAGUE

VISITORS

HOME TEAM

14-Oct-12

10:00

New Diamond

Softball Exhibition

Herts Hustlers

Herts Red Wings

14-Oct-12

11:45

Old Diamond

Hunlock Series

Red Roosters

White Lightning

14-Oct-12

12:30

New Diamond

Hunlock Series

Black Widows

Red Roosters

14-Oct-12

12:50

New Diamond

Hunlock Series

Red Roosters

Black Widows

14-Oct-12

13:10

New Diamond

Hunlock Series

Black Widows

Red Roosters

14-Oct-12

12:30

Old Diamond

Hunlock Series

White Lightning

Blue Dogs

14-Oct-12

12:50

Old Diamond

Hunlock Series

Blue Dogs

White Lightning

14-Oct-12

13:10

Old Diamond

Hunlock Series

White Lightning

Blue Dogs

14-Oct-12

13:30

New Diamond

Hunlock Series

White Lightning

Red Roosters

14-Oct-12

13:50

New Diamond

Hunlock Series

Red Roosters

White Lightning

14-Oct-12

14:10

New Diamond

Hunlock Series

White Lightning

Red Roosters

14-Oct-12

13:30

Old Diamond

Hunlock Series

Black Widows

Blue Dogs

14-Oct-12

13:50

Old Diamond

Hunlock Series

Blue Dogs

Black Widows

14-Oct-12

14:10

Old Diamond

Hunlock Series

Black Widows

Blue Dogs

14-Oct-12

14:25

New Diamond

PHOTOCALL

ALL TEAMS

ALL TEAMS

14-Oct-12

14:30

New Diamond

Hunlock Series

Black Widows

White Lightning

14-Oct-12

14:50

New Diamond

Hunlock Series

White Lightning

Black Widows

14-Oct-12

15:10

New Diamond

Hunlock Series

Black Widows

White Lightning

14-Oct-12

15:30

New Diamond

Hunlock Series

Red Roosters

Blue Dogs

14-Oct-12

15:50

New Diamond

Hunlock Series

Blue Dogs

Red Roosters

14-Oct-12

16:10

New Diamond

Hunlock Series

Red Roosters

Blue Dogs

International call-up for Hiche is a boost for Herts but bad news for Black Widows

Herts Falcons centerfielder and first baseman, Cris Hiche, has received a call-up from the Chile National Baseball Team for the upcoming South American Baseball Championships. The event takes place in Ecuador and will include the national teams of Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and the defending champions, Argentina.

The Chilean team flew out to Ecuador on Wednesday ahead of the Opening game today.

Of course this means that Cris Hiche, who is the player-manager of the Black Widows, will miss this Sunday’s final games of the Hunlock Series.

Hiche arrived in the United Kingdom from Arizona in January joining the Herts Falcons having previously played at the high school, college and semi-professional league level in the USA as well as at international level representing Chile at Under-12, Under-16 and now at senior level with the National Team. In 2002 he joined the International Baseball Academy in Brazil where he played alongside the legendary Cuban player, Lazaro Vargas, who won the Olympic gold medal with the Cuba National Team twice, in 1992 and 1996. Hiche then went on to play for Glendale Community College in Arizona, followed by two seasons (2005-2007) with the Athletics in Liga Valle del Sol. Between 2008 and 2010 he played for the Sahuaripas in the Mesa Semi-Pro League alongside former or injured Minor League players trying to work their way back into the pros, as well as former MLB players such as pitcher Omar Daal, who played for the LA Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks and ended his career with the Baltimore Olioles in 2003.

This year Cris Hiche has been one of the key players for the Herts Falcons who recorded the best ever seaosn for the team in its history finishing as national runners-up. He was one of the first big acquisitions for Herts back in the Spring which started the snowball effect of exciting player signings. Apart from his role as a player for the Falcons, Hiche has been heavily involved in other roles at the club, most notably as a manager of the Herts Under-17 team, which has made tremendous strides over the last 12 months.

Everyone at Herts Baseball Club wishes Cris success at the South American Baseball Championships.

18 ninth innings in one day

We are into the final week of the 2012 baseball season and it is all set to be a spectacular event which will decide the 2012 Hunlock Series Champions.

One of the new features of this year’s Hunlock Series is the introduction of the “9th Inning Game”. All 18 games scheduled for this final day of the Series will be played over 1 inning only. This will recreate the tension and drama of the ninth inning. Can the teams manufacture the all important go-ahead run? Can they deliver the walk-off hits? Can the pitchers and defence execute with the game on the line?

Aspi Dimitrov, Hunlock Series Commissioner, said: “Great Britain National Team player, Adam Roberts, suggested this format and our club has been considering how best to add it to the schedule for a few years now. It is finally here. The excitement and the pressure of the ninth inning comes once a day for MLB managers. Let’s see how the Hunlock Series managers and players will handle 9 ninth innings in one day.”

Dimitrov added: “There is a slight risk that adding these 1-inning games can devalue the earlier games in the Series, but we will have to wait and see how this experiment will play out and how the managers and players will approach it.”

One thing is certain. The Roosters have battled hard to go into the final weekend ahead of the chasing pack and they would not swap their place with anyone, so that alone is sufficient proof that the earlier games are seen as vital in this competition.

These “9th inning games” will be played just like the ninth inning of any MLB game. There are however a few special rules which will apply this Sunday, mainly dealing with the transition from one game to the next and aiming to ensure that managers are not taking unfair advantage. Here are the special rules which will apply to the “9th Inning games”:

• During the “9th Inning-games” each game will last one inning only.

• The game ends when 3 outs are recorded in the bottom of the inning or the home team takes the lead, whichever occurs first.

• If 3 outs are recorded in the bottom of the inning and the game is tied, each team is awarded half a win.

• The batting order of each team remains unchanged for the duration of the day unless a substitution is made.

• A substituted player cannot re-enter the same game, however that player can re-enter a subsequent game.

• The batting order at the end of the previous game will be the official batting lineup for the start of the next game, where the batter who was next to bat, when the game was completed, will be the first batter to bat in the next game.
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Click to view the Games Schedule for Sunday’s deciding games and latest Hunlock Series Standings.

Roosters lead the way, but lose centerfielder through injury

Ken Pike's Red Roosters take a 3-game winning streak going into the Finaal round of Hunlock Series games

At the start of Sunday’s games all the pressure was on White Lightning who started the day with 0-3 record. They produced an outstanding performance against the Black Widows building a 7-1 lead. The team was still missing some of its big guns including last week’s home run hero, Reagan Wood, but they were reinforced by the presence of Andy Cornish and Lee Manning, both with NBL experience. Manning was doing well on the mound with a 6-run lead. The Widows had other ideas though and they stormed into action. Every batter they sent up to the plate seemed determined to stay alive and they did with some impressive hitting and hustle. The Black Widows turned the game on its head and won it 8-7 in dramatic fashion with a walk-off.

The Widows’ second game was just as dramatic. They tied the game against the Red Roosters with a last-ditch run to take it into extra innings. However, the comeback could not be completed as the Roosters drove in two runs in the top of the inning and held on for a 7-5 win.

This was the second win of the day for the Roosters. The first win came against the Blue Dogs. This was a colossal clash between two teams who have arguably the most experienced squads and are packed with powerful hitters. Nic Goetz and Kevin Niedringhaus were the starting pitchers for Blue and Red, respectively. Both pitchers have pitched in the NBL and it proved to be a classic pitchers’ duel. Niedringhaus lost last week’s pitching duel against Darrin Ward, but this time he came out on top leading the Roosters to a 3-2 win.

The Blue Dogs bounced back with a convincing 11-1 win against White Lightning, but suffered another setback when they lost 4-1 to the Black Widows.

In the final game of the day the Lightning were still looking for their first win of the Series. They were up against the Red Roosters who were sitting comfortably on top of the standings. White Lightning may be missing their big names, but those who have been available are growing in stature and are making a name for themselves. They had just suffered a shattering blow losing to the Black Widows and the Blue Dogs and started the game against the Roosters allowing 4 runs in the opening inning. But they came back again to take a 5-4 lead against all odds. They have shown character and have not let their heads drop in the face of adversity and they have won many fans along the way.

Red Roosters suffered a massive blow in the late innings of the game. Centerfielder Joseph Osborne-Brade used his speed to beat out a groundball and reach first base safely but as he reached first and run through the base he appeared to fall awkwardly and ended up lying on the ground in a lot of pain 10 or 20 feet down the first base foul line. As reported earlier, he was taken to Watford General Hospital for a scan and this has confirmed a fracture of the thigh bone. Herts Baseball Club is hopeful that Osborne-Brade will be back in time for the start of the 2013 season and members have been sending their messages for a speedy recovery.

The game between the Red Roosters and White Lightning was suspended and it will be completed as part of the games schedule on Sunday, 14 October.

Cick to view up-to-date Scoreboard and latest Hunlock Series Standings.

Heading for the Hunlock

My regular readers — of which I know, there are literally several — will know that I like to write a paean to the Hunlock series every year. One of those articles referred to it as an encore, an extra flourish once the season is over, and something of an added bonus. This year’s event is slightly different for me, as I didn’t have much of a season at all. So it’s not an encore — it’s almost the main event.

Rob Jones in action
Your correspondent, Rob Jones, legs out an infield hit against the Blue Dogs

The Hunlock Series brings together players from all the club’s teams, both youth and adult, and spreads them around in a way which creates four new evenly-matched teams. That makes for great competitions, and you should have no doubt that a friendly series can be genuinely competitive! There is a great atmosphere to the event, but if you think Greg Bochan wants you to get a hit off him, or if you think Glen Downer is after anything less than a home run, you’re mistaken.

One of the best things about the Hunlock is that you get to meet up with players you might not have seen all year. There are guys turning out who were already part of the club when I joined up a decade ago, and in that sense it’s a bit like a class reunion. Rod Naghar has been doing his thing successfully for the Hawks this year — after doing it with various teams over the years — and it is fun to play alongside him for the first time in a long time.

Old faces return, too, including Carlos Casal Jr and Snr who both did so much to make the Herts club a force in British baseball. And for lower league guys like me it is good to play alongside the best that Herts can offer. I’ve never really seen Kevin Niedringhaus play baseball before, but it was a revelation to watch somebody work like that on the mound, and to turn their hand to so many skills so well.

Another fine thing is to meet new talent, and to see guys who could do great things for Herts next year. You can read elsewhere on the site about Guv Bhangal’s exploits, and I think he got one of those hits at the expense of my Red Roosters. Matt Cox — whose surname I admit I only knew after I read the match reports — made a great impact for us, and I know I would want him for any future team. Great speed, good hitting, and great exuberance. All of those contributed to the inside the park home run he notched up against the Black Widows. Straight out of the box, he was clearly going to stretch it as far as possibly could, and it was a perfect example of putting pressure on a defense. A well deserved feat.

My own performances were rather less dramatic. On the couple of occasions I have turned out this autumn I have played like a 40 year old who has barely played any baseball this year. So, no great surprises, but I’d rather be able to make a more flattering comparison! I did actually get a couple of RBIs, but I think there was only one proper hit in there. The rest were luck and nonsense. As for fielding, I missed both of the balls which came my way in the course of the day. On a routine ground ball, I singularly failed to “get my ass down”, and it went right by. I have a clear mental image of myself as that stiff 40 year old, tightened up further by lack of game time. No excuses, really — I always marvel at those guys who just show up and just do it, whether they be young or old —  but instead a fresh determination to try to get the most playing time I can.

Maybe this coming week will find that I have worked some of the old man stiffness out of my system. That’s assuming the coach even dares put me on the field this week! This year has been disrupted by weather, work, and family issues, and the plan to get lots of playing time before moving my old legs into management needs a bit of rewriting. Whatever turns out, I shall hope for another good day at the diamond this Sunday, definitely my last of 2012. For the real beauty of the Hunlock is that the good parts of it far outweigh any grumbles about results or booted ground balls. It’s about playing for the fun of the game and whatever else happens, it’s always fun.

Will Lightning strike this Sunday?

Andy Cornish (in white Herts uniform) will be back for the White Lightning this Sunday. Can they make the most incredible comeback in Hunlock Series history?

White Lightning was missing several of its big guns in Sunday’s opening games of the Hunlock Series including their trio of NBL players from South Africa, Bird, Pretorius and Tretheway. They had a difficult start losing 13-4 against the Roosters. Despite this the team showed a lot of character to turn it around. They battled hard in the next two games and came agonisingly close to picking up a win. They lost both games by 1-run but the players who have mainly Single-A or Double-A experience really raised their game against opponents featuring NBL superstars.

Stand-in manager, Theo Scheepers, and Reagan Wood were instrumental in turning the team around after the early setback.

Lightning's stand-in manager, Theo SCheepers, stealing second base in the opening game against the Red Roosters

The Lightning find themselves bottom of the Hunlock Series standings with no wins and 3 losses. But those who are writing them off at such an early stage should think again.

They may prefer to keep it quite, but they are expecting their big stars to be back for this Sunday’s second round of Hunlock Series games. This includes players who played in the NBL this season like, Ryan Bird, Andy Cornish and Lee Manning. This, added to the players who battled on Sunday could give the team the winning formula.

 

What do Roy Hobbs, Dan Kerry and Guv Bhangal have in common?

Dan Kerry (right) appearing in a tryout game for Great Britain Trialists versus GB U19 Team after just 1 year of playing baseball

Sunday’s Hunlock Series games included the official introduction of cricket-sensation Guv Bhangal, who is a neighbour of Darrin Ward and decided to give baseball a try in the Hunlock Series. Bhangal has played some cricket in the past but had never held a baseball bat in his hands before Sunday. In a Roy Hobbs-like moment he stepped up for his first at bat and launched the ball over the outfield fence for a home run. Many experienced baseball players spend many seasons before they manage to hit their first home run. It took Bhangal only 1 at bat, which is sensational but not unprecedented.

In 2007 cricket player Dan Kerry made his baseball debut for Herts against the Milton Keynes Hurricanes. On the mound for the Hurricanes was baseball legend Darrin Ward. The first pitch to Kerry hit him in the ribs, but he was adjudged to have swung so the at bat continued. On the second pitch Dan Kerry hit a towering home run which travelled around 390 feet over the left centerfield wall of the old diamond at Grovehill. Dan Kerry went on to try out for the Great Britain National Baseball Team. Will Guv Bhangal end up being monitored by the GB Team scouts?

Bhangal introduced himself to Herts baseball club in the best possible way and he proved that the home run was not a fluke with display of more power later in the day driving the ball hard down the left field line for a double. What will “the Natural” have up his sleeve next Sunday?

 

3-way tie after opening round of Hunlock Series games

Kevin Niedringhaus is one of a number of very accomplished players picked by Roosters Manager Ken Pike in the Draft making them one of the favorites. (photo by Will Baxter)

The first week of Hunlock Series games produced some very close encounters with 4 of the 6 games being decided by 1 run. At the end of the day 3 teams are tied at the top of the standings.

WHITE LIGHTNING 4 RED ROOSTERS 13 (click to view box scores)

The Red Roosters started strongly with a convincing 13-4 win against White Lightning. Their first round pick, Nick Russell, produced another solid performance on the mound. The scoreline would suggest that he had the support from the team’s batting lineup, but in fact White Lightning outhit them 6-4 with Lucas Lattergrass (3-3) and Craig Le Roux (1-2 2B) standing out from the Lightning lineup. It was walks and errors which proved very costly for White Lightning otherwise the game could have been very different.

BLUE DOGS 5 BLACK WIDOWS 6

The Black Widows are a team managed by the Herts U17 team manager, Cris Hiche, who adopted a clear strategy during the Draft of putting together the U17 team. We understand that before Sunday’s games Hiche was desperately trying to pick up the other youth players who ended up in the rosters of other teams, but to no avail as rival managers seemed reluctant to make a deal. With so many young players in the Black Widows’ lineup it was a major upset that they managed to beat the experience and power of the Blue Dogs in a dramatic 6-5 walk-off win.

Darrin Ward (right) hit a home run on Sunday coming home with a gentle home run trot. We will have to wait until next Sunday to see the Usain Bolt speed and pose (photo by Will Baxter)

RED ROOSTERS 4 BLUE DOGS 5 (click to view box scores)

The Blue Dogs bounced back against the Red Roosters in what was billed as the clash of the day. The two teams featured the highest number of NBL players and both managers chose NBL pitchers to pitch in this matchup – Darrin Ward for the Dogs and Kevin Niedringhaus for the Roosters. Both pitchers dominated allowing only 1 earned run each with Ward striking out 8 through 4 innings and Niedringhaus 7 over 3 innings.

Ward also helped himself with a home run in that game holding on for the win despite a late Roosters’ rally.

Jake Caress was impressive on the mound and with the bat.

BLACK WIDOWS 3 WHITE LIGHTNING 2 (click to view box scores)

White Lightning regrouped and produced an outstanding performance against the Black Widows. The team picked up Lucas Lattergrass and Perrie Sherman from the free agents block just 24 hours before this game and started as catcher and pitcher, respectively. They provided the stability they needed after a rough ride in the earlier game. The defence behind them was also much improved with only 1 error in the game. They took a 2-0 lead going into the late innings, but the Widows came back with several quality at bats including Duncan Hoyle and Kyle Lloyd-Jones making good contact in consecutive at bats to drive ground balls to the right side of the infield allowing runners from third base to score and tie the game at 2-2. In the last inning the Widows scored the go-ahead run without a single hit in the inning but with some productive at bats. Cris Hiche came on to pinch hit working a lead-off walk to get on base and the team brought him home to score with several productive at bats. The loss was very harsh on White Lightning, but the young Widows are certainly showing maturity of seasoned professionals. Jake Caress came in relief with a 1-run lead and he closed the game without showing any nerves in a tense situation.

BLACK WIDOWS 2 RED ROOSTERS 8 (click to view box scores)

Red Roosters ended Black Widows’ 100% record with an 8-2 win. Rob Jones, Lima Green, kevin Niedringhaus, Carlos Casal and Nick Russell all recording a hit, but it was new recruit Matthew Cox who got the biggest cheer after flying around the bases on a hit to left field to score with an inside-the-park-homerun.

WHITE LIGHTNING 14 BLUE DOGS 15

With both teams running low on pitchers this proved to be a high-scoring game. White Lightning once again came agonisingly close to winning but lost a second consecutive 1-run game. The win put the Blue Dogs in a three-way tie at the top of the standings.

Stand-out players of the weekend:

Guv Bhangal – his home run in his first ever baseball game has provided enough material for a Hollywood movie. Guv Bhangal introduced himself to Herts baseball club in the best possible way and he proved that the home run was not a fluke with display of more power later in the day. What will “the Natural” have up his sleeve next Sunday.

Lucas Lattergrass – provided much-needed stability for White Lightning in the absence of some of the team’s more experienced players. The team was down after a bad loss in the opening game of the day, but Lattergrass, aong with Theo Scheepers and Reagan Wood, had a calming influence and offered words of encouragement and constructive advice for his team mates.

Jake Caress and Cris Hiche – impressive pitching outing for both. No runs, no walks, and no hits allowed by them.