FALCONS TAKE ANOTHER SCALP

written by Jo Sierocinska

 

Line Score

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	FIN
Havering Bengals	3	0	1	0	3	0	1	7	0	15
Herts Falcons	1	0	0	6	2	5	2	4	X	20

 

This Sunday’s game was a top of the table clash. First placed Herts Falcons hosted the second placed Havering Bengals at Grovehill.  Both teams were clearly aware the play-offs are only weeks away and this extra dimension added to the competitive atmosphere.

 

Havering had the first turn at bat. Their first batter, Savill,  getting on base with a solid hit. He wasted his early advantage by promptly being picked off by Falcon’s pitcher Raybould when he tried to steal to second base.  Havering responded quickly to this inauspicious start by getting two more runners on base who were then brought in by Dawson’s  a home run to score three runs. Neat Falcon outfield work limited the damage to the three runs. Now batting, the Falcon’s faced Havering’s fast pitcher Aaron Giles-Wyatt.  Unable to handle his speed they only squeezed one run home.

 

Both teams worked hard defensively over the next innings. Neither allowing a run to score in the second.  Both teams had batters strike out neither  seemed able to adjust to the opposition’s style of pitching;Raybould’s slow dying curveballs versus Giles-Wyatts heated fastballs.  The third inning saw Havering manufacture one run whilst the Falcons were shut out, striking out twice.  They entered the 4^th inning with the score 4 – 1 in Havering’s favour.

 

Fortunately for the Falcons, the Havering batters seemed reluctant to learn lessons about stealing bases with Paul Raybould on the mound backed up by his strongest infield: Cornish, Oliver, Kakutani, Del Borrello and Manning. For the third time a Havering runner was caught off of his base trying to steal. This time it formed part of a double-play. They scored no runs.  Bottom of the  fourth inning the score was still 4 –1 to Havering. The Falcons needed to score to get back into the game. An early error by the Havering shortstop put John Oliver on base. Then the Falcon’s batters stepped up a gear. Finally managing to get a hold of the fast pitcher they batted through the order; six batters got hits, six runs were scored. The challenge was back on.

 

Havering responded to that challenge in the fifth inning when J Ling slammed in another three run home run. In answer to that The Falcons punished fielding mistakes and wild-pitching to claw in two runs. The inning ended with the score 7- 9 in the Falcon’s favour.

 

Once again Havering’s aggressive base running tactic backfired. Sneesby was caught trying to steal second. They did not score. The Falcons piled on the pressure scoring five runs as Havering struggled to find a relief pitcher. The Falcon’s appeared to be cruising. By the end of the 7^th inning they had come to within 2 runs of a “slaughter rule” victory with the score 16 to 18.

 

Manager Manning brought in a new pitcher to hopeful sew up the game in the 8^th inning. Oliver has been a safe choice of pitcher all season, but failed to perform and allowed his first earned runs of the season.  Havering had scored four runs with no outs. The Falcons had lost their grip on the game. Del Borrello stepped in to pitch. Three more runs were given up before the end of the inning. Havering had got it back to a one run game 16 – 15 but in the process had retired two players through injury.  The middle of the Falcon’s batting order comfortably earnt four runs in the 8^th. They backed it up with tight defence in the 9^th to clear the danger and claim the victory 20 runs to 15.

 

The Falcons have cruised most of the season so far. Havering posed a real threat and it was hard to predict how they would respond to the pressure. This victory will have reassured them as they enter their last two games of the regular season, they are both difficult fixtures.

 

Playing for the Falcons were:  Cornish, Raybould, Naghar, Del Borrello, Oliver, Kakutani, Sierocinski, K Dimitrov, Auchterlounie, A Dimitrov, L Manning.