RAPTORS POST ANOTHER WIN AGAINST ARROWS

Report by Herts Baseball Newswire correspondent, ROB JONES

 

It was an epic duel between two teams who have rapidly built a fierce rivalry. The first time Herts Raptors and Essex Arrows 2 faced off this year, Arrows mounted a dramatic ninth inning comeback to steal the win; the next time it was Herts who piled on the runs in the final stages. This time around the two sides traded blows all the way to the ninth inning before the Hertfordshire club emerged 19-16 winners.

Herts had a shaky start, walking batters and giving up a run, but they escaped from a bases loaded jam and put up five runs of their own with a steady stream of singles. Slowly, the men in black ate into that lead and — with the help of a couple of fielding errors — they led 7-5 by the middle of the fourth.

Then the Raptors sparkplug Hunter Devine reached into his bag of tricks to help get the home side rolling again. He hit a double down the third base line and as the outfield throw flew past him at second he raced on for what we will call — in sprit — an inside the park home run. Jim Hyde then did his usual trick of making great contact and his ground-rule double tied the scores.

But this was to be a game of ebb and flow, full of momentum shifts. Arrows promptly grabbed back the lead by batting around in the top of the fifth and scoring six runs; then Raptors pulled back four. Jake Kikel threw up his first zero of the day at a crucial time, and then helped his own cause with a hit and a run as Raptors again tied the game. Jake gave way to ace reliever Mark Hoffman, who was able to slow down the Arrows offense, and give his team a chance to win.

Going into the bottom of the eighth, Essex led 16-14 and we were getting into the final act of the drama — could Raptors pull it off? A crowd was gathering on the sidelines now, other Herts players had brought their families and their voices to urge on the club's rookie team. Hunter Devine got things started again before Andy Ringrose and Jon Lewys chipped in, and Rob Jones hit his most bizarre RBI of the year, with a half-volley to third base to bring in the Raptors final insurance run.

Mark Hoffman and the Raptors defence then closed out the game in emphatic style. No Arrows batters reached base, and the victory was secure. It was a second win for the team, their second win over Essex Arrows, and a sweet win that showed a growing maturity.

 

Essex Arrows 2 at Herts Raptors
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Essex Arrows 2 1 2 1 3 6 0 1 2 0 16 13 8
Herts Raptors 5 0 0 2 4 2 1 5 0 19 16 4

Herts Raptors 19, Essex Arrows 2 16
Herts Raptors Essex Arrows 2
  ab r h bi   ab r h bi
Hunter Devine 2b 5 4 2 1 Luke c 5 3 2 0
Andy Ringrose 3b 6 4 3 1 Jo cf 5 2 1 0
Mark Hoffman 1b-p 5 2 1 0 Paul Richardson 1b 4 2 1 1
Jim Hyde cf-1b 5 2 3 1 Aaron ss 3 3 3 3
Dave Westfallen c 1 0 1 1 Kevin p 4 2 2 2
(b1) Jonathon Lewys pr-c 3 2 1 0 Jed 3b 5 2 1 0
Rob Jones ss-lf 4 3 2 3 Kyp lf 4 1 0 0
(t9) Robert Crouch rf 0 0 0 0 Paul T. rf 5 1 2 2
Steve Nippress rf 2 0 0 0 Leslie 2b 4 0 1 1
(t5) Luis Goncalves ss 2 0 0 0
(t8) Carlos Casal ss 1 0 0 0
Ilya Dimitrov lf-rf 4 0 0 0
Jake Kikel p-cf 6 2 3 1
TEAM TOTALS 44 19 16 8 TEAM TOTALS 39 16 13 9

E: Hunter Devine, Andy Ringrose, Jim Hyde, Ilya Dimitrov, Leslie(3), Aaron(2), Jo,
Jed, Kyp. LOB: Essex Arrows 2 9, Herts Raptors 11. 2B: Jim Hyde(2), Hunter Devine,
Kevin. SB: Rob Jones(4), Jake Kikel(4), Hunter Devine(3), Ilya Dimitrov(2), Jonathon
Lewys(2), Jim Hyde(2), Andy Ringrose(2), Aaron(5), Jo(3), Paul Richardson(3), Jed(2),
Luke(2), Kevin, Kyp, Paul T..

Herts Raptors IP H R ER BB SO
Jake Kikel 6.33 12 15 11 11 9
Mark Hoffman W 2.67 1 1 1 0 4
Essex Arrows 2            
Kevin L 8.00 16 19 8 9 9

HBP: by Jake Kikel (Aaron), by Kevin (Mark Hoffman). , by Jake Kikel (Kyp). . . . .
WP: Mark Hoffman(3), Jake Kikel(2), Kevin(2). PB: Luke(3). T: 4:00. A: 36.
Essex Arrows 2 – Top of the 1st:
Luke singled, stole 2nd, advanced to 3rd on error, batted forward to home.
Jo walked, stole 2nd, batted forward to 3rd, forced out at home.
Paul Richardson struck out looking.
Aaron walked, batted forward to 3rd.
Kevin walked, forced out at 2nd, 1 RBI.
Jed reached on fielder's choice.
1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Herts Raptors – Bottom of the 1st:
Hunter Devine walked, stole 2nd, batted forward to 3rd, advanced to home on error.
Andy Ringrose singled, advanced to 2nd on error, batted forward to home.
Mark Hoffman struck out looking.
Jim Hyde singled, stole 2nd, batted forward to 3rd, stole home.
Dave Westfallen singled, Jonathon Lewys ran for batter, batted forward to home, 1 RBI.
Rob Jones walked, batted forward to home.
Steve Nippress walked, batted forward to 3rd.
Ilya Dimitrov walked, batted forward to 2nd.
Jake Kikel singled, 1 RBI.
Hunter Devine struck out looking.
Andy Ringrose struck out looking.
5 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Essex Arrows 2 – Top of the 2nd:
Kyp reached on dropped 3rd strike WP, stole 2nd, batted forward to home.
Paul T. walked, batted forward to home.
Leslie struck out looking.
Luke walked, batted forward to 3rd.
Jo popped out.
Paul Richardson walked, batted forward to 2nd, 1 RBI.
Aaron walked, 1 RBI.
Kevin struck out swinging.
2 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Herts Raptors – Bottom of the 2nd:
Mark Hoffman grounded out.
Jim Hyde flied out.
Jonathon Lewys grounded out.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Essex Arrows 2 – Top of the 3rd:
Jed walked, stole 2nd, stole 3rd, batted forward to home.
Kyp walked, forced out at 2nd.
Paul T. singled, stole 2nd, batted forward to 3rd, 1 RBI.
Leslie grounded out.
Luke struck out looking.
1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Herts Raptors – Bottom of the 3rd:
Rob Jones walked, stole 2nd, batted forward to 3rd.
Steve Nippress grounded out.
Ilya Dimitrov struck out looking.
Jake Kikel popped out.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Essex Arrows 2 – Top of the 4th:
Jo grounded out.
Paul Richardson singled, stole 2nd, stole 3rd, batted forward to home.
Aaron hit by pitch, stole 2nd, batted forward to 3rd, advanced to home on error.
Kevin singled, advanced to 2nd on error, stole 3rd, advanced to home on error, 1 RBI.
Jed popped out.
Kyp struck out looking.
3 runs, 2 hits, 2 errors, 0 LOB.
Herts Raptors – Bottom of the 4th:
Hunter Devine doubled, advanced to 3rd on error, advanced to home on error.
Andy Ringrose singled, batted forward to home.
Mark Hoffman hit by pitch, batted forward to 3rd.
Jim Hyde ground rule doubled, 1 RBI.
Jonathon Lewys walked.
Rob Jones struck out looking.
Steve Nippress flied out.
Ilya Dimitrov struck out looking.
2 runs, 3 hits, 2 errors, 3 LOB.
Essex Arrows 2 – Top of the 5th:
Paul T. struck out looking.
Leslie struck out looking.
Luke singled, batted forward to 2nd, stole 3rd, batted forward to home.
Jo singled, batted forward to 3rd, advanced to home on error.
Paul Richardson walked, batted forward to 3rd, stole home.
Aaron singled, batted forward to 3rd, stole home, 1 RBI.
Kevin doubled, batted forward to home.
Jed singled, batted forward to home.
Kyp hit by pitch, tagged out going to 2nd.
Paul T. singled, 1 RBI.
Leslie singled, 1 RBI.
6 runs, 7 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Herts Raptors – Bottom of the 5th:
Jake Kikel singled, stole 2nd, stole 3rd, batted forward to home.
Hunter Devine singled, advanced to 2nd on wild pitch, batted forward to 3rd, advanced
to home on error, 1 RBI.
Andy Ringrose grounded out.
Mark Hoffman singled, batted forward to home.
Jim Hyde walked, batted forward to home.
Jonathon Lewys walked, batted forward to 2nd, stole 3rd.
Rob Jones singled, stole 2nd, 2 RBI.
Luis Goncalves struck out looking.
Ilya Dimitrov struck out looking.
4 runs, 4 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Essex Arrows 2 – Top of the 6th:
Luke called out.
Jo struck out swinging.
Paul Richardson popped out.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Herts Raptors – Bottom of the 6th:
Jake Kikel singled, stole 2nd, stole 3rd, batted forward to home.
Hunter Devine struck out looking.
Andy Ringrose singled, stole 2nd, batted forward to 3rd, advanced to home on passed
ball, 1 RBI.
Mark Hoffman grounded out.
Jim Hyde grounded out.
2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Essex Arrows 2 – Top of the 7th:
Aaron singled, stole 2nd, batted forward to 3rd, advanced to home on wild pitch.
Kevin walked, forced out at 2nd.
Jed reached on fielder's choice, advanced to 2nd on wild pitch, advanced to 3rd on
wild pitch.
Kyp struck out swinging.
Paul T. popped out.
1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Herts Raptors – Bottom of the 7th:
Jonathon Lewys popped out.
Rob Jones singled, advanced to 2nd on passed ball, stole 3rd, advanced to home on
wild pitch.
Luis Goncalves popped out.
Ilya Dimitrov walked, advanced to 2nd on wild pitch, stole 3rd.
Jake Kikel popped out.
1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Essex Arrows 2 – Top of the 8th:
Luke reached on fielder's choice, advanced to home on wild pitch.
Jo reached on dropped 3rd strike WP, stole 2nd, stole 3rd, batted forward to home.
Paul Richardson struck out looking.
Aaron singled, stole 2nd, stole 3rd, tagged out going to home, 1 RBI.
Kevin grounded out.
2 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Herts Raptors – Bottom of the 8th:
Hunter Devine reached on error, stole 2nd, stole 3rd, advanced to home on error.
Andy Ringrose reached on error, stole 2nd, advanced to 3rd on passed ball, advanced
to home on error.
Mark Hoffman reached on error, batted forward to home.
Jim Hyde ground rule doubled, tagged out going to 3rd.
Jonathon Lewys singled, batted forward to 2nd, stole 3rd, advanced to home on error.
Rob Jones reached on fielder's choice, stole 2nd, advanced to home on error, 1 RBI.
Carlos Casal popped out.
Ilya Dimitrov reached on error, advanced to 2nd on wild pitch, stole 3rd.
Jake Kikel popped out.
5 runs, 2 hits, 5 errors, 1 LOB.
Essex Arrows 2 – Top of the 9th:
Jed grounded out.
Kyp struck out swinging.
Paul T. grounded out.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Start a Conversation