Opening Day in British Baseball is never a sure-fire omen of what’s to come. It’s early. Teams are just regrouping after the long winter or rainy spring. And, unlike the world of professional baseball, teams play just a handful of games each month – not exactly a sizeable sample set on which to base scientific speculation.
Nevertheless, the Falcons’ National League debut has given the Herts Baseball Club a surge of pride and optimism for the season to come. By sweeping the Croydon Pirates and jumping out to a 2-0 start, the Falcons have quickly justified their off-season promotion to Britain’s top league of play and silenced any naysayers.
Manager Jason Greenberg reportedly came to Croydon bearing the Herts championship game ball from the 2008 Final 4, in which the Falcons bested Oxford 6-3 to take home the trophy. It was that game – capping a magical 21-3 stroll through the AAA – that earned the Falcons advancement to the NBL. Despite admonitions from select baseball insiders that Herts was “flying too high on waxen wings,” the Club’s Executive Committee voted unanimously to accept the BBF invitation. Now entrenched at the game’s top level, the Falcons cannot be relegated to a lower league and will work over the months and years toward their first National Title. It was this message that Greenberg carried with the championship game ball: the Falcons have earned their promotion and are here to stay.
Game One – 12:00
FALCONS 11, PIRATES 5
Herts sent crafty veteran Darrin Ward to the mound in game one. Ward was magnificent, working out of several runners-on jams, and holding the Pirates scoreless with seven hits over six innings.
With an 11-0 lead in the bottom of the 7th, things seemed to slip away for Herts. After striking out the leadoff batter, a quick series of three hits, a fielder’s choice and a walk (only Ward’s second of the day) allowed 5 Pirates to cross the plate. All the runs scored with two outs, and that final out of the game was proving elusive. Nevertheless, catcher Greenberg made a sharp throw down to second to catch a would-be base-stealer for the final out of the game.
Ward was easily the player of the game, with nine strikeouts in his first complete game of ’09. At the plate, he smacked two doubles and had three hits overall with two runs batted in. Rookies Jamie Munn and Lin Yuchih had clutch hits in their Falcons debuts; Munn drove in two RBI with a hard single up the middle, while Lin was 2-4 with a double and an RBI. 2008 Falcons batting champion Kimiyoshi Saionji was 3-4 with a double, three runs scored and an RBI.
Game Two – 14:30
FALCONS 10, PIRATES 3
Hard-throwing Nic Goetz started Game Two for the Falcons. The good dynamic between Goetz and catcher Andy Cornish was quickly apparent, as the two worked seamlessly to retire nine of the first ten Pirates to come to the plate. Goetz worked both sides of the dish and changed speeds effectively to hold Croydon to one earned run on eight hits in the game.
Again, the Falcons defense shined. Two spectacular double plays were turned in by rookie phenom Yuchih Lin – the first on a gutsy 5-4-3 move from the versatile Ward at third base, and the second on a hard-hit liner taken by Lin at the second base bag, doubling up a Pirate trying to dive back to safety. Centerfielder Dan “Hollywood” Kerry made a signature all-out diving catch in centerfield, and right fielder Aspi Dimitrov made a spectacular run to cut down a deep down-the-line fly in the bottom of the 6th. The Falcons outfield should prove one of the fastest and gutsiest in the National League.
Dimitrov was also sharp at the plate going 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI, and Cornish had a pair of doubles batting 3-for-5 with 4 RBI.
On Deck – National Champion London Mets
GROVEHILL, SUNDAY 3 MAY 12:00
Herts batted .352 on the day with eight doubles and thirteen stolen bases. It was a complete reversal from the Herts Spring League, in which their bats were mostly silent and, for the most part, they failed to get runners into scoring position. While the Falcons defense has always been strong, it was their offense that truly came alive on Sunday and just in time for their entrance onto the National stage.
The Herts organisation made a splash on opening day, winning 5 of its 6 games, with victories for the A Raptors, AAA Eagles and NBL Falcons. Only a nail-biter 14-12 loss by the AA Hawks prevented a clean sweep.
The Falcons can enjoy their undefeated status for an extra week with an off-day this Sunday. On May 3rd they face the reigning National League champion London Mets for the home opener in Grovehill. No doubt, as the season plays out we’ll quickly have a better sense of how Herts will contend against the country’s top pitching… how their pitching will cope with Britain’s top batters. But, for now, the Falcons are content to have proved that their promotion was no mistake.
GAME ONE BOX SCORE
| Herts Falcons at Croydon Pirates | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score By Innings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| Herts Falcons | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 12 | 2 |
| Croydon Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 8 |
| Herts Falcons 11, Croydon Pirates 5 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herts Falcons | Croydon Pirates | ||||||||
| ab | r | h | bi | ab | r | h | bi | ||
| Jamie Munn cf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Tim Ssali 2b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Lin Yuchih ss | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Aki Okada lf | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Andy Cornish rf | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Jose Sosa ss | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Kimiyoshi Saionji 2b | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | Maikel Azcuy 3b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Darrin Ward p | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | Brett Woods 1b | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Dan Kerry lf | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Mike Ford c | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Jason Greenberg c | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | C. Richie Limm cf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Oliver 1b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | (b4) Brandon Florence cf | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Nick Goetz 3b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Jared Uys p | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Frank Kucharski rf | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| (t6) Player name TBC rf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| TEAM TOTALS | 36 | 11 | 12 | 9 | TEAM TOTALS | 32 | 5 | 13 | 4 |
| E: Lin Yuchih, John Oliver, Jose Sosa(4), Maikel Azcuy(3), Tim Ssali. DP: Croydon Pirates 2. LOB: Herts Falcons 5, Croydon Pirates 8. 2B: Darrin Ward(2), Kimiyoshi Saionji, Lin Yuchih, Jose Sosa. SB: Dan Kerry(2), Jason Greenberg(2), Lin Yuchih, Andy Cornish, Darrin Ward, Kimiyoshi Saionji, Jamie Munn, Brett Woods(2), Maikel Azcuy, Aki Okada. CS: Lin Yuchih, Brandon Florence. |
| Herts Falcons | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Darrin Ward W | 7.00 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 9 |
| Croydon Pirates | ||||||
| Jared Uys L | 7.00 | 12 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 9 |
WP: Jared Uys(3). T: 2:24. A: 55.
GAME TWO BOX SCORE
| Herts Falcons at Croydon Pirates | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score By Innings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| Herts Falcons | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 13 | 2 |
| Croydon Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 3 |
| Herts Falcons 10, Croydon Pirates 3 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herts Falcons | Croydon Pirates | ||||||||
| ab | r | h | bi | ab | r | h | bi | ||
| Jamie Munn lf | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Tim c | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Lin Yuchih 2b | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Paul Stevens 1b-p | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Andy Cornish c | 5 | 0 | 3 | 4 | Jose Sosa p-1b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Kimiyoshi Saionji dh | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | M. Asuya ss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Darrin Ward 3b | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Brett Woods 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dan Kerry cf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Brandon Florence cf | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| John Oliver 1b | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | F. Kucharski 2b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lee Manning ss | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | (b7) Oscar Silva 2b | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Aspi Dimitrov rf | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | G. Shepherd rf | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| (t7) Jason Greenberg pr-rf | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | (t6) Aki Okada rf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nick Goetz p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Rod Stevenson lf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| TEAM TOTALS | 35 | 10 | 13 | 9 | TEAM TOTALS | 28 | 3 | 8 | 3 |
| E: Lee Manning, Nick Goetz, Brett Woods, Brandon Florence, F. Kucharski. LOB: Croydon Pirates 5, Herts Falcons 9. 2B: Andy Cornish(2), Darrin Ward, Lin Yuchih. 3B: Paul Stevens. SB: Kimiyoshi Saionji, Dan Kerry, John Oliver, Jamie Munn. CS: Andy Cornish. |
| Herts Falcons | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Nick Goetz W | 7.00 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Croydon Pirates | ||||||
| Jose Sosa L | 5.00 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 5 |
| Paul Stevens | 2.00 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| HBP: by Jose Sosa (Kimiyoshi Saionji). . , by Paul Stevens (Kimiyoshi Saionji). . WP: Nick Goetz. PB: Tim. T: 2:00. A: 55. |