Photo Credit and Article from Joe Grey of BaseballGB
(amended by Newswire Staff)
The Falcons jumped to the top of the National Baseball League this Sunday, after sending the Croydon Pirates further into the basement with a drubbing in both games of their doubleheader at Roundshaw Playing Fields in Croydon.
The Pirates, who have struggled to field a side of late, showed flashes of their old self but were still put to the sword by scores of 20-2 and 13-8.
Darrin Ward took the win for Herts in Game One, while Nic Goetz claimed the honors in Game Two.
The second match, in particular, was full of unconventional quirks that kept the fans engaged and the sideline-historians deep in “never seen that before” exchanges. In the bottom of the first inning, Pirate Maikel Azcuy clubbed a home run over the short right field porch off Goetz. He was mobbed by his teammates near the plate, elated that their fortunes seemed to be turning after a 1-2-3 top of the Falcons 1st. But some heads-up work from catcher Lee Manning wiped the dinger off the scorepages – Azcuy never touched home plate after rounding the bases, and Manning simply brought the ball there to get the out from umpire Dave Thomson.
Then, late in the game as the Falcons were staging a late-inning comeback, Lin Yuchih was forced out at second base on a fielders choice for the second out of the inning. The Pirates threw on to 1st, trying to double-up runner-batter Andy Cornish… and then turned around to see Lin walking off the field via third base. Mistaking him for a runner-in-play they attempted to catch Lin (who ran into the pickle not sure if he was really out or safe at 2nd base!), tagged him, and ran off the field believing the inning had ended. It wasn't until the Herts side and official scorers had convinced the umpires that Lin was actually charged with two outs in the same inning that the Croydon players were sent back onto the field to get out number three.
Despite the day's antics, the Falcons walked away from Roundshaw with their heads held high. In just their first year in the National League they've established themselves as post-season contenders. While a one game lead over Bracknell, Richmond and London is slim, it's a lead nonetheless… and more than Herts (or their rivals and critics) would have expected from an expansion team. With half the season to play anything can happen. But the League should probably start-over their search for the true underdogs – the Falcons don't seem to be rolling over for anyone.
Note: the other scheduled action in Week 8, a doubleheader between the Richmond Flames and London Mets, was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch at Finsbury Park.
GAME ONE
| Herts Falcons at Croydon Pirates | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score By Innings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R | H | E |
| Herts Falcons | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 20 | 8 | 2 |
| Croydon Pirates | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| Herts Falcons 20, Croydon Pirates 2 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herts Falcons | Croydon Pirates | ||||||||
| ab | r | h | bi | ab | r | h | bi | ||
| Riley Fisher 3b | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | Player 1 p | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Andy Cornish lf | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | (t5) Daniel Rose lf-p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lin Yuchih 2b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | Ron Almonte ss | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Darrin Ward p | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | Jessie Quinones c-1b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jason Greenberg c | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | Daniel Quinones 1b-rf | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Nick Goetz ss | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Jose Sosa 2b-3b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| (t5) Luis Goncalves ss | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Pdero Padilla 2b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lee Manning 1b | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | (t3) Maikel Azcuy 2b-3b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Oliver rf | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | Brandon Florence lf-p | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jamie Munn cf | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | Tadashi Zushi cf | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Mark Morgenroth rf | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||||
| (t5) Marco Moreno c | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| TEAM TOTALS | 19 | 20 | 8 | 18 | TEAM TOTALS | 20 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| E: Riley Fisher, Nick Goetz, Player 1, Brandon Florence. DP: Croydon Pirates 2. LOB: Herts Falcons 4, Croydon Pirates 6. 2B: Lin Yuchih, Andy Cornish. SB: Lee Manning, John Oliver, Ron Almonte, Mark Morgenroth. SB: Nick Goetz. SF: Nick Goetz, Lee Manning. |
| Herts Falcons | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Darrin Ward W | 5.00 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Croydon Pirates | ||||||
| Jessie Quinones | 2.67 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Player 1 L | 1.33 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 1 |
| Brandon Florence | 1.00 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Daniel Rose | 0.00 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
HBP: by Player 1 (Jason Greenberg), by Player 1 (Andy Cornish). . , by Player 1
(Riley Fisher). , by Daniel Rose (Riley Fisher). WP: Player 1(5). T: 2:23. A: 39.
GAME TWO
| Herts Falcons at Croydon Pirates | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score By Innings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| Herts Falcons | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 8 | 4 |
| Croydon Pirates | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 5 |
| Herts Falcons 13, Croydon Pirates 8 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herts Falcons | Croydon Pirates | ||||||||
| ab | r | h | bi | ab | r | h | bi | ||
| Riley Fisher 3b | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Ron Almonte ss | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kimiyoshi Saionji 2b | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | Jose Sosa p | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lin Yuchih dh | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Maikel Azcuy 3b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Andy Cornish rf | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Jessie Quinones c | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Lee Manning c | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Daniel Quinones rf | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Luis Goncalves ss | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Brandon Florence lf | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| John Oliver 1b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | (t7) Pdero Padilla lf | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Aspi Dimitrov lf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Tadashi Zushi cf | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Jamie Munn cf | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | (b7) Daniel Rose cf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nick Goetz p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stephen Gayle 2b | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| (b7) Nicardio Simms 2b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| M Moreno 1b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| TEAM TOTALS | 32 | 13 | 8 | 6 | TEAM TOTALS | 31 | 8 | 8 | 4 |
| E: Luis Goncalves(2), Lee Manning, Riley Fisher, Maikel Azcuy, Stephen Gayle, Jessie Quinones, M Moreno, Tadashi Zushi. DP: Croydon Pirates 1. LOB: Croydon Pirates 7, Herts Falcons 7. 2B: Tadashi Zushi, Brandon Florence. 3B: Maikel Azcuy. SB: Luis Goncalves, John Oliver, Aspi Dimitrov, Brandon Florence, Tadashi Zushi. |
| Herts Falcons | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Nick Goetz W | 7.00 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| Croydon Pirates | ||||||
| Jose Sosa L | 7.00 | 8 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
HBP: by Jose Sosa (Luis Goncalves). WP: Nick Goetz(2), Jose Sosa. PB: Lee Manning,
Jessie Quinones. Balk: Jose Sosa(2). T: 2:34. A: 39.