Report from Herts Baseball Little League Correpondent, Tracey Manning
As the sun beats down on the 4th week the Herts Little League gets going to a keen start after a week off. On Field One Cubs versus Cardinals the game started fast. Big hits of the day came from Nick Martinez and Brodie Caress to give the Herts Cubs the lead. Cardinals starting pitcher, Kyle Lloyd-Jones, helped himself out catching a fly ball and was always close to the action. Cubs third baseman, Oliver Durer, made a nice catch and throw to 2nd base, but at the end it wasn’t enough for theCubs, as they continued their losing streak with a final score of 8-3 to the Herts Cardinals.
Over on Field Two the Yankees and Redsox got down to business with the usual zest to take a win from their rivals. It proved to be a pitching duel. The Yankees took a one-run lead into the bottom of the last inning but the Red Sox had plans of their own and delivered with clutch hits when it really mattered to earn a walk-off win 2-1.
In the second games of the day the Herts Cubs faced the Yankees. The struggling Cubs went into the game trying to end a 5-game losing streak. With new found energy after lunch, they showed a lot of determination and desire to give the Yankees a tough time. Nick Martinez provided the much needed starting pitching for them to shut down the Yankees offence. Ben Jones came in to close the game in the final inning. Despite mounting a come back in the final inning to load the bases, the Yankees ended without a run after some amazing fielding by Nick Martinez first throwing out the batter at first base all the way from centerfield and then reaching over the outfield fence for the final out after a big hit from Marty Cullen Jr.. Final score 9-0 to the Cubs.
The finala gam,e of the day was a top of the table clash between the Cardinals and the league leading Redsox. Ozan Martin of the Cardinals hit a couple of big hits whichhe followed with some aggressive base-running. Despite great defensive work by the Red Sox, which included a double-play, the Cardinals came out on top winning 5-0.
After 8 games the Red Sox lead the way, but the chasing pack has closed the gap and the race for the title is hotting up.
| Majors | ||||||||
| Team | W | L | % | F | A | Run +/- | GB | Streak |
| Herts Red Sox | 5.5 | 2.5 | 0.688 | 39 | 29 | 10 | – | L1 |
| Herts Cardinals | 5 | 3 | 0.625 | 39 | 25 | 14 | 0.5 | W2 |
| Herts Yankees | 3.5 | 4.5 | 0.438 | 38 | 42 | -4 | 2 | L1 |
| Herts Cubs | 2 | 6 | 0.250 | 25 | 45 | -20 | 3.5 | W1 |
| Minors | ||||||||
| Team | W | L | % | F | A | Run +/- | GB | Streak |
| Herts Tornados | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 18 | 19 | -1 | – | L1 |
| Herts Crocs | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 19 | 18 | 1 | – | W1 |