The Croydon Pirates all but booked their top-six spot and Herts and Mildenhall split their crucial doubleheader in the only Week 15 National Baseball League action on August 2.
NBL Special Correspondent Simon Fitzjohn reports:
MILDENHALL BULLDOGS @ HERTS FALCONS
Mildenhall and Herts both have a chance of claiming sixth spot after the teams split their doubleheader in wildly contrasting games.
The Falcons squeezed to a 6-5 win in Game One, Pete Kikel outdueling Barry Wiles on the mound. But the Bulldogs responded with a 19-8 blowout in Game Two. John Blose took the win in this game, with Dan Kerry (pictured right) launching a home run.
Herts’ Aspi Dimitrov said: “We left the field quite disappointed, but after a day or so I think we will look at it differently. We are as we were, but with a round of games less to play, which means that the remaining games become even more important. “We missed an opportunity to move up in the standings” Dimitrov continued, “but we have not lost any ground in the race for the play-offs.”
ESSEX ARROWS @ CROYDON PIRATES
An understrength Essex side was put to the sword by the Pirates, who boosted their record to 9-15 with a sweep of both games. The 7-0 and 17-4 wins saw Croydon pitchers Tim Ssali and Jose Sosa pick up the victories, with Matt Gilbert and Richard Chesteron the Essex losers. With the Arrows struggling for numbers, 64-year-old coach Phil Chesterton was even pressed into playing first base in Game Two. Phil Chesterton said: “The key for us is to get through to the end of the season without forfeiting a game. We knew when we entered this season we were going to face some hard truths and we have not been disappointed. “That may sound negative,” Chesterton continued, “but it isn’t. We are definitely a work in progress and I think next season will be when all the hard work starts to pay off.”
photos courtesy of www.HP2photographic.com
GAME 1 BOX SCORES
| Mildenhall Bulldogs at Herts Falcons | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score By Innings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| Mildenhall Bulldogs | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 4 |
| Herts Falcons | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| Herts Falcons 6, Mildenhall Bulldogs 5 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herts Falcons | Mildenhall Bulldogs | ||||||||
| ab | r | h | bi | ab | r | h | bi | ||
| CASAL Carlos 2b | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | KLINO cf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| GONCALVES Luis c | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | TYLER ss | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| SAIONJI Kimiyoshi rf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | PEREZ Leo 1b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| KERRY Dan lf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | WILES Barry p | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| KIKEL Peter p | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | BERK c | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| MARTINEZ Marc 1b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | BLOSE John 2b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DEAL Brandon 3b | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | CULVER Kevin 3b | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| GOETZ Nic ss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | HOUSE lf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| MUNN Jamie cf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | BERK Brook rf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| (t7) PIERCE rf | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| TEAM TOTALS | 25 | 6 | 6 | 4 | TEAM TOTALS | 26 | 5 | 7 | 5 |
| E: V Player 2, V Player 5, V Player 7, V Player 9. DP: Mildenhall Bulldogs 1. LOB: Mildenhall Bulldogs 4, Herts Falcons 6. 2B: GONCALVES Luis, MUNN Jamie, V Player 7. HR: V Player 3. SB: GOETZ Nic, DEAL Brandon, CASAL Carlos, V Player 1, V Player 7. SF: V Player 8. |
| Herts Falcons | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| KIKEL Peter W | 7.00 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Mildenhall Bulldogs | ||||||
| WILES Barry L | 6.00 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| HBP: by V Player 4 (CASAL Carlos), by V Player 4 (KERRY Dan), by V Player 4 (KIKEL Peter). . . . . , by V Player 4 (CASAL Carlos). , by KIKEL Peter (V Player 2). WP: V Player 4(3). PB: GONCALVES Luis, V Player 5(2). Balk: KIKEL Peter. T: 2:05. A: 48. |
GAME 2 BOX SCORES
| Mildenhall Bulldogs at Herts Falcons | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score By Innings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R | H | E |
| Mildenhall Bulldogs | 0 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 19 | 12 | 4 |
| Herts Falcons | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 6 |
| Mildenhall Bulldogs 19, Herts Falcons 8 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mildenhall Bulldogs | Herts Falcons | ||||||||
| ab | r | h | bi | ab | r | h | bi | ||
| KLINO cf | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | GONCALVES Luis p-ss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| TYLER ss | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | DIMITROV Aspi rf | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| PEREZ Leo lf | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | SAIONJI Kimiyoshi 2b | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| WILES Barry c | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | KERRY Dan cf | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| PIERCE 1b | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | KIKEL Peter 3b-p | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| BERK 2b-3b | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | CULLEN Marty c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| BLOSE John 3b-p | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | DEAL Brandon ss-1b | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| HOUSE rf | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | MUNN Jamie lf | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| CULVER Kevin p-2b | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | MARTINEZ Marc 1b | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| (b3) GOETZ Nic p-3b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| TEAM TOTALS | 35 | 19 | 12 | 8 | TEAM TOTALS | 23 | 8 | 9 | 6 |
| E: V Player 1, V Player 3, V Player 6, V Player 9, GONCALVES Luis(2), KIKEL Peter(2), CULLEN Marty, GOETZ Nic. LOB: Herts Falcons 4, Mildenhall Bulldogs 7. 2B: V Player 1(2), V Player 7(2), V Player 6, V Player 8, DEAL Brandon, MUNN Jamie. HR: KERRY Dan. SB: V Player 6, V Player 5, MUNN Jamie(2), DIMITROV Aspi, MARTINEZ Marc. SF: GONCALVES Luis(2), KERRY Dan. |
| Mildenhall Bulldogs | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Jon BLOSE W | 5.00 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| CULVER Levin | 1.00 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Herts Falcons | ||||||
| GONCALVES Luis L | 2.67 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 3 |
| GOETZ Nic | 2.00 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| KIKEL Peter | 1.33 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| HBP: by GONCALVES Luis (V Player 3). . . . , by GOETZ Nic (V Player 4). , by V Player 7 (MUNN Jamie). WP: V Player 9(2), GONCALVES Luis(4), KIKEL Peter(3). PB: V Player 4, CULLEN Marty(5). Balk: GONCALVES Luis(2). T: 2:20. A: 48. |