The Red Roosters and the Blue Dogs have a slender lead in the 2011 Hunlock Series after the first round of games. The Blue Dogs opened the series with a 3-2 win against the Herts White Lightning, who announced a last-minute signing of free agent, Troy Linton, who is the starting short-stop for the Herts Falcons in the NBL. In their second game the Blue Dogs survived a last inning rally by the Black Widows to win 5-4 and maintain their unbeaten record.
The Herts Red Roosters are the defending Hunlock Series champions and they got off to a great start with a 11-2 defeat of White Lightning. Nic Goetz picked up the win for the Roosters in that game.
This set up a clash between the Blue Dogs and the Red Roosters with both teams going into the game unbeaten. It turned out to be a classic match-up. Nick Russell on the mound for the Blue Dogs took a 2-0 lead into the final inning but the Roosters staged a spirited comeback late in the game to win it 3-2.
White Lightning ended their day on a positive note with a 6-4 win over the Black Widows.
In the final game of the day the Roosters were looking to stay in first place in the standings by completing a 3-game sweep. They had a 4-1 lead against the Black Widows who had battled hard in their first two games but had nothing to show for their effort. The Black Widows are made up of members of the Herts Under-17 and Under-14 teams and most of their pitching staff was on a rest day after playing in the Herts Futures Tournament 24 hours earlier. Thankfully the team had drafted Alex Ganster and PJ Henderson who provided much needed pitching depth to keep them in the game and produce an impressive rally in the bottom of the final inning to win 5-4 against the unbeaten Red Roosters.
This leaves all four teams tightly packed in the standings after the first weekend of the Series. Next games are scheduled for Sunday, 2 October 2011, and with a heat wave about to come to the British Isles it is set to be another glorious weekend of baseball at Grovehill Ballpark.
PLAYER TRANSACTIONS
White Lightning
- Added Troy Linton (Free Agent)
Blue Dogs
- Added Oz Jr. (Free Agent)
Black Widows
- Added PJ Henderson (Free Agent)
Red Roosters have the next pick.
What it’s all about – read Rob Jones report from the first day of the Hunlock Series.