With no league action for Hawks in the AA League and the Raptors and Eagles in the Single-A League, the teams were joined by members of the Herts U17 team to create a 4-team competition.
Herts Hawks were split in two and supplemented with U17 players to create two teams who clashed in the first semi-final. The mixed team managed by Andrew Slater held on for a narrow 6-5 win. That took them to the final where they met the Herts Raptors who beat the Herts Eagles in the other semi-final.
In the final, the Raptors were on fire and put 6 runs on the scoreboard without reply from Andrew Slater’s boys as Raptors starting pitcher Zack Longboy had another outstanding day on the mound.
Trailing 6-0 in the final inning Andrew Slater’s team came alive. They pulled back 4 runs and had a runner on 3rd and runner on second representing the tying run with 1 out. A fly ball to centerfield seemed to be on its way down for a single, but Ken Pike came flying from centerfield to make a sliding catch. He followed that sectacular play by throwing the ball to second base turning a game-ending double play as the runner on second had gambled on Pike not making the catch.
The teams now look forward to their final round of regular season games next Sunday as the race for the playoffs reaches its climax. Stay tuned to hertsbaseball.com for full coverage of a crunch week in British Baseball.