With the surprising two wins by the Southampton Mustangs against the Harlow Nationals last Sunday, the race to win the National Baseball League (NBL) pennant is back on. A week earlier the Herts Falcons thought that their loss against the Lakenheath Diamondbacks would mean that they would not be able to catch the reigning champions from Harlow, but Southampton’s heroics last Sunday mean that the Falcons are just one-and-a-half games back with two games remaining.
These two final regular season games are this Sunday, 19 August, and it is a head-to-head battle between the top two teams in the standings, Harlow and Herts. If they are to leap over the Nationals, Herts will need to win both games of the doubleheader. The Falcons have already secured second place in the final regular season standings regardless of what will happen on Sunday and this is the highest league position in the club’s history. But it would be an even greater achievement if Lee Manning’s men can clinch top spot.
These two games were rescheduled after a rain storm earlier in the season resulted in the game being suspended just after an inning. We are awaiting confirmation whether or not the game will resume form the point at which it was halted, or whether the inning played earlier in the year will be disregarded.
The games were originally scheduled to be played at Harlow, but the teams have decided to stage them at Grovehill Ballpark. The Harlow Nationals will still be the designated home team in the two games. The first pitch is at 12pm.