SATURDAY
The baseball weekend begins with games from the BBF U17 League and the Herts U11 Series at Grovehill Ballpark. The U17 teams of Herts, Horsham and Leicester will clash in a repeat of their round-robin day played on 18 May.
U17 League: 10:30 Leicester Blue Sox vs Herts Harriers (6 innings)
U17 League: 13:00 Horsham Hornets vs Leicester Blue Sox (6 innings)
U17 League: 15:30 Herts Harriers vs Horsham Hornets (6 innings)
At the same time on the Old Diamond the U11 Series between the Herts Dodgers and the Herts Giants continues. After last week’s game, the Giants lead the series by 1 game. This Saturday the teams will play two games, a chance for the Dodgers not only to tie the series but maybe even jump ahead of the Giants.
U11 League: 10:00 Herts Dodgers vs Herts Giants (4 innings)
U11 League: 12:00 Herts Dodgers vs Herts Giants (4 innings)
SUNDAY
NBL
The Herts Falcons (10-4) travel to the impressive Bracknell Blazers (7-7) this Sunday looking to keep their momentum after 4 edge-of-the-seat wins against the Mustangs and the Mets who were ahead of the Falcons in the standings before these encounters. Herts are now tied in first place with London, however they will know that a slip-up could undo all the good work of the past few weeks and give London and Southampton the advantage again.
They are coming up against a Bracknell team which has rebuilt very well after a disappointing 2012 season which they finished with 6 wins and 16 losses (win-loss % .273). Their pitching staff is considered one of the best in the NBL and they have already proven that they are capable of beating anyone. Jordan Edmonds, Rei Martinez and Henry Collins are the likely starting pitchers.
The Falcons go into the game with injury worries once again. Catcher, Dave Westfallen, was added to the list of injured players after he aggravated an old knee injury against the Mets last Sunday.
AAA -EAGUE
It has been confirmed that this Sunday’s AAA-League doubleheader between the Herts Ravens and the Leones de Feltham has been moved to Grovehill Balpark. The games was originally scheduled to be played at Glebelands Field near Heathrow (West London), but the Leones have had ongoing problems with their field this season with many of their home games played at the venue of their opponents. The Ravens will still be considered the visitors in this game (i.e. batting first). The first game starts at 12:00 at the Old Diamond.
AA-LEAGUE
The Hawks travel to RAF Daws Hill where they will meet the unbeaten Spitfires (6-0). The last encounter between the two teams in 2012 ended with two wins for the Hawks which secured a playoff spot for them. The tables have turned to a certain extent as Herts expanded into 5 teams with many of last year’s Hawks moving up into AAA, while the Spitfires have reinforced well and have notched up 6 convincing wins to make them the favourites for the AA-League title.
A-LEAGUE
The Herts Raptors come up against the Leicester 2Sox looking to stay top of the table. They won convincingly when the two teams met in Leicester on Opening Day. However, since then the Sox have been playing .500 baseball picking up 2 wins against the Old Timers and a heart-stopper 19-18 win against the Blackjacks. The game starts at 12:00pm at the New Diamond of Grovehill Ballpark, in Hemel Hempstead.
The Eagles travel to the Haverhill Blackjacks with a .500 win-loss record so far. They were outplayed by the Richmond Dukes last Sunday, so Manager Duncan Hoyle will need to pick up his players and get back to winning ways. A win on Sunday could see them go top of the standings depending on other results.