The Black Barracudas finished top during the league stage of the Hunlock Series and went into the Postseason as the favourites so it was no surprise when they beat the Big Red Machine in the Final late on Sunday evening as the sun was going down on the final game day of the 2023 season.
The Postseason started with a do or die encounter between the Cheese Cutters and the Wizards who finished fourth and fifth, respectively. It proved to be an epic best-of-7 series which went the distance and the Wizards won by 4 games to 3. They had to face the third-placed Buzzards next. Wizards eventually ran out of pitching arms and, despite putting up a good fight, lost the series.
The second seeded Big Red Machine upset the odds with a 3-1 series win against the Barracudas after another good outing on the mound for Erik Gustafson. That secured a place in the final for them while the Barracudas had to face the Buzzards in a best-of-3 semi-final series.
The Barracudas won that series 2.5-0.5 to book their place in the Final where they met the Red Machine for a second time of the day which gave them a chance to redeem themselves after losing to them earlier in the day.
Despite a strong performance by the Big Red Machine, which included a Play of the Year-nominated diving catch by Andy Cornish, the Barracudas won the Championship Series 3-1.
This year’s Hunlock Series saw around 100 players play 63 one-inning games. Many of the players were new to Herts and the club hopes to see them wearing the Herts jersey when the 2024 British baseball season commences.
These were the final games of the 2023 baseball season. The players now take a break over the winter but Spring Training is not too far away and planning for the 2024 season has already began.
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