It’s not unusual to mention the weather in these reports. That’s partly because baseball is a summer sport and the setting is evocative and central to the feel of the game. Also, we are British and we obsess about weather.
But on a Bank Holiday weekend which turned out to be a record-breaker for its high temperatures, it’s impossible to avoid saying “this was a hot one”. The Herts Hawks and Herts Ravens put on their sunscreen, and faced off at Grovehill in their first derby of the Division 4 season.
This was a spirited double-header, and while the scoreboard ended even on the day, there was no shortage of fight from the Hawks who were the home team – and they finished with the momentum. After a tough opener that got away in the middle innings, they answered back with a composed, confident win in the second game to close the afternoon on a high note.
The opener started brightly enough for the Hawks, but the Ravens’ bats found their rhythm early and never really let go. The visitors scratched across single runs in both the first and second.
They then broke things open with a five-run third inning — with doubles from Kenny Liao and Jianyu Wu. Norman Peng got an RBI. That swung the momentum sharply toward the visitors. Wu, who was the starting pitcher, kept the Hawks’ lineup shackled with 13 strikeouts and only two walks.
The home side finally got on the board in the fourth and kept competing through the final out. Anu Rangajith provided one of the loudest moments, driving in the Hawks’ lone run. Andrew Fulford continued his strong offensive form with a pair of hits, and Pete Hogg chipped in with a double.
On the mound, Hawks’ co-manager Giuseppe Basilea battled through a difficult assignment against a disciplined Ravens lineup. Mike Cresswell came in and steadied things later in the game with a gritty relief outing, but Ravens took it convincingly 7-1.
If the first game belonged to the Ravens, the response in game two belonged emphatically to the Hawks.
They showed exactly the kind of resilience coaches love to see in a double-header. After a quiet first couple of innings, the Hawks kicked up a gear in the bottom of the third with a two-run frame to jump ahead.
The visitors struck back quickly with Raychen Bai and Justin Cheng scoring. But the home side answered that fourth-inning push with three more runs of their own to seize control for good.
Rangajith was right in the middle of the Hawks offense again, delivering the biggest swing of the day with a home run and four RBIs in a dominant performance from the top of the order. Club veteran Darrin Ward weighed in, collecting two hits and driving in a run while also scoring once himself. Tom Hill added energy and production with a pair of runs scored.
Ward also delivered on the mound, grinding through four-plus innings with 4 K’s to earn the win. Ben Myzer came in for the final inning, picking up 3 strikeouts to finish the job. The defense had tightened behind them, a noticeable improvement from the opener and a key reason the game never slipped away late.
Meanwhile, on Grovehill’s other diamond, the Herts Raptors were facing the Cambridge Monarchs for their third double-header this year in Division 5. When Cambridge last visited they left with a split, but the hosts were determined to impose themselves on this fixture.
The Monarchs got one run across in the first half inning, but with two out and the bases loaded Joe Spiers snagged a liner at second base to limit the damage and the Raptors bats got to work. A triple from Rufus Llloyd and a hit from Craig Elliott-Davey helped rack up a five run inning and Herts got four more in the second inning. Andrew Slater was solid on the mound to lock down the 9-4 win.
Game 2 was a little tighter, but Cambridge had only nine players on a baking hot day, and were facing an uphill struggle. The Raptors’ ace Abdul El Hamri made that hill even steeper, striking out 8 in four innings on the way to another win. Reilly Williams helped key the offense in the 10-5 victory with 2 hits and 2 stolen bases, while Lewis Auchterlounie – “fresh” off an overnight flight — got on base three times and scored twice.
In Division 2, the Herts Cardinals hosted the London Metros in a tough double-header. They were overpowered 18-2 in the first game, but the second was a closer affair. Brian Dearing pitched a gutsy 4 2/3 innings and Tyler Cote and Giorgio Ferroni each notched up a couple of hits, but London took this one 13-11 with a late rally.