Posted on behalf of Herts Newswire Correspondent, DAVE HAMILTON
The Hawks got their season off to a flying start at Grovehill on Sunday, putting in a strong all-round performance to beat the Northampton Bucks 12-7 in their league opener.
After watching the Falcons starting their season with a pair of wins, the Hawks were keen to make it a clean sweep for the home team, and did well to quell an early threat from the Bucks without conceding any runs.
With their manager's team-talk ringing in their ears, the squad then produced an impressive combination of patient hitting and aggressive baserunning to take a 2-0 first inning lead, that they never lost throughout the game. After two quick outs, Humberto Concalves sparked the rally with a base hit, coming round to score on starting pitcher John Oliver's two run single.
Paul Auchterlonie's lead-off triple in the second inning helped the Hawks to extend their lead to 3-0, and Oliver held the Buck's hitters in check with the help of some excellent defensive work, right fielder Ross Asquith combining with first baseman Louis Hare to turn the Hawks' first double play of the season in the third inning.
The Hawks blew the game open in the fourth inning, extending their lead to 7-1 with another two out rally to capitalise on some mistakes from the Bucks, and while
A mention should go to Bucks’ Lithuanian pitcher Marius. Fans of Herts Baseball Club remember him well as the pitcher who shut down the Herts Falcons in last year’s Final 4 when he was playing for the Humber Pilots. Marius threw over 200 pitches in a complete game effort, but ultimately it was the Hawks' day as they completed victory behind the left-right pitching combination of Oliver and Hare.
Manager
| Northampton at Herts Hawks | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score By Innings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Northampton | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 8 |
| Herts Hawks | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 10 | 4 |
| Herts Hawks 12, Northampton 7 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herts Hawks | Northampton | ||||||||
| ab | r | h | bi | ab | r | h | bi | ||
| Ross Asquith rf | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Geoff Finning 3b | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Nick Russell lf | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Edward Redgrave ss | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Humberto Goncalves 2b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Tim Tamakucho c | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| (t5) Kal Dimitrov 2b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jason Mathews cf | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Louis Hare 1b-p | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | Ben Alexander lf | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| John Oliver p-1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Marius p | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| (t8) Larry Martillo 1b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Simon rf | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Carlos Casal 3b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Ross 1b | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Dave Hamilton cf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | John 2b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Paul Auchterlounie c | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Luis Goncalves ss | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| TEAM TOTALS | 39 | 12 | 10 | 4 | TEAM TOTALS | 36 | 7 | 13 | 7 |
| E: Louis Hare(2), Humberto Goncalves, Carlos Casal, John(3), Marius(2), Ross(2), Edward Redgrave. DP: Herts Hawks 2. LOB: Northampton 10, Herts Hawks 11. 3B: Paul Auchterlounie. SB: Carlos Casal(2), Ross Asquith(2), Louis Hare(2), John Oliver, Nick Russell, Luis Goncalves, Edward Redgrave(4), Simon(2), Ross, Jason Mathews, Tim Tamakucho, Geoff Finning. CS: Edward Redgrave, Simon, Ben Alexander. SB: Luis Goncalves. |
| Herts Hawks | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| John Oliver W | 5.00 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| Louis Hare | 4.00 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Northampton | ||||||
| Marius L | 8.00 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 12 |
| HBP: by Marius (Carlos Casal). . . WP: Louis Hare, Marius(5). PB: Tim Tamakucho. T: 3:00. A: 60. |