Report from Herts Baseball Newswire Correspondent, NEIL BRACKLEY
The London Marauders travelled to Grovehill to face the Herts Raptors on opening day but neither team would have anticipated the momentous 69 run game that was to follow. With both teams dominated by people new to Baseball, this was the first competitive league game for the majority of players who took to the field and a game that most are unlikely to forget.
The Raptors came firing out of the starting blocks and quickly established a lead in the early innings. The game was on the verge of being called in the 7th with the Raptors 7-19 up, but the Marauders put on a remarkable stand in the top of the 7th with 2 outs, sending 18 batters to the plate. The Raptors were just unable to get that 3rd out and the Marauders piled on the runs and took the lead 24-19. The Raptors suddenly found themselves behind in a game they thought was already in the bag.
Both teams found themselves pulling together, supporting each other and digging deep as the game see-sawed. Runs came freely as the benches stood to cheer on their teammates on every play. Finally, after 5 hours of play and with the sun already dipping below the horizon, the Raptors found themselves 7 runs adrift at the bottom of the 9th.
The inning didn’t start well for the Raptors, with a line drive straight into a glove. However, as the inning progressed, a mixture of hits, walks, stolen bases, and errors allowed the Raptors to slowly pull back the deficit. As the evening gloom descended they finally managed to punch in the winning run, causing an amazing celebration on the Raptors Bench with bear hugs and high fives all round. Little leaguer Marty Jnr found himself the new mascot of the Herts Raptors and was held aloft.
The game had been played in a fantastic spirit with good play recognized by both sides. The London Marauders, Herts Raptors and the spectators still remaining all knew they’d taken part in and witnessed great game. Both squads left the field exhausted but stronger and more united because of it.
NEXT GAME: Herts Raptors vs Richmond Dragons, (16:00, Sunday, 3 May 2009, Grovehill Ballpark),
| London Marauders at Herts Raptors | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score By Innings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| London Marauders | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 10 | 34 | 20 | 7 |
| Herts Raptors | 4 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 35 | 22 | 6 |
| Herts Raptors 36, London Marauders 35 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herts Raptors | London Marauders | ||||||||
| ab | r | h | bi | ab | r | h | bi | ||
| Ade Orioye 3b-p-pr-rf | 6 | 6 | 3 | 0 | Player 1 p | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| (t4) Neil Brackley lf | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Player 2 c | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Ken Pike ss | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | Player 3 1b | 7 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Marty Cullen p | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Player 4 2b | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| (b8) Greg Bochan p | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Player 5 3b | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| Iwan Evans cf-3b | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | Player 6 ss | 4 | 6 | 2 | 3 |
| Andrew Slater 1b | 6 | 7 | 4 | 4 | Player 7 lf | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Paul Curtis 2b-lf | 6 | 2 | 3 | 6 | Player 8 cf | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| (b4) Hunter Devine 2b | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | Player 9 rf | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Elissa Baird cf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| (b4) Jon Gamble rf | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Ilya Dimitrov c | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Robert Crouch rf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| (b4) Liam Green cf-rf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| (b8) Matt Johnston cf | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| TEAM TOTALS | 49 | 36 | 22 | 18 | TEAM TOTALS | 47 | 35 | 20 | 14 |
| E: Matt Johnston(3), Iwan Evans(2), Ade Orioye, Player 5(3), Player 2(2), Player 1, Player 6. LOB: Herts Raptors 9, London Marauders 10. 2B: Paul Curtis(2), Hunter Devine, Player 5, Player 2, Player 6, Player 3. 3B: Player 8. SB: Ade Orioye(8), Iwan Evans(6), Hunter Devine(4), Ken Pike(3), Andrew Slater(3), Ilya Dimitrov(2), Paul Curtis(2), Matt Johnston, Greg Bochan, Player 3(5), Player 1(5), Player 9(4), Player 2(3), Player 6(3), Player 4, Player 5, Player 8. CS: Elissa Baird, Player 9. |
| Herts Raptors | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Ade Orioye | 4.33 | 12 | 22 | 17 | 17 | 5 |
| Marty Cullen | 4.00 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Greg Bochan W | 1.00 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| London Marauders | ||||||
| Player 1 L | 8.67 | 22 | 36 | 20 | 16 | 7 |
| HBP: by Marty Cullen (Player 7). . , by Ade Orioye (Player 1). . , by Player 1 (Andrew Slater), by Player 1 (Hunter Devine), by Player 1 (Ilya Dimitrov), by Player 1 (Ade Orioye). , by Player 1 (Greg Bochan). WP: Greg Bochan(2), Player 1(6). PB: Ilya Dimitrov(4), Player 2(13). Balk: Player 1(2). T: 4:47. A: 78. |