Report from BBF Correspondent Simon Fitzjohn:
The London Mets kept up their relentless pace atop the NBL standings, but were made to work hard by the Herts Falcons in an entertaining doubleheader. London emerged victorious by scores of 7-2 and 4-3. Reed Wilson was the hero in game one, pitching another dominating game to frustrate the Herts hitters. Game two was much tighter though, with the Mets needing two passed balls, a stolen base and a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth to rally from a 3-2 deficit.
The Mets' Alex Pike said: “Reed pitched to perfection in the first game and I cannot ask for more than that. Game two was far closer but we still came through. Pressure means nothing to these guys and they always find a way to win. We are going to be missing quite a few of these guys in the play-offs so we need to try out a few new faces, but they are stepping up well.”
For Herts' manager Jason Greenberg it was a case of what might have been. He said: “In the first game we came up with only one hit, so no surprises in the result there. Game two we could have won and we are very disappointed. Even so I am very pleased that it was a game against the Mets that we controlled from the first inning. The day is getting closer where we beat this team and it is not considered an upset.”
More images from the Falcons' visit to the London Mets
GAME ONE
| Herts Falcons at London Mets | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score By Innings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| Herts Falcons | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| London Mets | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 2 |
| London Mets 7, Herts Falcons 2 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London Mets | Herts Falcons | ||||||||
| ab | r | h | bi | ab | r | h | bi | ||
| Player 1 3b | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Luis Goncalves ss | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player 2 ss | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Kimiyoshi Saionji 2b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player 3 lf | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Lin Yuchih 3b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player 4 c | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | Darrin Ward 1b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player 5 dh | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Jason Greenberg c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Player 6 1b | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Dan Kerry lf | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| (t7) Sub 1 1b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Aspi Dimitrov rf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player 7 cf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | (t7) Carlos Casal rf | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Player 8 2b | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | Nick Goetz p | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| (t7) Sub 4 2b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | (t7) Lee Manning p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player 9 rf | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Jamie Munn cf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| (t7) Sub 6 rf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Sub 16 p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| TEAM TOTALS | 27 | 7 | 6 | 6 | TEAM TOTALS | 24 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| E: Player 2, Sub 16, Lin Yuchih(2), Aspi Dimitrov. LOB: Herts Falcons 5, London Mets 7. 2B: Player 4, Player 5, Player 6, Player 8. SB: Player 2(3), Player 3, Player 1, Carlos Casal. |
| London Mets | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Sub 16 W | 7.00 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| Herts Falcons | ||||||
| Nick Goetz L | 6.00 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
HBP: by Nick Goetz (Player 2). . . . . , by Sub 16 (Kimiyoshi Saionji), by Nick Goetz
(Player 9). . WP: Sub 16. PB: Player 4(4), Jason Greenberg. T: 1:45. A: 97.
GAME TWO
| Herts ALL at Template Team | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score By Innings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| Herts ALL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Template Team | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| Template Team 4, Herts ALL 3 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template Team | Herts ALL | ||||||||
| ab | r | h | bi | ab | r | h | bi | ||
| Player 1 ss | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Luis Goncalves ss | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Player 2 lf-2b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Kimiyoshi Saionji rf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player 3 3b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Lin Yuchih 1b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| (b4) Sub 4 3b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Darrin Ward p | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player 4 dh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Dan Kerry cf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player 5 cf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Lee Manning c | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Player 6 c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Carlos Casal 2b | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| (t7) Sub 6 lf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Nick Goetz 3b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player 7 2b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jamie Munn rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| (b5) Sub 1 2b-c | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Player 8 rf | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| (b5) Sub 2 rf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Player 9 1b | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Sub 16 p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| TEAM TOTALS | 23 | 4 | 5 | 4 | TEAM TOTALS | 26 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| E: Player 1(2), Player 3, Luis Goncalves, Carlos Casal, Nick Goetz. DP: Herts ALL 2. LOB: Template Team 2, Herts ALL 6. 2B: Player 1, Player 5. SB: Player 2, Luis Goncalves(2), Carlos Casal, Lee Manning. SF: Player 4. |
| Template Team | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Sub 16 W | 7.00 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| Herts ALL | ||||||
| Darrin Ward L | 6.00 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
WP: Sub 16(2). PB: Player 6(3), Lee Manning(2). T: 15:15. A: 98.