Hove Tuesday are playing in the British baseball league for the first time this year but teams who consider them as rookies would be making a big mistake. Apart from a very shaky first inning they shut down the Herts Raptors offence very effectively allowing only 2 runs and 2 hits in the subsequent 6 innings to claim a deserved 21-10 win.
The game started with 6 Raptors and 6 Tuesday batters reaching base on balls or on a hit-by-pitch, and that was just in the first inning. Herts starter Ken Pike reached a heavy pitch count and was relieved after two-thirds of that opening inning as 7 batters came in to score. Zack Longboy came in and stabilised the situation for the home team. The Raptors bounced back in the bottom of that inning with 8 runs of their own. They were back in the game, but Hove regained their composure and produced an impressive defensive display. Amit Odedra (1-3 RBI) and Gilberto Medina (1-3 2B) tried to get a Herts rally going with hits in the later innings but that just wasn’t enough to keep up with the visitors who were adding runs to their tally inning-after-inning.
A hidden-ball tag out by the Raptors at third base cleared the benches as both teams spilled out onto the field, but there were no physical scuffles, just a few verbal exchanges. Both sides quickly calmed down and focused on baseball again.
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The Raptors are looking to improve on the team’s record over the last two seasons and see if they can get in the race for the postseason. Raptors Manager, Arnie Longboy, will be looking for ways to get the team back on track. “We had a hard fought battle, but the rain from the last several weeks not only muddied our playing fields but also seems to have softened our hard hitting bats” said Longboy. “Nevetheless hats off the Hove pitchers who had a rocky start but immediately settled in after the first inning. Some of the bright spots continue to be the contribution of our younger players both at the plate as well as pitching. Brodie Caress managed a scoreless inning against Hove whilst Zack Longboy got one of the 4 hits on the Raptors side. But we’re all working hard to get our timing back and look to a more positive result for our next game against the Marauders.”