British Single-A League
Herts Raptors 20 Haverhill Blackjacks 30
Adrian Smithers reporting from Haverhill

It was a very hot day in Haverhill last Sunday. Which incidentally, for anybody whom geographical awareness is not their strongest point, is in Suffolk! It’s most definitely NOT in Cambridgeshire as some believed.

It was under this inferno of an early June sun that the Raptors trotted out upon the “diamond” to play the Blackjacks for the second time in a fortnight. Raptors were hoping to exact a modicum of revenge for the previous defeat at Grovehill. A game that had seen them coming within 2 outs of securing their very first win of the season. However it was not to be on this day, as it hadn’t previously.

Raptors batted around in the 1st inning putting four runs on the board. The Blackjacks replied in the bottom of the inning with two. The 2nd inning saw the Herts team bat around again adding another four runs. Raptors starting pitcher Charlie Mayhew then retired Haverhill in order. Giving Raptors an 8-2 lead. It was the Raptors turn to put up a blank in the third as the Blackjacks batters made adjustments, on their second time through the order, scoring six runs to tie the game at 8-8 after three innings.

Raptors responded aggressively, after their first two outs in the 4th inning, batting around once more and plating six runs in the process to retake the lead 14-6. However, the bottom of the inning was truly disasterous for the Raptors and despite Cresswell relieving C.Mayhew with one out and runners on 2nd & 3rd, the Haverhill team exploded for THIRTEEN runs from five hits, four walks, passed balls and other numerous and costly errors.

The inning included an inside the “park” home run by Blackjacks slugger Becking. Who having gone deep in the teams previous encounter, failed to clear the 1,545 ft outfield fence and had to do it the hard way with the Herts outfielders mere specks against the distant horizon.

With the score now 21-14 to Haverhill, the hard throwing but wild Fuentes took over pitching duties for the Blackjacks enabling the Raptors to score six runs on a single hit, seven walks and a glut of wild pitches to pull the score back to within a run. They then held the home team to a single run inthe bottom of the fifth to trail 22-20.

Raptors failed to add to their score in the sixth, whilst the Blackjacks added a further seven unearned runs as the Raptors focus and ability to make the basic plays seemed to melt away like a chewy sweet left out in the sweltering afternoon sunshine. The Herts team fared no better in the 7th as they were sat down in order. Haverhill then added the single run they required, to bring the mercy rule into play, without an out being recorded. With the game over and the platitudes completed, half the Raptors team headed for home, the other half for the nearest pub. A happier time was had in the Rose & Crown as lost liquids were replenished.

Raptors manager Geoffrey Thomas said: “Once again we’ve scored a lot of runs but we’ve made too many mistakes and given up too many runs. There’s wins in this team, we just need to cut down on the errors.”

Raptors are back at Grovehill on Sunday 15th June to face visitors Tonbridge.

British Single-A League
London Musketeers 25 Herts Raptors 13
Adrian Smithers reporting form Grovehill Ballpark

Baseball relies upon its history and traditions more so than many other sports that are played nowadays. Personally I have relied upon the technologies allowed to me, as invaluable assets, whilst compiling my reports so far this season. Gamechanger and other apps being a huge aid to the memory, when concentration at the time is focused purely upon the game and its current situation. This week I don’t have that. So in the interest of accuracy, no stats will be quoted.

The Raptors started the game playing error free baseball and accordingly found themselves with a 6-0 lead after the first three innings. Raptors starting pitcher Michael Cresswell (pictured above) holding the Musketeers to a single hit whilst walking two batters. The London team put their first run on the board in the fourth, with Raptors replying in kind to keep their lead at six runs.

The Musketeer bats finally found their rhythm in the fifth inning scoring five runs without reply to pull the game back to within a run at 7-6. They scored five more in the sixth inning as Witter took over the pitching duties from Cresswell, with men already on base. Raptors could only add one run to their score in the bottom of the inning and found themselves behind for the first time in the game with the score now 11-8 to London.

The momentum was now firmly with the Musketeers. Despite Raptors manager Jones’s roboration between innings, Musketeers scored a further four runs, in the seventh, as mistakes and frustrations appeared to creep into the Raptors game. Musketeers repeated this feat adding a further four runs in the eighth inning. Needing to score twice in order to prolong the game into the ninth, Raptors scored 3 runs without an out before a pick off play to first base saw Kosak called out, to the astonishment of the Raptors dugout, on a tag that was applied to his leg that seemed clearly to already be back on the bag. The resulting protest and comment made after a warning for equipment abuse led to his ejection by the umpire.

The Musketeers scored a further six runs in the top of the ninth widening the void to 25-12. Raptors failed to score in the bottom of the inning. So with the aid of a ghost run – that doesn’t appear on the j.peg of a scorecard that I’ve been working from – the final score was 25-13!*

Raptors manager Rob Jones said, “This game was much closer than the score line suggests. Michael Cresswell pitched a gem for us and it was frustrating to let the game get away from us at the end. But London came back very strong. We have to work hard on keeping our bats going and close games out for the win.”

Raptors travel to Haverhill Blackjacks on Sunday 8th June.

*As submitted by London Musketeers.

Drew Mayhew’s hit was one of just a few on a tough day for the Raptors’ offence

British Single-A League
Kent Mariners 16 Herts Raptors 3
Adrian Smithers reporting form Grovehill Ballpark

The Kent Mariners held the previously hot Raptor bats to just two hits during a six inning (time restricted) game, inflicting a third straight loss upon the Herts ‘A’ team in their long awaited home opener.

The game, originally scheduled for a 3pm start, was delayed by almost two hours as the AAA doubleheader between Herts Eagles & Hove Tuesday overran. By the time they had finished and vacated the old diamond it was almost 5pm. The Raptors squad had, for the last four hours, either been sitting around in the hot sunshine watching the AAA game or taking part in fielding practice or pitching try outs to keep themselves entertained.

With the sun now high in the late afternoon sky and directly behind home plate, making any flyball to the outfield hard to see for both teams, the game finally started with Kent scoring three runs in the top of the 1st inning. Raptors pulled one back in the bottom of the inning, as lead off bat and starting pitcher Michael Cresswell was hit by a pitch before stealing 2nd and 3rd. Raptors shortstop Daniel Bennett then grounded into a 6-3 play scoring Cresswell and collecting the only Herts RBI of the day. Kent plated six runs in the top of the second due in part to some uncharacteristic mistakes by the Raptors infield and outfield. The Herts team replying with a single run scored by catcher (and walking rulebook) Tomasz Kosak. Neither side scored in the third inning despite Raptors first hit of the game from Bennett and due in part also to an excellent catch on the mound by Cresswell, gloving a ball that had been lasered straight back at him.

Charlie Mayhew took over the pitching duties from Cresswell in the fourth inning with the score 9-2. Kent added four more runs in another error strewn inning by the Raptors until they got out of it on an unassisted double play by shortstop Bennett, catching a driven ball before tagging out the runner. Who having gone on contact – with only one out – was trying in vain to regain second base. Drew Mayhew then got Herts second hit of the game putting himself in position to come around the bags to score Raptors third run making the score 13-3 after four innings.

Kent extended their lead by 3 more runs in the fifth and sixth. With the score 16-3, and needing 13 runs to tie the game, the weary Raptors faded away with only Drew Mayhew reaching base on an error. It had been an exceptionally long day and it showed.

Raptors manager Geoff Thomas said; “Unfortunately we didn’t do ourselves justice today and were soundly beaten by a better team. I’m looking forward to us bouncing back next game and showing everyone what we can do.”

It will be a tough game for the Raptors who face visitors Haverhill Blackjacks on Sunday 25th May at Grovehill Ballpark. First pitch is at 1pm.

BBF Single-A League,
Herts Raptors 9 London Marauders 20,
Adrian Smithers, reporting from Finsbury Park

There’s always a special feeling on the day of the first baseball game of the season. This was noticeable amongst the Raptors who arrived at 8am, on a dreary grey Sunday morning in Finsbury park, only to find not a Marauder in sight. This despite furious communication upon social media the previous evening, about whether the game would take place, resulted in the Raptors being informed of an 8am inspection. Little did they know that what this actually involved was opposing manager Ryan Turtill peering out of his window to see what the weather was doing before strolling down Seven sisters road to meet and greet them.

As the home team finally arrived, the light drizzle over the park faded away to become just an overcast sky. The game was on!

The score was close for the first two innings with the Marauders leading 6-5 at the end of two. However after failing to score in the top half of the third, the Raptors conceded 10 runs in the bottom half of the inning as the Marauders plate discipline payed off. As a tiring Ralph Bartholemew (112 pitches through 3 innings) was on the end of a lot of full counts and a few ball four calls that could have been called strikes on another day by another umpire had they been umpiring from behind the plate. This inning was the main difference between the two teams and pushed the London team to an 11 run lead that the Raptors were never able to close. The Raptors added a run in the top of the fourth before Jeff Witter took over the pitching duties in relief through innings 4, 5 and 6, limiting the Marauders to four more runs, two of which were unearned. The Raptors remained scoreless in the fifth and sixth innings before a rally in the top of the seventh, trying to prolong the game ahead of the dreaded mercy rule, scored three more runs but fell short as the final out of the inning and the game was made with the bases loaded and the game extending run stranded on second base. So with a final score of 20-9 to the Marauders and the sun finally blazing in the north London sky, the Raptors were left to reflect upon an opening game loss.

It was noticeable that this was a team that had vastly improved its fielding and were now making the routine outs that had so often eluded them as the Eagles in previous seasons. Prompting Raptors co-manager, Rob Jones, to pragmatically reflect upon the day with the words, “I was really impressed with how the guys performed against a tough team. There are a lot of positives to build on.”

The Raptors highlight of the day was the sight of long term injury Joel Osborne-Brade (pictured) lining his first competitive bat in nearly two years straight back up the middle for a single. Along with four catches playing CF. Two of which, were BBF ‘A’ baseball to have a web gems feature, would have surely been contenders. He went on to produce batting stats for the day that read 1-2, 2R, 2BB, 2SB. Other notable stats were Michael Cresswell 2-2, RBI, R, 3BB, 3SB. Jeff Witter 1-2, RBI, 3BB. Jamie Lang 1-5, 2RBI & Rob Jones 2-5, RBI, 3R, 3SB. Although other Raptors reached base on errors, walks and a HBP, these five supplied the only hits on the day.

Raptors will be hoping to cut out the big inning next week as they look to build upon a solid, albeit losing, performance at Brentwood on Sunday.