The Herts Falcons assured themselves a playoff spot last Sunday, 18^th July, with an emphatic 42 – 8 win over Brentwood Stags, gaining revenge for their only loss, inflicted by Brentwood earlier in the season.

 

The Falcons bats started working from the very first inning, with starting pitcher Paul Raybould getting it started with a looping hit between the infield and outfield. A stolen base and a walk issued to John Delborello allowed John Oliver to bring home Paul. This first run was quickly followed by runs for the remainder of the Falcons lineup, the highlight being a 2 run Home Run for catcher Andy Cornish. Paul Raybould became the 9^th batter to cross the plate, for the second time in the inning.

 

That proved to be the end of the scoring in the first inning, as John Oliver became the third out of the inning.

 

Although the Stags’ leadoff hitter was able to reach first base, he was soon picked off trying to steal second, and the next two hitters were caught in the outfield; by Aspi Dimitrov in centre, and Dave Hamilton in right field. Score after 1 inning 9 – 0 Falcons.

The second inning continued in the same vein as the first had for the Falcons bats, as they again batted round the order, with 10 runs crossing the plate. Again holding the Stags scoreless the Falcons had given themselves a comfortable 19 run lead after the first two innings.

The third inning saw Andy Cornish lead off with his second HR of the day, which was followed two batters later by John Oliver depositing a pitch over the outfielders head for his only HR of the day.

Shunji Kakutani scored the fourth run in the inning, and that was it for the Falcons. Brentwood finally got on the board in the third, as a Paul Raybould pitch was deposited deep over left field for a solo HR.

The Falcons bats kept on pounding the Stags pitching, as another 7 runs were scored in the fourth inning, the highlight being a first HR of the season for manager Lee Manning. A scoreless Brentwood half inning and the 4^th inning score-line read 30 – 1  in Falcons favour.

Just two runs were scored by the Falcons in the fifth, with another pitch being deposited over the outfield by Shunji Kakutani for his first HR of the season. The Stags replied with a 3 run HR of their own and they managed to outscore the Falcons in an inning for the first time in the game.

The sixth inning again saw the Stags take the honours, as the Falcons were held to just 3 runs, and they scored 4 of their own.

The seventh inning, however, reverted to form as the Falcons continued the slug fest.  The replacement of Dave Hamilton by Sean Young in right field did not have any adverse effect, as the runs continued to add up. Lee brought home Paul Auchterlounie and Sean for two runs; Lee himself scored on Mark Houchin hit, who also scored on a John Delborello single. After a John Oliver single moved John D to third, up stepped Shunji, who deposited a pitch over the leftfielders’ head for his second, and the Falcons’ sixth, HR, scoring three runs. The game finished with a scoreless half inning for Brentwood, who to their credit never let their heads drop and competed on every play.

 

The game included one of the rarest achievements in baseball.  The Falcons player/manager, Lee Manning, completed a “cycle” which consists of hitting a single, a double, a triple and a home run.

 

With a playoff place now guaranteed, the race reaches its climax for the Falcons. Next Sunday (25^th July) they host the second placed Croydon Pirates, the only other team who can claim first place in the division. A win will see the Falcons secure first place, and home field advantage for at least the first playoff game; a loss will leave it out of their hands, relying on the Pirates’ results in their remaining fixtures. 

 

Starters @ Brentwood: A Cornish, P Raybould, J Oliver, S Kakutani, J Delborello, L Manning, P Auchterlounie, A Dimitrov, D Hamilton.

Replacements: M Houchin (for A Cornish 4^th inning), S Young (for D Hamilton 7^th inning).

 

written by Paul Auchterlounie

written by Jo Sierocinska

 

Line Score

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	FIN
Havering Bengals	3	0	1	0	3	0	1	7	0	15
Herts Falcons	1	0	0	6	2	5	2	4	X	20

 

This Sunday’s game was a top of the table clash. First placed Herts Falcons hosted the second placed Havering Bengals at Grovehill.  Both teams were clearly aware the play-offs are only weeks away and this extra dimension added to the competitive atmosphere.

 

Havering had the first turn at bat. Their first batter, Savill,  getting on base with a solid hit. He wasted his early advantage by promptly being picked off by Falcon’s pitcher Raybould when he tried to steal to second base.  Havering responded quickly to this inauspicious start by getting two more runners on base who were then brought in by Dawson’s  a home run to score three runs. Neat Falcon outfield work limited the damage to the three runs. Now batting, the Falcon’s faced Havering’s fast pitcher Aaron Giles-Wyatt.  Unable to handle his speed they only squeezed one run home.

 

Both teams worked hard defensively over the next innings. Neither allowing a run to score in the second.  Both teams had batters strike out neither  seemed able to adjust to the opposition’s style of pitching;Raybould’s slow dying curveballs versus Giles-Wyatts heated fastballs.  The third inning saw Havering manufacture one run whilst the Falcons were shut out, striking out twice.  They entered the 4^th inning with the score 4 – 1 in Havering’s favour.

 

Fortunately for the Falcons, the Havering batters seemed reluctant to learn lessons about stealing bases with Paul Raybould on the mound backed up by his strongest infield: Cornish, Oliver, Kakutani, Del Borrello and Manning. For the third time a Havering runner was caught off of his base trying to steal. This time it formed part of a double-play. They scored no runs.  Bottom of the  fourth inning the score was still 4 –1 to Havering. The Falcons needed to score to get back into the game. An early error by the Havering shortstop put John Oliver on base. Then the Falcon’s batters stepped up a gear. Finally managing to get a hold of the fast pitcher they batted through the order; six batters got hits, six runs were scored. The challenge was back on.

 

Havering responded to that challenge in the fifth inning when J Ling slammed in another three run home run. In answer to that The Falcons punished fielding mistakes and wild-pitching to claw in two runs. The inning ended with the score 7- 9 in the Falcon’s favour.

 

Once again Havering’s aggressive base running tactic backfired. Sneesby was caught trying to steal second. They did not score. The Falcons piled on the pressure scoring five runs as Havering struggled to find a relief pitcher. The Falcon’s appeared to be cruising. By the end of the 7^th inning they had come to within 2 runs of a “slaughter rule” victory with the score 16 to 18.

 

Manager Manning brought in a new pitcher to hopeful sew up the game in the 8^th inning. Oliver has been a safe choice of pitcher all season, but failed to perform and allowed his first earned runs of the season.  Havering had scored four runs with no outs. The Falcons had lost their grip on the game. Del Borrello stepped in to pitch. Three more runs were given up before the end of the inning. Havering had got it back to a one run game 16 – 15 but in the process had retired two players through injury.  The middle of the Falcon’s batting order comfortably earnt four runs in the 8^th. They backed it up with tight defence in the 9^th to clear the danger and claim the victory 20 runs to 15.

 

The Falcons have cruised most of the season so far. Havering posed a real threat and it was hard to predict how they would respond to the pressure. This victory will have reassured them as they enter their last two games of the regular season, they are both difficult fixtures.

 

Playing for the Falcons were:  Cornish, Raybould, Naghar, Del Borrello, Oliver, Kakutani, Sierocinski, K Dimitrov, Auchterlounie, A Dimitrov, L Manning.

The Herts Falcons got another win on Sunday with the minimum of effort – Sileby Vikings cancelling the game just 2 hours before the scheduled start time. This was not completely surprising, as the Vikings had cancelled their two previous road games prior to the date with the Falcons.

 

So the Falcons sit atop Division 1 South – Red halfway through the season with just one loss. With the next victory guaranteed through an already forfeited fixture against the Shropshire Pumas, they will look to close out the latter half of the season in a similar vein, starting on the road against Essex Arrows 2 on Sunday 27^th June.