As the baseball season entered the month of July, the battle for the postseason playoffs is simmering nicely. In the AA League the top two teams in Pool B South met at the ballpark in Enfield for a colossal double header. The Sidewinders were sitting on top of the standings, just one game ahead of the second-placed Herts Hawks.

The Hawks opened the game with a single and a double by Louis Hare and Jon Lewys, respectively. Andy Cornish was walked to load the bases with 2 outs but the Sidewinders pitcher managed to get out of that bases-loaded jam without any damage.

Nick Russell was the starting pitcher for the Hawks and he responded by retiring the Sidewinders on 3 fly outs. Both pitchers kept putting zeros up on the scoreboard through the first 4 innings. Russell was very effective allowing only 2 hits over that period. This was turning into a classic pitching duel and both teams were showing why they are top of the AA standings.

Herts drew first blood in the fifth inning. Paul Auchterlounie hit a single up the middle and stole second. He was followed by Jon Lewys who drove him in to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead.

The Sidewinders responded swiftly putting together their first real offensive rally of the day with 3 doubles and 2 singles to take a 3-1 lead. Herts sprung into action. A sacfly by Ralph Bartholomew brought home Andy Cornish and Kal Dimitrov somehow managed to beat out a ground ball to bring his brother Aspi Dimitrov home to tie the game and go into the final inning with a score of 3-3.

In that final inning Louis Hare got on base on an error. The next two Herts batters managed to move Hare to third base, but there were now two outs with big-hitting Andy Cornish coming up next. The Sidewinders called a mound conference and their first baseman, Bruce Dullea, provided some valuable inside information having played for and managed the Herts Falcons in 2005, 2006 and 2007. He alerted his team mates that Cornish is a dangerous batter and they decided to pitch around him to walk him and face Aspi Dimitrov instead who was playing in his first game after being on the DL for the last 10 months with shoulder and hamstring injuries. Dimitrov hit a 2-out single to left-centerfield driving two runs in to make the score 5-3.

Could the Sidewinders come back from this in the bottom of the last inning? Two singles and two stolen bases brought one run in. It was now 5-4 with the tying run at third and 1 out. Nick Russell was still on the mound and he needed to use every ounce of energy he had left to keep the runner on third from scoring. The only way to guarantee this was to make sure that batters did not make contact with the ball and that’s exactly what he did. He took the next 2 batters to full count and struck out both of them leaving the tying run on third base and securing a priceless win for Herts.

Nick Russell will get the praise, and rightly so, but it is also worth noting that he had tremendous support from the whole team who played errorless defence.

Click to view game 2 box scores and play-by-play

In game two the Sidewinders put their ace pitcher, Tadaaki, on the mound looking for revenge. He had a no-hitter earlier in the year and he showed why. Consistent control and change of speed make him a very awkward pitcher to face. The Hawks were having real problems making solid contact. Tadaaki was pitching a perfect game (no hits, no walks) in the first 5 innings of the second game. On top of that the Hawks had a very sloppy start of the game. They committed 3 errors and allowed 5 runs to score in the top of the first inning. 4 of the 5 runs were unearned (i.e. resulting from the fielding errors). The Hawks defence recovered after that and managed to give starting pitcher, Greg Bochan, the support he needed. The team was working efficiently again and Bochan was pitching a gem. They allowed only 1 run in the next 6 innings, but the big challenge was to find a way to score runs against pitcher Tadaaki.

Into the top of the 6th and a light appeared at the end of the tunnel. Seth Lipstock, who had a great game at third base, ended Tadaaki’s perfect game with a lead-off single. Kal Dimitrov followed with a single of his own. With 2 outs, Lipstock came around to score as Andy Cornish and Louis Hare got on base on fielding errors. Both Cornish and Hare scored after an infield hit by Aspi Dimitrov and an error throw. That reduced the deficit to 6-3.

Into the final inning Tadaaki was still going strong. Despite a single from Greg Bochan, Tadaaki completed the game in style with a groundout and two strikeouts.

Click to view game 2 box scores and play-by-play

After the games Hawks co-manager, Andy Cornish, said: “Today, was a great game of baseball and very enjoyable to be in such a contest. We played against very good opposition, and shown that we can play with the top teams in this league, even with a depleted side. We have some more tough opposition to come, but with the way that we played today I am encouraged about our chances in pushing forward to the playoffs. Today, we played great baseball for 13 out of the 14 innings, and next time we will do so in every inning, there is no doubt in my mind.”

Today’s games emphasised just how hotly contested the title race is in the AA league. With the Daws Hill Spitfires and the London Mammoths picking up wins today it looks like the playoff race will go down to the wire. In the words of Manchester United Manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, it is “squeaky bum time”. The Hawks remain one game behind the Sidewinders, but they are now third after the Mammoths jumped above them. The focus is now on the next Hawks game on Sunday, 8 July, against the Pool A leaders Guildford Mavericks who are still unbeaten with a 14-0 record so far this season. The game will be played at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead. First pitch 12:00pm.

 

The onset of the sunny weather provided an excellent backdrop for the clash between the Latin Tigers and the Herts Hawks.

The weather was perfect, the fielding was not. In an error-strewn game (8 errors for each team), the Hawks and Tigers took to Roundshaw Playing Field’s second diamond, which was as predictable as the English weather.

With Nic Goetz on the mound, the Hawks had all that was required for success on the day, and he did not disappoint – 7 strikeouts and 1 Earned Run over 8 innings. However, the Tiger’s pitching was also on form – the two pitchers combined for a total of 10 strikeouts, which was in line with the major weakness of the Hawks on the day – the hitting. After taking a 2-0 lead, the Hawks fell behind 4-2 in the second, and trailed throughout the game. The Tigers did not overwhelm, but were able to add a run to their lead in each of the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th inning. Herts kept close, and came back with 3 runs in the top of the 8th to make the score 8-7 for the Tigers. Still, the Tiger pitching and fielding kept the top of the 9th to a 1-2-3 inning which gave them the win. The usually prolific Elkins, Naghar and Bartholomew were kept hitless, while no Hawks batter recorded more than 1 hit.

Click to view box scores and play-by-play

Although the Hawks did not have their full squad available, they were able to rely on the services of Joseph Osborne-Brade, and were in no way depleted. Stand-in manager Kal Dimitrov commented after the game “If we had hit better and played better defence, we would have won”. After collecting his cliché award for the week, he also added “Barring the disappointment from the loss, the errors and the lack of hits, the guys enjoyed it, more or less.” Hawks are looking forward to their upcoming game on June 3, in particular because the co-managers Cornish and Bochan would be back at the helm. They will welcome the Essex RedBacks II to Grovehill Ballpark in Herts for a doubleheader which was rained out earlier in the year. First pitch 12:00pm.

 

The Herts Hawks came up against the unbeaten AA League leaders the London Mammoths with a chance to overtake them. To do this they needed to win both games of this doubleheader.

Nic Goetz started game one on the back of his complete game shutout against Kent seven days ago. He started in similar fashion allowing only 1 run in the first 3 innings. The Herts offence was also on form and they quickly put up 5 runs on the scoreboard. The Mammoths closed the gap temporarily but the Hawks kept responding with runs of their own.

In the sixth inning the visitors tied the game 8-8 after 4 hits and 3 errors, but the Hawks responded once again in the bottom of the inning when Tim Elkins drove in Seth Lipstock and Andy Cornish with a vital 2-out single. There were no more complications in the final inning as Nic Goetz completed the game with a three-up-three-down-inning.

Nick Russell started on the mound in game 2 and produced one of the most dominant pitching performances of the season. He shut out the Mammoths over 6 and 2/3 innings allowing only 2 hits. He needed just one more out for a complete game shutout but a single for London scored 2 runs to confirm a final score of 7-2.

Jonathan Lewys had a good day with the bat. He went 3-4 with an RBI. Ilya Dimitrov submitted his candidacy for Play of the Year with a spectacular diving catch in centerfield.

Click to view Game2 box scores and play-by-play

Hawks Co-Manager, Andy Cornish was pleased with the results, but was keen to keep his team’s feet firmly on the ground. He said: “today we have shown what qualities we have, and what we don’t have. Our pitching once again proved that we can win close games with the correct pitch choice and location and the battery was again a huge positive. At the moment, we are top of the league, and the squad should be very proud, but I, and the squad, should appreciate we have a very long way to go yet.” He added: “In our league any team can beat any team, and we need to work on our communication to improve our chances. We cannot win a title by making mistakes. I expect the squad to work hard to remove those. I am very happy with how we played today, but we are under no illusions as there is still a lot of work to be done”.

 

The Hawks suffered a nightmare month of April. On top of the wettest April on record, most of their roster was unavailable for the games versus the Croydon Pirates and the Poole Piranhas, which they lost and many feared that this slip has knocked them out of the playoff race after just 3 weeks into the season.

Earlier in the week a BBF announcement confirmed that the Hawks would need to finish among the top 4 teams in their AA League group to qualify for the postseason. That seemed to give the Hawks the boost they needed. They bounced back sweeping the series against the Kent Mariners. In game one Nic Goetz repeated his Opening day heroics on the mound. This time he pitched a complete game shutout. He allowed only 4 hits. He had a solid defence behind him which committed only one error as well as potent batting lineup which scored 11 runs. Louis Hare and Tim Elkins contributed with 2 hits each with 3 and 2 RBI respectively.

Click to view Game 1 Box Scores and play-by-play

Nick Russell started game 2 and he too pitched a complete game allowing only 4 hits. Kent did score 2 runs in the final inning but by then the Hawks had taken an unassailable 15-0 lead. Louis Hare (2-4 3RBI 2B) and Andy Cornish (2-4 3RBI 2B) stood out offensively for Herts.

Click to view Game 2 Box Scores and play-by-play

Co-Manager Andy Cornish was pleased with the team’s performance. He said: “I think today we made a real jump forward in our fielding game, both pitchers were at the top of their game. Nic Goetz and Nick Russell were great on the mound today.” He added that “The team was really buzzing after the game, and I for one cannot wait for the next game so that we can continue to put in solid performances”. Will the Hawks be able to shock the league by beating the London Mammoths who come to Grovehill Ballpark this Sunday, 20 May 2012 (12:00 first pitch).