The Herts Hawks travelled to face the East London Latin Boys on Sunday (19^th August) to fight for a place in the national final of British baseball’s Double-A league.

The fixture renewed a rivalry which had brought some tight and dramatic games over the past two years. In 2018, the Hawks were the only team to beat the Latin Boys, who had won their division and claimed the number 2 seed for the playoffs.

Veteran pitcher Darrin Ward was on the mound again, after his complete game win over Bournemouth last week. That game ended 10-9 to the Hawks thanks to a ninth-inning rally and a walk-off. Things would be different this time.

Ward surrendered an early 1-0 lead, but pitched well to keep it tight until the middle of the fourth inning.  Then a Herts fielding error proved costly, and Latin Boys jumped out to a 4-0 lead.

The home side’s starting pitcher Jeffrey Aguilar was dominating the Herts lineup. Only Ward and second baseman Jon Lewys were able to get notable hits.

 Latin Boys had another big inning and took a 10-1 lead into the seventh. There was to be no dramatic comeback from Herts this time and it ended 11-1.

 Hawks manager Michael Cresswell tipped his hat to the home side, saying they deserved their place in the final. Herts had gone one better than last year, and will return to action in the Spring with their eyes on a title.

In their team statement, the Hawks said that while the result was not what they wanted, there were still smiles all around. “Sometimes it’s just not our day, but we still love the game of baseball.”

Latin Boys face Bristol Badgers in the Double-A final at Farnham Park near Slough, the home of British baseball, next Sunday (26^th August)

The Herts Raptors had finished their season in Single-A, but played one more game this past weekend against the Guildford Millers. It was a fixture which was rained off early in the year, but it had been impossible to reschedule it.

Raptors jumped out to a big 20-run lead after 3 innings, and were within a squeak of a mercy rule victory after 5. They led by 14 runs. But Guildford kept plugging away and fighting back.

Home runs from Herts veteran Arnie Longboy and rookie David Grindstaff had powered the offense, and after seven innings they still led by 9. However, it would end with the impressively Single-A score of 36-35. And Guildford were the winners.

It was a fun finale to the year.

The Herts Falcons have one more regular season game to play, a make-up game against the London Mets at Finsbury Park. Then they, too, hope to be heading to playoffs.

The exact permutations for the NBL have not been decided yet, but follow hertsbaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and we will keep you updated.

The Herts Hawks were faced with their longest road trip of the season, and maybe (hopefully!) their toughest weather conditions when they travelled the 120 miles to Norwich, writes Jamie Lang.

The Iceni were coming in to the matchup riding a 19 game winning streak. In 2017, Norwich had repeated the Hawks’ 2016 feat of winning the Single-A title with an undefeated season — so the first contest between these teams in Double-A was always going to be special.

11 Hawks, as well as two very dedicated fans, had made the journey, and they immediately knew they would need to adjust to the conditions when they were greeted with weather more suited to rugby than baseball.

 Soaked through and shivering before a pitch had even been thrown, the Hawks knew that it would be a challenging day, and it proved so when Norwich held them scoreless in the top of the first inning. Hawks’ star pitcher Darrin Ward was working in unfamiliar surroundings with no mound to pitch from, and it may have contributed as Norwich plated 3 runs in their half of the inning.

 The game settled down a little from there. After several players used the changing room hand dryer in an attempt to stave off frostbite, Herts got on the board in the top of the third with a double from manager Mike Cresswell.

They then went on to tie the game at 3 in the top of the fourth on an infield single from catcher, Hunter Devine. Originally called out by the infield umpire, Norwich’s first baseman sportingly admitted that his foot was off the bag when he caught the ball, and the correct call was eventually made.

 Players from both teams employed many different methods to try and keep warm and dry, and Greg Bochan’s balaclava clearly wasn’t inhibiting his vision as he made several nice plays at third base to keep the game close. The Hawks finally took their first lead of the game in the sixth inning, a 2-run double from Darrin Ward giving them a 6-5 lead in the middle of the sixth.

Norwich would again rally back though, and they were leading 8-6 after seven innings before substitute left fielder Jamie Lang tied it up with a single in the eighth.

 At this point the tension began to rise, and the inexperience of Norwich’s umpire may have started to show, with both teams feeling like they deserved more strikes than they were being given. Needing a run in the top of the ninth to extend the game, Herts struck three times to take a 2-run lead; two of the three runs scoring on a hit from shortstop Mike Cattermole.

The Hawks looked to close it out in the bottom of the ninth, but unfortunately it was not to be as Norwich tied the game. They had an opportunity to win it with a man on third and 2 outs, but Cattermole was involved again, catching a sharp line drive at shortstop to end the inning.

 After some debate about potentially ending the game as a tie, considering the weather and the long journey home for the Hawks, it was decided that they hadn’t come all this way for a tie, and to the 10^th it would go.

With the Norwich pitcher clearly struggling with both the conditions and an injured hamstring, Herts were able to capitalise, plating 4 runs and again looking to close out the game and stop the Iceni win streak at 19. Starting pitcher Darrin Ward was still on the mound, but an inspired performance from Norwich led to a final comeback and an eventual 16-15 win on a walk-off infield single.

 A game which at times had become heated ended with both teams exchanging handshakes as soon as the winning run had scored. Both teams had given it their all, and unfortunately this time the Hawks came out on the losing end. A long journey and the cold and rain had not ended as hoped, but such is baseball, and such is life.

Norwich Iceni called it “a hell of a game”, and paid tribute to the performance of their visitors. The Hawks’ Manager Mike Cresswell offered congratulations on the win, adding:“The loss hurts but we continue. We go again and we go again winning.”

The Hawks, now with a 2-1 record, will return home to Grovehill next week for a double header against the Bracknell Inferno.