Michael Cresswell reporting from Grovehill Ballpark, Hemel Hempstead

The Hawks were looking to restart another winning streak on Sunday but unfortunately fell to the Double-A South leaders East London Latin Boys by a score of 14-7.

Both teams were eager to see who would take the seasonal series with the Hawks and Latin Boys splitting the last series and ending both teams’ unbeaten streaks. The Hawks streak ended that day after an impressive run of 24 games won. The game was considered to be a pitchers duel with Jeffrey Aguilar starting for the Latin Boys and Ernie Ayala starting for the Hawks. Both pitchers ERA under 4 at the start of the game.

The opening inning showed that the Latin Boys’ hard-hitting lineup was still showing from the last game as they managed to score 2 runs from solid line drives to the outfield. The Hawks defence also started to flourish, including the first of two double plays in the game, both with shortstop Louis Hare involved to end the inning.

Ayala’s stellar pitching held the runs down and stopped the running game with his elite pickoff move however the strong bats from the Latin Boys was illustrated in a 2-run homerun by First Baseman, Alberto Novas, to extend their lead in the second inning.

The Hawks offence started to come alive in the middle part of the game with three runs with skipper Greg Bochan starting it off himself by managing to get on base with a walk. The Hawks bats also came alive with hits from the great Bulgarian Duo of Aspi Dimitrov and Ilya Dimitrov, the latter managing to hit a laser of a line drive down the left field line to bag himself a double to break up the stellar form of Aguilar.

Pitching was not only a key part of this game but defence as well with both teams putting on performances to stop base hits and runs. Slugger Gilberto Medina had a solid line drive caught by the Latin Boys’s Center Fielder’s diving effort and quick turn efforts made in the infield from the Hawks to stop sharp grounders. Ayala’s day was done after five innings and the ball was given to Louis Hare to come in for relief.

Unfortunately this was not enough to stop the Latin Boys with the side managing to get on base and drive these in with the longball. Pitcher Jeffrey Aguilar and Outfielder Aneudy Vargas putting the ball over the wall in a rare fashion that the Hawks had not been used to. British Baseball getting treated to a 4 HR game, however none for the Hawks.

Batters from the mighty Hawks managed to get on base in the latter parts with strong walks from Hunter Devine, base hits from Michael Cresswell, Louis Hare & Jonathon Lewys to drive additional runs, totalling 7 runs from 6 hits in the game. The game ended 14-7 after 9 innings.

Though the defeat was bitter, the Hawks managed to keep morale high by having a barbeque after and included some players ending up in a hot tub! The next game will be the second double header as they welcome the Daws Hill Spitfires to Grovehill Ballpark on the New Diamond with first pitch at 12:00pm. Can they start off another winning streak that could possibly beat that incredible 24 game winning streak? Only time will tell!

Herts Hawks extended their winning run to 24 games but the streak was over 2 hours later as they shared the spoils in their doubleheader with the league-leading East London Latin Boys.

With both teams still unbeaten this season and placed in first and second place in the standings this was an eagerly anticipated clash which saw the highest attendance of the Double-A League season so far. The two teams had never met before so the pre-game batting and fielding practice was carefully observed by players and coaches on both sides. It resembled a heavyweight boxing weigh-in with both teams sizing each other up and looking for strengths to watch out for and weaknesses to exploit later in the day.

It became clear very quickly that the Latin Boys have a hard-hitting batting lineup so there would not be any easy outs. Pitchers were also throwing harder than what the Hawks had seen so far this season. This however did not faze the Hawks, who struck early to take a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Despite the Latin Boys getting their lead-off batter on-base in the bottom of the inning, it ended abruptly after a catch at the wall by right fielder Dan Bartram was turned into a double play following his throw to first base in a bang-bang play which saw both the runner and first baseman Michael Cresswell dive to touch first base in a photo-finish for the force-out. The Latin Boys’ bats did not seem that comfortable against starting pitcher Andrew Slater who has been serving BBF batters with a regular diet of junk pitches for many years now. He recently added a never before seen pitch to his repertoire, which he has named “Lindsay Lohan”.

The home team gradually managed to work their way back into the game and took a 7-5 lead after 5 innings. In the penultimate inning they retired the first two Herts batters quickly. It seemed like the Hawks’ winning streak was about to end. With two outs and no one on base, co-manager Greg Bochan started a rally which saw 7 Herts runs score and turned the game on its head. The Hawks now had a 5-run lead and needed just 6 outs. Louis Hare took the mound and managed to pin down the Latin Boys for a 12-10 win with the help of his defence which included a spectacular diving catch by Sony Lama in left field – a play of the year nomination.

There was no time for celebrating as the second game of the doubleheader was coming up and the Hawks had to face the Latin Boy’s ace pitcher Jeffrey Aguilar. In response Herts went with starting pitcher Nic Goetz who made his debut having missed 2016 with a fractured wrist – an injury sustained in unusual circumstances off the baseball field.

Once again the visitors took an early 2-1 lead which they extended to 6-4 after 5 innings. Nic Goetz was in full control, but this was his first outing in two years and he had reached his pitch count limit. Unlike the first game, this time the Hawks bullpen was not able to hold down the explosive bats of the East Londoners who went on to win it 14-8.

That ended the Hawks’ 24-game winning streak. The last time they lost a game of baseball was in September 2015 so it was natural for the players to feel a sense of disappointment that they couldn’t keep it going. But co-managers Andrew Slater and Greg Bochan were quick to congratulate the team on another outstanding performance on the day and over the previous 20 months. They also gave credit to the Latin Boys who are a very strong team which will be in the thick of the playoff race this year.

This was the first visit of a Herts team to the home of the Latin Boys at Salibury Hall Playing Fields, and we must give a special mention to the home team and their fans for creating a very enjoyable atmosphere with a Latin American flavour. The club and their field were created just two years ago. During our visit we learned that this was not an easy project. Across the country there are unsung British Baseball heroes who make a great sacrifice to build and grow the game of baseball in the UK. We understand that Pepe Anderson played a key role in creating this club, securing the field and turning it into a baseball diamond. The club was not able to receive government funding for the project and Anderson decided to finance it by putting the costs of the ballpark on his credit card which he is paying to this day. As we left the ballpark at the end of the day, Anderson was rolling up the temporary outfield fence, despite limping as a result of being hit by pitch in the second game. We hope that the large Latin American community which had gathered to enjoy the game, the barbeque and the Latin American music will mobilize behind Anderson to realize the great potential for this club.

It was satisfying for the visiting Hawks players to learn that Herts Baseball Club had already contributed to the Latin Boys’ project two years ago by donating the orange outfield fence when Herts Falcons player Edwin Alcantara asked Herts if they could help this new club in some way.

The Hawks have a week off. They will be back in league action on 4 June when they travel to the banks of the river Thames to face the Richmond Barons.

Herts Hawks kept their winning streak going with a win against the London Marauders on Sunday and it is fair to say that this was their toughest test so far this season in the Double-A League.

Herts Hawks co-managers Andrew Slater and Greg Bochan were both away and they asked Andy Cornish to step into the manager’s role. Cornish is very familiar with being the manager of the Hawks having co-managed the team alongside Greg Bochan three years ago so there was no change of management style for the team.

The game saw the official league debut of father and son, Ernie and EJ Ayala, both of whom are major additions to the team this year. In the absence of starting pitchers Bochan and Slater, Ernie Ayala was given the responsibility of starting on the mound.

When you have not tasted defeat for 19 months there is a risk of becoming complacent, but the Hawks didn’t have time for much complacency as the Marauders struck in the top of the first inning to take a 3-0 lead. All winter the Hawks have been looking forward to the greater challenge of playing in the higher league, so in a strange way this early blow didn’t faze them and instead whet their appetite. Ernie Ayala took control from the mound and over the next four innings did not allow any London runs.

After being shut down in the bottom of the first, the Herts offense scored runs in each of the next six innings.  Michael Cresswell and Gilberto Medina had another good day at the plate. Herts took the lead in the third inning and extended it in the sixth, but the Marauders stayed in touch.  In the fourth inning the visitors brought in pitcher Billy Atkinson-Warne, a familiar face for Hawks fans having faced him in the epic 5-4 win in the Single-A League National Semi-Final last September when he was a member of the London Musketeers.  Atkinson-Warne proved to be just as effective as he was last year so it was something of a surprise that he didn’t start the game, especially given the fact that prior to this game he had not allowed any runs or hits so far this season. He also had a great day at the plate batting 3-for-3 with two doubles and 3 RBI which gives him a season batting average of 1.000 and season slugging average of 2.000.

After six innings of outstanding work, Ernie Ayala’s job was done. For the final 3 innings Louis Hare stepped onto the mound with a task of keeping the lead.  The Marauders certainly didn’t give up and stayed in the game right to the end thanks to some fine defensive plays including a Play of the Year nomination from Chris Gregory after a diving catch in left field. Hawks fans would probably say that the spectacular leaping catch by Dan Bartram or game-ending sliding catch by Ilya Dimitrov on opening day against the Daws Hill Spitfires were better, but it has to be said that there was much less margin for error in Chris Gregory’s head-first diving play.

Louis Hare shut the door on the Marauders in the final inning fittingly ending the game with a reflex catch on a line drive back to the mound and a final score of 14-9.

Hawks win!! Nail biter against @LondonMarauders culminated with this last out. Final score 14 – 9
#britishbaseball #keepthestreak ⚾ pic.twitter.com/OuHAykvr2E

— Herts Hawks (@HertsHawks) April 30, 2017

This was the visitors’ first loss of the season, but they shouldn’t be too worried as on Sunday’s display they will certainly be involved in the playoff race.

Next for the Hawks is an away game at the Guildford Mavericks this Sunday, 7 May. The game starts at 2pm. Can they keep their winning streak going and stay in touch with the East London Latin Boys who are also unbeaten and half a game ahead of the Hawks.