This article written by Michael Jones and Oliver Mintz-Lowe was first published on britishbaseball.org

The Herts Falcons bounced back from their earlier defeat at the hands of Harlow to reach the final the hard way.

In a well-contested elimination clash with the London Mets, the number two seeds hit well to open up a healthy lead early on. London managed to grind out runs at regular intervals, and managed to make a game of it with a late rally.

But the Falcons hung on to set up an intriguing clash with the Nationals on Monday.

Herts, looking to bounce back from their tough morning loss, managed to shake off any potential hangover in a perfect manner – with early runs. After Jordan Farkas went through the top of the Mets lineup 1-2-3, their offense set to work establishing a quick lead.

Ryan Bird drove in Robbie Unsall, who had singled and stolen second, to open the scoring, and crossed the plate himself on a sharp Darrin Ward single. And following a well executed double steal by Ward and Dave Trethaway, Farkas picked up a smart contact hit to drive in a pair and give Herts a handy 4-0 lead.

They added another in the second, courtesy of a sacrifice fly from Ryan Bird, who had a 3 RBI night, capitalising on two more Unsall steals. The speedy leadoff man was a key offensive catalyst throughout, patiently drawing four walks, scoring three times and swiping four bags.

Looking to respond quickly, London managed to reduce the deficit. Trevor Allen advanced to third on a throwing error, after reaching safely with a single, allowing Josh Rappaport to drive in a run with a double. Alterto Cabalerro followed with another RBI to make it a three-run game.

But the number two seeded Falcons quickly managed to re-establish their commanding lead, through a mixture of intelligent small ball, opportune hitting and Mets miscues. Phil Clark and Ryan Bird both scored on wild pitches, while Chris Hiche drove in Robbie Unsall, and scored later in the inning from a Dave Trethaway sacrifice fly.

To their credit, the Mets continued to battle hard, and hit back with a couple of runs, courtesy of back-to-back RBI doubles from Martin Tucker and Jonathan Cramman.

And in the sixth, the number four seeds really managed to make a game of it, reducing the Falcons lead to just two runs. Trevor Allen (3-4 with an RBI and two runs) kicked off the scoring, driving home Grant Delzoppo with an RBI triple, before Rapapport batted in Cabalerro with a single. Rappapart himelf scored on a groundout, and Jonathan Cramman made it a 10-8 game with another RBI single. Unsall, taking the mound in relief, managed to strand a pair, picking up the final two outs of the inning.

Herts managed to tack on an insurance run in the bottom half of the frame when Farkas drove in Mike Cattermole for his second RBI of the game. And Robbie Unsall came out to pitch a solid 9th inning, working around a two-out-single, striking out two to pick up the save.

Click to view box scores and play-by-play

Falcons player Chris Hiche said: “I think it was just a case of who wanted it more. Both teams were quite tired so it came down to a survival of the fittest.”

As Herts qualified via the elimination game, they will now have to win two straight games against the Harlow Nationals. Harlow, who qualified with a better 2-0 record will only have to win once to claim the title.

Hiche said: “We don’t really have the pitching depth to go five games, but I think we just need to try and win the first one and go from there.”

The Final  between the Harlow Nationals will start at 11am on Monday, 27 August at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead. Can the Herts Falcons make history against all odds and be crowned the best team in Great Britain for the first time in the club’s history. If you can’t come to the ballpark you can follow the games using the links below:

NBL: https://www.gamechanger.io/g/NBLNBC2012
AAA; https://www.gamechanger.io/g/AAANBC2012
AA: https://www.gamechanger.io/g/AANBC2012
A: https://www.gamechanger.io/g/ANBC2012

This article written by Michael Jones and Oliver Mintz-Lowe was first published on britishbaseball.org

With both sides having won the previous day, they each had the pleasure of a 10am start at Grovehill, with the winners guaranteed of a place in tomorrow’s final and the losers having a few hours to recover before a final elimination game later in the afternoon. And it was the defending champions who would get the best rest heading into the National Baseball League NBC final following a strong batting display.

The Harlow Nationals sent 2011 NBL NBC MVP Jamie Ratcliff to the mound as the youngster sought to bolster his ever expanding credentials against Herts Falcons stalwart and British baseball legend Darrin Ward.

Both sides came out swinging, as would be expected from the top two seeds during the regular season. In the last match-up the two teams split their series and things remained evenly placed throughout the early stages of this crucial encounter.

Ryan Bird hit a long double in the first to score Robbie Unsell but a slip at third base stranded the Herts’ catcher and the Nationals headed to the batter’s box just a solitary run behind their hosts. George Lintern drove Robbie Almanzar home, but was himself picked off by a great move from Ward. However, free-swinging Edwin Alcantara stroked a double from off his nose and crossed the plate when Jarrod Pretorius found a gap along the third baseline, providing the Nationals with the early advantage.

But the lead changed hands once again as Ward capped a five-run rally with a two-run double to right field after some excellent hustle on the base paths forcing some mistakes on the infield. The game threatened to become another run-fest in the NBL competition and four runs from the Nationals, led by doubles from catcher Will Lintern and shortstop Luis Goncalves, tied it up at six apiece but a great grab at third base by Kevin Niedringhaus and quick arm to second turned two to end the offensive onslaught.

Ratcliff managed to post the first zero of the game as things quietened down in the third. Although he issued the first two walks of the game, it amounted to nothing and his batters set to work on restoring the lead. With the bases full, Goncalves blooped into centre field in what would be Ward’s last action on the mound as Unsell got the Falcons home just one behind.

Two fantastic plays by the young shortstop kept his former club off the board and helped maintain their slender advantage, and the Nationals padded the lead by scoring a couple of Falcons fielding mistakes. But that was reduced as the Nationals followed Goncalves’s neat double-play with a couple of errant throws and the Falcons were back within touching distance having clawed their way back. However, the Herts bats couldn’t escape the GB Under-23’s glove on the infield and he ended the frame having turned all three outs en route to an MVP performance.

Unsell may have felt the momentum was with his side, but with two outs, big-hearted third baseman Maikel Azcuy had three Herts’ fielders sprawling on a double to the fence that knocked in two and restored the big lead. Brendan Cunliffe came in to relieve Ratcliff and quickly got ahead in the game to pick up the crucial save. Two pop-ups either side of a Niedringhaus double that would come round to score meant, heading into the bottom of the sixth, the Nationals remained a couple ahead.

The Herts pitcher, having loaded the bases on a couple of walks and hitting George Lintern on the back, was relieved by Bird, with Unsell picking up the pieces behind the plate, but the second pitch passed by his new catcher and allowed Will Lintern to come home, before Bird hit both Alcantara and Pretorius on consecutive pitches to force in another. Four runs behind now, the dangerous Azcuy at the plate, Unsell missed another for Aaron Webster to cross and the game was getting away from the hosts in a big way. Azcuy couldn’t put anyone else over and a line-out to right fielder Phil Clark got the Falcons out of a messy frame to try to come back with their bats.

Cunliffe again made use of his fielders with two quick outs, and the long save was wrapped up with Azcuy firing across the diamond to Pretorius at first base, Ward the unlucky batter.

In making six errors over the morning game, the Nationals only conceded one earned run (the score in the first frame), but they marginally out-hit the Falcons and looked much the stronger side in the box.

Click to view box scores and play-by-play

Nationals manager Marty Cullen said “It feels good again like yesterday, but if you look on the board there’s six errors and that’s not why we’re the number one seed. I think we’ve given up fewer runs than anybody this season and we’ve played really good defence – the past two days we haven’t. Fortunately the bats have come alive at the right time of year, which is where we’ve struggled in the past. In the really low-scoring games we’ve pitched really well and played defence extremely well, and today it seemed that we did everything pretty well but our defence.

“Brendan’s one of the best pitchers in the league – he doesn’t throw 90mph like he did in college, but he’s smart with what he has and when you get to the bottom of the final inning with a little bit of a lead, well for me he’s the one you want to see up there. Jamie threw really well and at times he had to get four or five outs in an inning because of the errors, but he was dealing. His breaking ball was breaking late and it had some juice on it.

“Luis Goncalves is one of the best raw talents in the league. He has been since he was 14 years old, and he gets baseball. He doesn’t get fazed at all on the big stage and if he can get to a ball then you know he’s going to get to it,” he concluded, before suggesting that yesterday’s starter, Robbie Almanzar, would be a favoured option on the mound for tomorrow’s final. Although to keep opponents guessing, he added: “You may even see me up there!”

(This article was written by Oliver Mintz-Lowe and first appeared on britishbaseball.org)

National Baseball Championships, Saturday, 25 Sep 2012 (NBL)

Herts Falcons 8 Southampton Mustangs 6

A strong pitching performance from Michael Osborn helped Herts Falcons to an opening day win, as the number two seeds came from behind to beat the Southampton Mustangs.

In torrid weather conditions both teams did well to play out a largely error-free encounter, but it was ultimately a six-run Herts inning that changed the course of the game.

Falcons pitcher Mike Osborne started exceptionally, retiring the first six batters of the game with three strikeouts, while his offense scored two runs, from an error and sacrifice fly, to give the number two seeds an early lead.

But Mustangs pitcher Lee Ralph managed to spark a rally, picking up the first Southampton hit of the game with an infield single. This was followed by a Ben Davis RBI single, a throwing error and RBI groundout reverse the scores and give Southampton a surprise lead.

In torrential rain and circling thunderstorms, both sides initially managed to keep errors out of the game as the offenses struggled for runs.

But after a rain delay it was Herts the took control, putting up six to blow the game open. With one swing of the bat Chris Hiche managed to reverse the lead with a two run homer. Another run, courtesy of a sacrifice fly, followed by a walk, chased Mustangs starter Lee Ralph from the game. But his replacement Frosina struggled, walking in three consecutive runs, as the game got away from Southampton.

The number three seeds showed plenty of fight as they attempted to claw their way back into it, with Gary Davison hit a two-out three-run-homer in the top of the seventh, making it a two-run game. But Osborn picked up the final out of the game, sealing a winners bracket clash with Harlow.

Click to view box scores

The win for the Falcons and the earlier edge-of-the-seat 13-12 win for the Nationals sets up a mouth-watering encounter on Sunday between the Herts Falcons and the Harlow Nationals. Here is the schedule for Sunday, 26 September:

NBL Schedule

Sunday, August 26

10:00, Game 3: Harlow Nationals vs Herts Falcons

13:30, Game 4: London Mets vs Southampton Mustangs (loser will be eliminated)

17:00, Game 5: Loser Game3 vs Winner Game4 (loser will be eliminated)

AAA Schedule

Sunday, August 26

10:00, (Semi-Final) Liverpool Trojans vs Cambridge Royals

17:00, (Semi-Final) Essex Redbacks vs Oxford Kings

AA Schedule

Sunday, August 26

13:30, (Final) MK Bucks vs Nottingham Rebels

Click to view report of the other NBL game on Saturday, Harlow Nationals vs London Mets