One final hot Sunday took the Herts Raptors to the Croydon Raiders to end their regular season last weekend (August 10th). They had served a long sentence – waiting seven weeks since their last game to finally write the full stop on 2025.
The Single-A schedule had packed the Raptors games into one long stretch, then a summer break – slightly unconventional for baseball! Would that mean everyone would be well-rested, or rusty, for the finale…..
The visitors loaded the bases with one out in the top of the first inning as they tried to make a statement start, but a strikeout and groundout ended the threat. And the home side immediately jumped ahead to a 5-0 lead with a scattering of hits and some aggressive base-running.
Herts were held scoreless again in the second frame, but this time they also limited Croydon to just one run. Starting pitcher Abdul El Hamri’s first strikeout and good defense by Chaks Baiya helped do the job, and in the top of the third Craig Elliot-Davey drove in the first Raptors run.
Herts then held the Raiders off the board for two innings – with the help of a double-play between catcher Rob Jones and first baseman Elliot-Davey, and then El Hamri doing it all himself in the fourth, fielding two grounders and producing another strikeout.
The Raptors were climbing the mountain they had made for themselves.
They were able to take a 7-6 lead in the final inning with runs from Billy Perry and Baiya. And it looked as if they might cling on to it. But with two out, Croydon pinch-hitter Sam Chen agonisingly managed to bring home the winning run on a dribbling infield hit. It ended 8-7.

Herts had travelled to south London with the expectation that they would need to pitch a bullpen game in the second half of the double-header just to make the contest happen. And, like most Single-A teams, they don’t really have a bullpen. Their roster of starters was depleted by injury, surgery and unavailability. But the team’s enthusiasm was exemplified by the decision of several players to put their pride and their arms on the line and to volunteer to pitch an inning each.
Croydon were also stretching their pitching depth for this mid-August match-up and there were plenty of walks in the early exchanges of Game 2. But when Herts’ Lewis Auchterlounie made his first ever start on the mound, he’d been given a 4-run lead by his offense. He picked up his first career strikeout, and performed solidly for his team.
Raptors scored 3 runs in the second to take the lead, 7-5. In the end, it had turned out one established arm was able to make the trip and so Paul Auchterlounie (yes, a father and son double act) took over with Herts still ahead in the second. Croydon tied it up – but that’s all. The stage was set.
So going into the final open inning, Raptors needed to rack up some runs to give themselves a shot at a win. And they delivered. Elliot-Davey and Paul Owen were among those scoring to create a 4-run cushion. And Croydon could only manage to get one run across before a decisive strikeout sealed a Herts victory, 11-8.

The Raptors ended the season on a high note, though they will be disappointed with their overall record of 4-18. It doesn’t really reflect the effort they made or their competitive performances — for example, they lost five one-run games!
Rookie players came on in leaps and bounds, with Paul Owen leading the team in walks (and narrowly missing out on the HBP title!) Rufus Lloyd slugged his first home run, and got a pitching win – while Abdul El Hamri got his first win on the mound, as did Lewis Auchterlounie.
The end of season spoils were shared around. Michael Foyo led the batting average with an impressive figure of .706 – while co-manager Paul Auchterlounie edged out Dave Roberts for the most RBIs, with 14. Abdul El Hamri was the stolen base king, with 37, and the strikeout leader with 34.
It all offers hope ahead of 2026, as players have another year of development under their belts – and we have fingers crossed for fewer injuries next time around. Looking forward to it already!