Category: Raptors

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Last minute reshuffle will see 3 NBL games played at Grovehill Ballpark on Sunday

One of last week’s rained-out Falcons vs Arrows games has been salvaged (photo by Richard Lee)

Over the last 5 days NBL teams have been making frantic efforts to try to fit as many of their rained out games as possible in this final weekend of the regular season with the playoff race finely poised.

By Friday no agreement could be reached by the affected teams, but a confirmation has just been received that the Herts Falcons vs South London Pirates games have now been moved to Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead in order to fit one of the two Essex Arrows vs Herts Falcons games rained out last Sunday.

This means that the following games will be played at Grovehill Ballpark this Sunday, 17 August.

10:30 Herts Falcons @ Essex Arrows
13:00 Herts Falcons @ South London Pirates
16:00 Herts Falcons @ South London Pirates

Grovehill Ballpark will host one additional game from the Single-A League between the Herts Raptors and the Essex Archers. First pitch is at 12pm.

by Rob Jones

Catching a break

After a lifetime of clear vision, it’s a shock to see life from behind bars. But don’t worry, I haven’t finally been jailed for crimes against the English language. I have instead made my debut as a catcher, writes Rob Jones.

Let’s be honest, it’s hard to see from behind that mask. And it’s damned hard to move with all that extra armour, and that helmet. It’s distracting, especially for a skinny guy like me. Not every catcher is necessarily a beast, but even at single-A level they tend to be solid. I am an exception.

Andy Cornish catching
Herts’ own Andy Cornish in catching action

Hopefully more wearing of the “tools of ignorance” will help get me used to them. Because even after giving it a try, the idea still appeals to me.

Let me back up slightly and explain the context. This all happened one Saturday a couple of weeks ago, in a friendly game between the Herts Raptors and the development side being nurtured by the excellent London Mets club. The team is currently called the Mountaineers, though it doesn’t play league games. Yet.

Eye-opening

This was a chance for them to face an opponent in a real game setting, and for that opponent to be a genuine league team. For us, it was a chance to try some new things. For example, our centre fielder became a starting pitcher, the right fielder became a second baseman. And your correspondent — usually a jobbing infielder – became a catcher.

In the end it was for just one inning, as I am not the only player with designs on the job. But I’m glad I got in that one inning as it was eye-opening (and not just because that was the only way to see clearly!)

The armour does have a real impact on your movement. I had to tighten it all up to fit me, of course. But still the way it affects your speed and your flexibility surprised me. I felt like a racehorse confined in plaster casts, or perhaps as if I had been lightly dipped in concrete to perform my job.

Then there is the glove. I don’t doubt that there are excellent reasons for having a special glove. But it was another thing to get used to. Whenever I play first base I always do it with my own glove, a standard 12.5″ infielders glove. I just find that I am more used to it and more in tune with what it can do. So experiments with a first baseman’s glove are always short lived. With the catchers mitt, you have to persevere. I think I improved in the course of the inning I was there. But it will take more work.

The ball is in play…. always

There is also so much to think about. So much. When one ball got away from me and that mitt I failed to react for a second. And the base-runner took the chance to move up. Just as I would’ve done in his place. At any position you have to always remember that the ball is in play, but even more so as the catcher.

In theory, of course, I should be following the count, too. I’ve got much better at this sort of stuff over recent years (sometimes now, I even remember the score too!) But on one occasion I was caught out.

Baseball
The aching legs which only a catcher can know

The umpire said the count was full, but Greg who was pitching had correctly counted it to 2-2. He fired one down as he thought he could waste one more ball, and was surprised when the guy then walked. I needed to have helped him out at that point. It is something else to remember.

There are two reasons I wanted to try catching. First, it’s the one thing I have never done in a game. Secondly, I feel that my sporting background as a football goalkeeper will help me get my technique right to block stray balls. It took years of baseball before I “unlearned” the habit of getting my knees down and getting everything behind a ball. You simply don’t have time for that on the infield. But as a catcher I feel it would help save on pass balls. I still felt that was true after my one inning of work.

I don’t know how much I was able to put it into effect as I wrestled all the strange, fish out of water feelings that I have described above. But I think the only balls to get by were that one which I just dropped, and one more which I tried to block correctly but which still caromed off my shoulder.

I remember the difference the catcher can make for the pitcher from one of my experiences on the mound a couple of years back. The multi-talented Andy Cornish — who I don’t think even catches regularly now — was making a guest appearance for the Eagles when I pitched in relief. He was so effective in saving all those balls I put wide and in the dirt and I was very grateful — as I’m sure was the team.

The final thing to say about catching is that it is flat-out exhausting! The observant among you will recall that I only did one inning. In my defence I will say that it was the final inning of the game, and we had been going for a couple of hours by then. But I will freely admit that this was far more tiring than any other inning of the day.

Carrying round the extra weight, and constantly crouching down and jumping up, make a wicked combination. If you see me return from the off-season with chunky thighs and an enormous grille across my face you know that I have given in to the temptations of the catcher.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Hurricane Bertha wipes out Falcons, Hawks and Raptors games

The remnants of hurricane Bertha hit the South of England this morning causing a major disruption to the British baseball league schedule. All games involving Herts teams today have been affected.

The much anticipated NBL clash between the Herts Falcons and the Essex Arrows has just been postponed.

Earlier this morning the Double-A League game between Herts Hawks and Guildford Mavericks was also cancelled.

Herts Raptors’ Single-A League game at the Essex Redbacks was called off yesterday in anticipation of the incoming weather sysem.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts snap losing streak against champions Richmond

BBF Single-A League
Richmond Dukes 17 – Herts Raptors 38
written by Emmanuel Banson and Andrew Slater

It started off with Andrew Slater stepping into the managerial hot seat for Herts Raptors for the first time in 3 years because of unavailability of Geoff Thomas and Rob Jones. After a long week of trying to make a team with a massive club effort to find players with special thanks to Aspi we had 12 players for the game.

With confidence and energy coming from the Raptor’s we began the game with the sun starting to come out from behind the clouds.

It was a strong start with the bats in the first inning with Adam Landau-Smithers leading off with a walk and scoring on errors by Richmond’s defence. Ross Asquith played his first game of the season and hit a line drive for a single and Jim Arnott hit a one-run double on a line drive and advanced to third on an error. Leading to Raptors scoring 5 runs in the 1st inning.

Andrew Slater started on the mound for the Raptors and he struggled with a tight strike zone, he walked 2 batters and Richmond battled back with 5 runs to tie it 5 – 5 after the 1st inning.

We carried on where we left off at bat with strong hitting and solid base running extended the lead 13 – 5 at the top of the 3rd inning. Richmond scored 5 more runs at bottom of 3rd with Andrew Slater continuing to struggle with a tight strike zone to make it 13 – 10 to Raptors.

In the end after 3 innings Andrew pitched 75 – 39 strikes, 6 BB, 9 hits, 12 runs, 11 earned, 0 Ks.

Andrew Slater thought it was best if he stepped off the mound giving Matt Johnston his first appearance as a pitcher after playing a solid 3 innings at SS. With Andrew Slater switched to fill the gap at shortstop. Matt Johnston on the mound with runners on 1st and 3rd base didn’t take long to warm up and settle into his new role. With Matt Johnston striking one out and fielding a ball and throwing the out at first for the second out of the inning. He gained the momentum back for the Raptors with the final out being an infield pop up to new short stop Andrew Slater.

Richmond took little advantage of the situation as they only scored another 2 runs to make it 13 – 12 after 4 innings. But with a close score, the Raptors were understandably a bit nervous that the momentum could be swinging Richmond’s way.

Andrew Slater’s tactical prowess was brilliant and well executed. Adam Landau-Smithers continued to get on base and causing Richmond infield problems with his aggressive base running and Ross Asquith flawless lefty hitting sending a ball down the 3rd base line over the head of the 3rd baseman landing 5 inches in fair play. Raptors started to go right round the order to dominate with the bat while Richmond’s starting pitcher struggled to curb Raptors offence. With solid hitting all the way through the order, Richmond decided to change pitchers after 4.33 innings – 129 – 61 strikes, 10 BB, 6 hits, 17 runs, 11 earned, 7 Ks. Avram Nikolic-Parry came in relief and Richmond defence couldn’t cope with Raptors offence which led up to 22 – 12.

Matt Johnston continued to battle with the strike zone and Raptors defence helped him out and managed to stop Richmond’s comeback with only 3 runs to make it 22 – 15. Richmond’s relief Avram Nikolic-Parry struggled to find his groove and the Raptors took advantage with passed balls, hits and steals even the Raptors are 2 outs. After the disastrous 1.33 innings – 81 – 30 strikes, 7 BB, 7 hits, 15 runs, 6 earned, 2 Ks.

With the Raptors making changes taking Adam Landau-Smithers from 2B after a solid game making one out, no errors and running his heart out round the bases, and replacing him with Charlie Day who fitted into the swing of things with a solid hit with his first at bat. Joe and Mike stepped into the outfield and also continued to make solid contact with the bat.

Joe was unfortunately hitting too well as the Raptors rallied in the 6th batting round the order leading Joe to have the painful stat of being the first and second out of the inning.

The first out was a deep hit to LF, with the second out being a stroke of bad luck when he drove the ball with some speed straight back to the pitcher. The pitcher ducked and turned away to only then find out the ball had hit him clean in the glove making the out. This then led Richmond’s Ben Carter to replace Avram Nikolic Parry on the mound after losing the feeling in his hand. Raptor’s offence continued to batter Richmond’s defence and extended the lead to 32 – 15 with help from Andrew Slater bringing two home with a double with bases loaded and Jeff W following up with a solid hit to continue the trend.

The Raptors defence was proving to be as solid as I have seen this season. Ken Pike taking a brilliant pop up behind the plate, running full steam at the fence, especially after being behind the plate in hot conditions for over 3 hours.

Then making a throw out to 3rd baseman Jon Lewys to close the inning

Raptors scored further 6 runs at top of the 7th to extend the lead to 38 – 15.

Matt Johnston stepped onto the mound for what we all hoped would be the last time after a very hot day down in Richmond. With 2 out and Richmond only scoring 2 runs Matt Johnston stepped up and struck out the last ending the inning and the ballgame by mercy rule.

This is the biggest runs scored by Herts Raptors this season and a record as well for BBF Leagues 2014 season. Matt Johnston – 4 innings 79 – 38 strikes, 5 BB, 4 hits, 5 runs, 5 earned, 5 Ks.

Herts Raptors win 38 – 17, there was a lot of smiles and high fives at Raptors dugout. Well done Raptors and let’s hope the momentum carries on towards to the end of the season.

Manager Andrew slater post game mentions

” It was a great club effort and I truly appreciate the effort of some players traveling long distance to help out today. It shows a great togetherness throughout Herts. I’m finding it very hard to remember any real errors on defence which is great. Especially with people playing in positions they have not done before. I find it very hard to pick a player of the day after such a team effort.Matt Johnston has to get a special mention with a solid first 3 innings at SS and then a stunning display of nerves and composure as Pitcher for 4 innings, especially as he has not played in either position in a league game. Ken pike was hard working behind the plate and Adam was solid at 2B and always on base. Saying all that I think it has to go to Ross for making great catches in the out field and his hitting stats where amazing for someone’s first game this year”

Player of the Day – Ross Asquith 7 for 6, 5 runs, 6 RBIs, 9 SB.

Unlucky Knob Out of the Year so far – Joseph Osborne-Brade hits a hard line drive at Richmond’s pitcher and caught it without looking at the ball.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Falcons and Raptors hit the road this Sunday hungry for wins

The Herts Falcons (4-8) are preparing for their biggest game of the season so far as they travel to the London Mets (8-6) this Sunday, 13 July, aiming to get right back into the playoff race.

If they win both games of the doubleheader they will be within one game of the Mets and may even move into the playoff zone depending on other results. The games will be played in Finsbury Park and Herts are expected to have a good number of travelling fans supporting them. The two teams met on opening day of the 2014 season and shared a win each. The pressure is on the Falcons to win both games on this occasion as they need to catch up with the rest of the pack.

Cris Hiche greeted by his teammates after his home run against the London Mets on Opening Day (photo by Richard Lee richardleephotography.org)

Cris Hiche is still on the disabled list and he will need some more time to recover from the injury sustained in the game against Bracknell earlier this year. With the exception of Hiche, all other injuries appear to be clearing up so it looks like the Falcons are returning to full strength at the right time.

This is the business end of the season. The team from Hertfordshire has 12 games to reverse the injury-hit first half of the season and battle back into the playoff zone.

There is only one other Herts adult league team in action this Sunday. The Herts Raptors will be making the trip to Richmond still looking for their first win of the season. This has not been an easy season for the team, however, the noises coming out of the Raptors clubhouse have been good all week long as the players seem determined to end this painful winless streak. The Raptors met the Richmond Dukes three weeks ago and came very close to ending the hoodoo, losing 9-12. It is expected to be another closely-fought battle.  Jonathon Lewys and Ross Asquith are expected to be back in a Herts uniform playing their first games of 2014.

 

by Rob Jones

How to make the most of a mis-hit

Let’s not beat around the bush here, my batting so far this season has sucked, writes Rob Jones. It has sucked to high heaven. It has sucked so hard that it could probably suck a golf ball through a hose pipe. From six games, I think I have probably hit three balls well.

But I didn’t come here just to moan, or to have you agree with me about how much I suck, or even to have you assure me that I am great and that I shouldn’t worry. I mention my batting because the universal truth I take from it is a positive one, and it applies to all of you as well as to me: I can still make things happen.

Facing the London Musketeers, I think I registered one real hit. Otherwise I reached on errors, on confusion, on infield mishits, and on a walk. But I still scored three runs, a quarter of our total. Once I am on base, I can steal more bases. In those first games of theyear, I may have had one good hit, but it was equally important that I struck out only once (obviously I would argue that’s the umpire’s fault, but we all have to say that don’t we?)

This past week I was rung up 3 times in one game, which is extraordinary for me.  Pretty bad, and certainly frustrating. Again I’ll blame it all on the umpire…. OK, it was a bit of me too. But even in that game I got more hits than anyone else on the team.

Even in a slump, or in a bad patch, we can still make sure that we are a tough out to get. Hustle up the line on every ball. Protect on every two-strike count. We may not be the most gifted athletes on the field, but we will do our damnedest to get on base, score runs and win games. There is enormous value in that.

The baseball gods

Of course, even as we go out and grab the game, it has ways of coming to grab us. You can get no action all game and then a big play to make. In my outfield days you would often find that to be true. It is less true on the infield, but still happens. In our home game against the London Musketeers I had a couple of routine plays at second base – a ground ball, a catch.

But in the final inning I had to move over to shortstop as we shuffled our players.  Theoretically short should be the busier station. But in the top of the ninth I think four plays went to Clive, who had been brought in to man second for the first time in his nascent baseball career. Nothing at all came to me. Clive handled it all pretty well, securing one ground ball out and narrowly missing a second one.

I am pleased that he took it all in good spirits. It was a bit of a thankless task with the game on the line. But you cannot make the baseball gods smile on you. They do their own thing.

The thought of baseball this year has been an oasis in the desert of building dust which has covered my house. The Grand Designs nonsense has combined with the usual work and family commitments to keep me away, but for most of us baseball is a release from normal life — and that is only intensified the less you play.

Devotion

One week, I came agonisingly and absurdly close to a game. I had been due to play but those builders intervened, and so once we were sure of a full squad, I pulled out. However, I still had to drive to Haverhill to deliver the equipment, and to watch the team all suited up and throwing. That’s more like a torment than a release.

Admittedly, I can’t quite claim that such a folly of a trip showed my devotion to Herts. It showed as much about the fact that training had been rained off — when a more sensible sharing out of the equipment could have been accomplished — and my difficulty in juggling different needs to get the team and the bats in the same place. However, a bit of exaggeration never goes amiss. So I shall claim that the trip to Haverhill spoke volumes about my desire for any whiff of baseball.

This coming weekend we travel to Richmond, but work commitments mean I cannot take part. For some reason I love playing at Richmond. Some of my first friendly games were there, and I remember a couple of sun-drenched league epics there.

I actually missed a friendly there once, because we sat for so many hours in traffic on the South Circular that by the time we got there the game was nearly over. Once it was finished, everyone agreed to play some extra innings, but I was due to work a night shift so had to leave again without ever throwing a ball. Really, I should hate playing at Richmond!

This missed opportunity this week feels more poignant as chances for playing baseball are now slipping away for 2014. And it’s only July!  Here’s hoping my final appearance will be a fitting finale — and that I will, at last, hit the ball properly.

by Rob Jones

Herts poor start helps Brentwood get good

Herts Raptors 8-24 Brentwood Bucks, Sunday July 6th

It was an early signal of how the Raptors’ day would go. The first batter up had struck out. In the no. 2 hole, Rob Jones worked a walk. Aggressively, he went to steal a base. Charlie Mayhew, perfectly sensibly, bunted.

But the ball popped up meekly barely a foot in the air, the catcher gladly grasped it and threw to first to retire Jones, who was already virtually at second. A promising start suddenly came to nothing. And so it would go.

All day it seemed the Raptors would hit to fielders. Joseph Osborne-Brade sweetly struck one towering drive towards the fence in deep centre, but somehow the outfielder got there and robbed him. Brentwood, however, consistently managed to “hit it where they ain’t”. Bloops over heads, ground balls through gaps, liners in outfield no man’s land. And ultimately that would secure them a win.

 

Michael Cresswell pitching

The Raptors had started slowly in the field, as if not yet awake on a Sunday morning. They allowed steals and missed throws and the visiting Bucks quickly put 3 runs on the board. Uncharacteristically, a fly ball was even put down in the outfield.

The home side tightened it up to end the inning, but Brentwood piled on again in the second innings and held a 9-1 lead by the end of the frame.

The game evened out then, with the Raptors chipping away at the Brentwood lead. Starting pitcher Michael Cresswell was the offensive stud for Herts, getting on base all four times he came to the plate and scoring 3 runs. He walked twice, and his hits included one majestically smacked to the outfield which finally avoided a defender. Daniel Bennett got two hits, as did catcher Ken Pike, who was making a valuable guest appearance from the Herts Hawks.

But not enough hits were bringing in runs — at one point the Raptors left the bases loaded. By the bottom of the fifth it was 13-5 to the Bucks, a lead which may sound big but which is by no means insurmountable in Single-A terms.

The Raptors defense had improved markedly as the game went on. Cresswell’s virtually undetectable pickoff move had claimed more victims, with Charlie Day and Charlie Mayhew combining well on the put-outs. Another Brentwood runner found himself stranded between third and home, and a desperate dive past Pike, and an equally desperate crawl towards the plate, were not enough to save him from being tagged out.

Brentwood finally managed to break the game open in the sixth, though. Walks and hits and perhaps a tiring Herts side contributed to an eight run inning. Mayhew moved in to shut it down as relief pitcher, but it was too late by then.

The visiting Bucks were in no mood to let up once the top of the Herts order failed to hit back. Some of the Brentwood team seemed inordinately excited to tack on a couple of runs in the seventh when they were already well ahead. But a winning instinct can be a useful tool.

Despite that, Herts did manage to push across 3 more runs in the bottom of the inning as they faced the improbable task of a comeback. The runners forced more errors — Charlie Day went steaming home on what was essentially a steal, but which would end up as a simple job because of a very high fastball.

Rookie Clive Johnson, hitting in the 9 spot, got his best contact of the day to force a good play from the Brentwood shortstop to secure the last out and the win.

The final score was 24-8. The Raptors co-manager, Rob Jones, was in charge for the week and was impressed by the stamina of the players who had to put in a full shift after a series of late withdrawals for illness and injury.

“We really hoped for better from this fixture, but we never got a break despite a lot of hard work”, he said. “We need to get the hits where it counts, and make all our simple defensive plays. This was a frustrating day.”

by Rob Jones

Dukes beat Raptors to the punch, claim first win

The Herts Raptors have suffered a torrid time in recent weeks. A close game which they led against the London Musketeers fell away in the final stages; they scored 20 runs against last year’s beaten finalists Haverhill but were undone by errors; and a rally against Tonbridge was snuffed out in a game which saw unwelcome fireworks within the team.

Now the visit of the Richmond Dukes offered the chance for the first win of the season. The Dukes were without a win so far – but it was never going to be easy.

Despite the perfect sun-kissed conditions, the early signs were inauspicious. Star centre-fielder Joseph Osborne Brade took a line drive straight in the face during the warm-up, and was ultimately patched up in hospital. Thankfully, he is fine, but the whiff of a curse hung over the diamond.

Young Charlie Mayhew was on the mound for the Raptors and the first inning was a mixed bag, with a couple of hits, a couple of walks and a strikeout. The Richmond Dukes scored three runs before they were closed down, with 2 runners left on base as Adrian Smithers caught a fly ball for the final out.

The Raptors hit back with one run of their own, and tied it up at 4-4 by the bottom of the second. Lead-off man Adam Landau Smithers did his job, getting on and stealing bases with abandon. He had 3 runs and four swiped bags by the end of the day.

As the game developed, Tomasz Kosak ended up the de facto leadoff, opening up three of the innings. He worked a series of walks which became runs as the Raptors managed to keeping adding just one more.

The bulk of the scoring came in the first few innings. Richmond had jumped out with 5 runs in the third and threatened to break it open. The Dukes’ rookie starting pitcher Stuart Doncaster was steady and straight and speedy and the home side’s bats never really got to grips with him.

But the Raptors stayed focused. The defense — which has had too many leaky moments so far this year — was mostly superb. Charlie Day at second base made a series of good plays. Kosak, who was moved from catcher to third base as part of a reshuffle, made the manager look like a genius with several excellent plays.

He took one spinning grounder at the second attempt and made an immense throw to get the runner by half a step, then hauled in an over-the-shoulder catch which appeared to be escaping from him all the time.

Herts’ relief pitcher Andrew Slater brought his seventies-style swagger to the mound, and battled hard to hold the Dukes to just 2 earned runs. Michael Cresswell came on in centre field as part of the changes and also made two crucial catches to keep Herts in the chase. By the middle of the seventh, it was 11-7 to Richmond.

There were frustratingly few good hits, though, as Stuart Doncaster continued dealing. First baseman Jeff Witter cracked one to centre to score a run, and shortstop Rob Jones — the only Raptor with a multi-hit game — drove one past the pitcher’s head to bring in another. But by then it was against Richmond’s veteran reliever Woo Kim, and time was running out.

The Raptors had thrown up zeroes three times with their good defense, but only once did they bring home more than one run. In the bottom of the ninth that left the score at 12-9, a tantalising target of scoring 3 to tie and 4 to win.

Today this was too tall an order. Although the Raptors were more aggressive in the box, Kim’s deceptive slow curves induced three balls in the air, and Richmond could celebrate.

The Herts Raptors co-manager Rob Jones was proud of the team’s effort. “This is the best 9 innings of baseball I have seen from us this year”, he said. “Everyone played a part and it was so close right to the end. We’re frustrated not to get the win, and it’s disappointing that the bats never really came alive. But that shouldn’t overshadow the good things that happened.”

Herts get an immediate chance to strike back — they travel to Richmond on Sunday for the return fixture.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts U12s heading for Farnham Park as part of a big weekend of baseball

View of Farnham Park from the skies (photo by BSUK)

The baseball weekend begins at Farnham Park as a Herts under 12 All Star team is unleashed on the national scene for the first time in the careers of that age group. They will be competing in the under 12 bracket of the Little League UK Championship and will face the London Mets first up at 12:30pm. Depending on the outcome of that first game they will battle through the tournament tree shown below:

Saturday, 14 June
10:00 London Sports vs Essex Redbacks (Game 1)
12:30 Herts vs London Mets (Game 2)
15:00 Loser Gm 1 vs Loser Gm 2 (Game 3)

Sunday, 15 June
10:00 LYBL vs Winner of Game 1 (Game 4)
12:30 Winner Game 3 vs Winner Game 2 (Game 5)
15:00 Winner Game 4 vs Winner Game 5

The tournament will be held at Farnham Park and will be hosted by BSUK and BBF.

Herts will also be represented in the U17 Little League UK Championship as an All Star team representing all U17 teams from the South of England go head-to-head with an All Star team representing the Midlands and the North. The U17 UK Champions will be decided in a best-of-3 series over the weekend. The winner will progress through to the European qualifying stage which will be held in Italy next month, for a chance to reach the Little League World Series in August.

At the same time at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead the Herts Ravens have an U17 League doubleheader versus the Forest Glade Redbacks. First pitch is at 12pm. Food and drinks will be on offer throughout the day.

Baseball and pretty much everything else in the UK will stop on Saturday night as the England football team plays its first World Cup 2014 game against Italy.

The baseball action continues on Sunday at Grovehill Ballpark with two games from the British adult leagues. In the Double-A League the Herts Hawks will be looking to put their season back on track with a win against the Bracknell Inferno, while the Herts Raptors will be looking for their first win of the season in their Single-A League encounter with Tonbridge. Both games start at 12pm.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Blackjacks outscore Fruit salads to take the win

British Single-A League
Herts Raptors 20 Haverhill Blackjacks 30
Adrian Smithers reporting from Haverhill

It was a very hot day in Haverhill last Sunday. Which incidentally, for anybody whom geographical awareness is not their strongest point, is in Suffolk! It’s most definitely NOT in Cambridgeshire as some believed.

It was under this inferno of an early June sun that the Raptors trotted out upon the “diamond” to play the Blackjacks for the second time in a fortnight. Raptors were hoping to exact a modicum of revenge for the previous defeat at Grovehill. A game that had seen them coming within 2 outs of securing their very first win of the season. However it was not to be on this day, as it hadn’t previously.

Raptors batted around in the 1st inning putting four runs on the board. The Blackjacks replied in the bottom of the inning with two. The 2nd inning saw the Herts team bat around again adding another four runs. Raptors starting pitcher Charlie Mayhew then retired Haverhill in order. Giving Raptors an 8-2 lead. It was the Raptors turn to put up a blank in the third as the Blackjacks batters made adjustments, on their second time through the order, scoring six runs to tie the game at 8-8 after three innings.

Raptors responded aggressively, after their first two outs in the 4th inning, batting around once more and plating six runs in the process to retake the lead 14-6. However, the bottom of the inning was truly disasterous for the Raptors and despite Cresswell relieving C.Mayhew with one out and runners on 2nd & 3rd, the Haverhill team exploded for THIRTEEN runs from five hits, four walks, passed balls and other numerous and costly errors.

The inning included an inside the “park” home run by Blackjacks slugger Becking. Who having gone deep in the teams previous encounter, failed to clear the 1,545 ft outfield fence and had to do it the hard way with the Herts outfielders mere specks against the distant horizon.

With the score now 21-14 to Haverhill, the hard throwing but wild Fuentes took over pitching duties for the Blackjacks enabling the Raptors to score six runs on a single hit, seven walks and a glut of wild pitches to pull the score back to within a run. They then held the home team to a single run inthe bottom of the fifth to trail 22-20.

Raptors failed to add to their score in the sixth, whilst the Blackjacks added a further seven unearned runs as the Raptors focus and ability to make the basic plays seemed to melt away like a chewy sweet left out in the sweltering afternoon sunshine. The Herts team fared no better in the 7th as they were sat down in order. Haverhill then added the single run they required, to bring the mercy rule into play, without an out being recorded. With the game over and the platitudes completed, half the Raptors team headed for home, the other half for the nearest pub. A happier time was had in the Rose & Crown as lost liquids were replenished.

Raptors manager Geoffrey Thomas said: “Once again we’ve scored a lot of runs but we’ve made too many mistakes and given up too many runs. There’s wins in this team, we just need to cut down on the errors.”

Raptors are back at Grovehill on Sunday 15th June to face visitors Tonbridge.