After amodest toast to their charmed ascendancy through the League, the Hertsfirst-team quickly rested and refocused for a Sunday morning clash with theirAAA Oxford rivals.  The Falcons arrivedat Croydon’s Diamond One a full hour-and-a-half before their opponents and the umpiringcrew, fueled only by their sheer determination to finish what they’d begun.

The weatherhad not improved despite Club President Aspi Dimitrov’s claim that this was “abetter rain.”  The mist was unrelentingand left the field water-logged and – according to BBF officials –unplayable.  Nevertheless, the Falconsstretched and warmed their arms no less than three times before the mainstagewas relocated to the better-maintained second field, and the game commenced 90minutes behind schedule.

Withseveral runner-up games already cancelled due to weather, Herts was eager toget proceedings underway and avoid an unnecessary postponement.  They were present, they were warmed and theywere fired up.  The growing crowd wasequally impatient; the excitement of an inevitable climax hung in the air.

Flashbackto July 6 2008: Oxford Kings travel to a rain-soaked Grovehill for a crucialcross-division matchup. Capitalizing as the away team, Oxford jumps out to a four-run lead in thetop of the 1^st (unbelievably, in both games of this double-header).

It was nosurprise then that Kings Manager Santo Bains chose to again be the away teamwhen he won the coin toss prior to Sunday’s final… a gamble that Oxford would soon regret.

Darrin “TheColonel” Ward took the mound seeking revenge – having suffered his only loss ofthe season to Oxfordtwo months prior – and immediately shut down the Kings’ impressiveoffense.  Leadoff batter Masaharu Egawa struckout looking before Jorge Pinto Machado reached first on a hard-hit grounder tothe right side.  Despite the admonitionsof first baseman Marty Cullen, Machado attempted to steal on the next pitch andwas cut down easily by Catcher Jason Greenberg’s cannon.  That play brought Oxford’s running game to a screeching halt;it was their only attempt at a stolen base, and Greenberg was 3-3 in throwdowns over the weekend.  Anotherstrikeout ended the inning, and the Falcons had neutralized Bains’ plans for adominant top-of-the-first.

With noscore and two outs in the bottom of the 2^nd, and Kimiyoshi Saionjion third base, rightfielder Aspi Dimitrov connected on a 1-and-2 count for aline drive up the middle, bringing home the first run of the game.  Herts had taken a lead they would neverrelinquish.  In the top of the 3^rdwith the bases loaded and one out, Ward’s legendary changeup forced Oxford intoan infield fly and a foul-pop to catcher Greenberg ending the threat.

The windbeneath their wings, the Falcons quickly tacked on three more runs in thebottom of the inning on two hits and two Kings’ errors.  Despite a string of four hits by Oxfordscoring two runs in the fourth (including a to-the-fence double from Machado),the Falcons brought their lead to 6-2 with precision defense, a triple fromClub President Dimitrov and timely strikeouts from the crafty Ward.  Machado wasn’t finished; he crushed a hangingbreaking ball over the right field wall for the game’s final run (the Kings’third)… but no amount of muscle could combat Herts dogged determination.  Outfielder and lightening-bolt Jim Hyde wasejected in the bottom-of-the-6^th for attempting to score on a groundball to the left side.  Although photoevidence shows him under the tag, the umpire punched him out and Hyde,incensed, pounded his helmet into the batters circle.  It was that kind of never-die grit that keptHerts on top despite the game’s mounting pressure.

With theFalcons leading 6-3 in the top of the seventh, a strikeout, a fly-out and apop-out brought the AAA season to an end. The natural finalists – first in their respective League brackets – haddone battle in the inclement English weather, in front of the BBF’s top umpiresand officials and to the delight of their many supporting fans.  The Herts Falcons were crowned National Champions,taking the trophy from their scrappy opponents in what proved the tightest,hardest-fought contest of the 2008 Final 4. It was a showdown for the annals, and will be hotly remembered in theseason to come when Herts and Oxfordnext face-off on the diamond.

2008 saw animprobable rise to the top for the Herts Baseball Club.  Weathering demotion, re-promotion and nowcoronation, the Falcons’ successes have made for a glory season of resurgenceand optimism.  They garnered the bestwin-loss record in the AAA, bested every opponent they faced, and allowed thefewest runs of any team in the League.  AsBBF President Rob Rance presented the championship trophy, he offeredencouraging words of support to Hertfordshire’s ballclub, saying “Herts is agreat programme – a class act – the kind of Club that the BBF needs to helpthis country develop the game. Congratulations to the Falcons on a fine season.”

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The diamond was drenched in déjà vu.  Only one year ago the Herts first-team were onthis same field… facing the same opposition.

In the 2007 National Championships, the Falcons metthe Humber Pilots in the AA Final. Relegated from the Premier League the season before, Herts weredetermined to cap their walk-over winning season with a trophy and trip backinto the AAA.  But sloppy first-inningdefense and ineffective pitching allowed Humbera 5-0 lead, and they never looked back. The Falcons suffered an 8-5 loss and hung their heads in defeat.  Although they secured re-promotion to theAAA, the lack of a national title was the sole blemish on an otherwise perfect(and perfectly effortless) season.

Here we go again. Humber – also promoted to the AAA in the Northern bracket – made thelong trek due south from Hullto face their pushover opponents from the previous year.  Heavy storm clouds loomed over the same,rain-soaked field… and the Pilots came expecting a repeat victory.

Mayday! Mayday!

These were not the same Falcons.  Herts charged into 2008 with a full head ofsteam.  New leadership brought a wholenew approach.  With a focus on improvedtraining methods and a unifying philosophy, these Falcons sported adetermination and team commitment unrivalled in years past.  The emergence of additional talent – newfoundand home grown – meant that Herts brought improved speed, pitching, defense andpower to an already successful lineup. The Pilots were in for a dogfight.

In a complete reversal of their last encounter, theFalcons won the coin toss, took the home side dugout and readied themselves fora tooth-and-nail showdown.  The Pilotsseemed to take an early advantage when 2007 Best Pitcher Nic Goetz got off to aherky-jerky start walking the first two batters and beaning the third.  But the threat was quickly silenced.  Catcher Jason Greenberg gunned down awould-be base-stealer for the first out of the game, and a line-drive doubleplay by third baseman Darrin Ward brought the inning to the end.  Herts wasted no time in embracing theirmomentum.  In the bottom of the 1^st,speedy leadoff batter Jim Hyde walked, stole second and was brought home on adouble from slugger Andy Cornish.  Twomore hits, two walks, a hit batter and a suicide squeeze brought in anadditional four runs for the Falcons who, in a reversal of fortunes of their2007 championship game, had an early 5-0 lead… and a confidence that evenMother Nature couldn’t quash.

Goetz quickly found his focus and dominated the Humber offense.  Ina foreshortened five-inning game the Pilots were held to one run on only twohits.  Meanwhile, the Falcons batserupted for six runs in the 2^nd, six more in the 3^rd, andfour runs in the 4^th.  Theblowout seemed to end before it had even begun as the Falcons brought theirwinged rivals down to earth in a 21-1 qualifying win.

The game was not without controversy.  The two-man ump crew of Petter Nordwall andDarrin Muller hand their hands full with the frustrated Humberside.  Shortly after shortstop C. Radgewas ejected for colourfully objecting to a close play at second base, oneinning later replacement shortstop S. Radgewas thrown out for intentionally tripping speedster Hyde on the base-path.  Indeed, this marked the first father-sonejections in recorded BBF championship history.

On the positive side, Herts busted out the bigbats.  Cornish connected for two doublesand a monster-run for 4 RBI.  MartyCullen and Darrin Ward also doubled, and Ward smacked a two-run blast of hisown.  Second-baseman Kimiyoshi Saionjiwent 4-for-4 with 4 RBI including a three-run dinger.  The Falcons flew around the base-pathsstealing 8-of-8 and hustling out two triples from Jim “T-Devil” Hyde and Dan“Hollywood” Kerry.

As the Falcons packed up their rain-soaked gear withthe knowledge that Oxfordhad bested their division rival London Metros, the inevitable question loomed…“Can we win it all…?”

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