The Falcons and the Latin Boys produced two dramatic games winning one game each to keep both teams in the National Baseball League Playoff race but the Sheffield Bruins may be the happiest after the weekend’s action without swinging a bat.

The Latin Boys took an early 2-0 lead but Herts fought back to make the score 5-2 with back-to-back home runs by Alex Deacon and Phil Clark, his fourth of the season.

This was Deacon’s best outing of the season on the mound. He struck out 7 batters over 6 innings and allowed only 4 hits and 2 runs of which only 1 was earned.

The team added 2 more runs in the fifth inning and Tomohiro Tamura pitched the last inning to seal a 7-3 win for Herts.

Game One Box scores Herts Falcons 7 Latin Boys 3

There was no time for celebration. They were about to face starting pitcher Jorge Gonzalez who pitched a complete game shutout the last time they faced him. The Falcons took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning on a solo home run by third baseman Jack Warrington.

The Latin Boys hit back in the third inning with 2 runs to take the lead despite Michael Barrett, Dylan Lawler and Fraser Duggan turning a well-executed double play.

The visitors extended their lead to 5-1 in the fifth inning after a triple by Viktoras Ratkevicius. It could have been more if it wasn’t for a spectacular diving catch by Ben Sporleder at the wall.

It looked like the game was starting to run away from Herts but they rallied with 2 outs in the bottom of that inning. Jack Warrington hit his second home run of the game driving in Ben Sporleder who hit a single before him.

The Latin Boys squeezed another run in the top of the sixth inning to silence the home fans but that was only temporary as a 2-run double by catcher Alex Paterson brought Falcons to within a run going into the final inning.

After a rain delay, in the seventh and final inning the visitors added one more run on a sacrifice fly by Ratkevicius which meant that Herts were down 5-7. Despite Michael Barrett and Jack Warrington reaching base, starting pitcher Jorge Gonzalez shut the door striking out two batters to secure the win for the Latin Boys.

Game Two Box scores Herts Falcons 5 Latin Boys 7

Earlier in the day Sheffield Bruins’ home game versus the London Capitals was cancelled due to a waterlogged field so the gap in the NBL standings between them and the Herts Falcons remains at 4 games. The Falcons have a two-week rest. Their hope is that the Sheffield Bruins will stumble in their remaining 10 games of the season.  If that happens, Herts Falcons can still qualify for the Playoffs if they can win their next two games which are away in Sheffield on 6 August and they may also need to win one or possibly both of their games away at the London Capitals on the final day of the season depending on the outcome of other games.

The decision of the British Baseball Federation on how and when to fit Sheffield’s 4 rained out games between now and 13 August will be critical in deciding who will finish in the top four places of the NBL.

Fans on Sunday saw Herts Falcons’ final home game of the regular season which was part of the club’s NBL Pilot project which aims to grow the fan base and the number of spectators by providing a more immersive game day experience. Dacorum Deputy Mayor Cllr. Brenda Link was the guest of honour throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.

After the game Herts co-General Manager, Aspi Dimitrov, said that “although this long-term project is in its early stages, attendance levels have been encouraging despite the team’s difficult start of the season. We reached a new audience who watched a baseball game for the first time in their lives at Grovehill Ballpark this year. On Sunday many of the fans stayed through the rain right to the end of the second game to support the team which is an indication that the club has managed to establish an emotional connection with fans. The players and the club are grateful for their support this season and let’s see if the Falcons can reward them by qualifying for the Playoffs, against all odds.”

A vital win for the Herts Falcons on Sunday has moved them up into fifth place in the NBL standings and they have also closed the gap on the fourth-placed Sheffield Bruins. The top four teams will qualify for next month’s NBL Playoffs.

This was the second consecutive Sunday of six NBL teams playing two games each at Farnham Park in Slough. The Falcons were missing a number of players. Some were in Italy on international duty, others were on the injured list but the team was boosted by the return of Max Manoff and the signing of infielder Michael Barrett 48 hours before the games.

Their first opponents were the Essex Arrows who have been setting the pace this season and were in joint first place alongside the London Mets. This first game was always going to be a difficult one for Herts considering their depleted squad so it was not a surprise to see the Arrows win it comfortably.

Box Scores Herts Falcons vs Essex Arrows

The second game of the day was against the Latin Boys and this was the one which was going to have a much greater impact on the Playoff race and a defeat could have ended Herts’ postseason hopes. The pressure was on but the team got off to the best possible start.

A single by Matt Moran gave Herts the lead in the top of the first. Latin Boys’ starting pitcher Emanuel Aybar encountered difficulties and incurred three balks which brought in another three runs.  

This was also a must-win game for the Latin Boys and their players felt the pressure too.  Their second baseman Rokas Danielius crossed the line arguing an umpiring decision and was ejected.

Falcons’ starting pitcher, Alex Deacon, was doing well. But the Latin Boys were not out of this contest.  A long double to left field by Nguyen Baez Aybar rounded off a 3-run bottom of the third inning which brought them right back in the game.

The Falcons were holding onto a very narrow 4-3 lead. They needed more runs and they produced them in the top of the fifth. A 2-run double by Will Clayton was followed by an inside the park grand slam by catcher Phil Clark. His hit went down the right field foul line which right fielder Jeurys Mambu Felipe did his best to cut off but the ball flew by him and rolled all the way to the right field wall.  Inside-the-park home runs always seem to get the fans more excited than the longest of home run bombs. 8 Falcons runs were scored in that inning.

There was still some defensive work left to do. Will Clayton pitched the last four innings of the game allowing only 1 run on 5 hits, striking out 3 batters.

Box Scores London Latin Boys vs Herts Falcons

This win and the Sheffield Bruins losing their two games against the Mets and the Capitals means that the gap between the Falcons and the fourth-placed Bruins is down to four games with the two teams still to play two games against each other on August 6th. The Falcons hope to reduce that deficit and be within reach before then.

They will have the opportunity to do that this Sunday, 16 July, when they meet the Latin Boys again. This is their final home stand of the regular season. Tickets are currently on sale and Herts baseball fans can play their part in what would be an astonishing comeback if the Falcons qualify for the Playoffs.

It has been confirmed that Deputy Mayor Cllr. Brenda Link will be the guest of honour throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. Herts Baseball Club is also working with DENS who support members of the Dacorum community who may be facing homelessness or social exclusion. A number of their members have expressed interest to come and see a baseball game and this Sunday they will be guests of the club at Grovehill Ballpark. Herts Baseball Club hope that this will be a positive experience for them as they look to rebuild their lives and reconnect with the community.

The Falcons have 6 games remaining in the NBL regular season. They must win a minimum of 3 of those games but they may need more than 3 wins depending on the outcome of other games.

All six National Baseball League (NBL) games on Sunday were played at the national baseball complex at Farnham Park in Slough. Each NBL team played two games. The Herts Falcons faced the reigning champions London Mets and London Capitals – both very difficult opponents who had just returned from their European Federations Cup Qualifying campaigns.

The Falcons went toe-to-toe with the Mets for four innings tying the game 1-1 after singles from Alex Deacon and Harry Quixley. Will Clayton had another good start on the mound allowing only 3 runs on 4 hits over 5 innings.

The Mets took a 3-1 lead in the fifth inning after a 2-run double by Josh Barrett to left field. Despite outhitting the Mets 7-6 in this game and putting considerable pressure on their defence, several decisions didn’t go in Herts Falcons’ favour which took the steam out of their offence in key moments of the game. Final score Falcons 1 Mets 6.

Falcons vs Mets Box Scores

Next, the team from Hertfordshire came up against the London Capitals who were in third place in the NBL standings at the start of the day. The Falcons fell behind 1-3 but came back to tie the game in the third and take a 5-3 lead in the fourth after loading the bases followed by a 2-run single by Cris Hiche.

Similar to the earlier game against the Mets, the Falcons also outhit the Capitals 8-7 but 5 defensive errors proved to be costly as the Capitals took advantage and won 9-6.

Caps vs Falcons Box Scores

The progress which this young Herts team has made over the first 3 months of the season is obvious but is not quite enough to keep up with the pace of the teams occupying the top four places. 

Despite losing ground on the fourth-placed Sheffield Bruins who picked up a win against the Latin Boys, mathematically Herts can still qualify for the Playoffs if they can bounce back this Sunday when the six NBL teams meet again at Farnham Park.  Their opponents this time will be the Essex Arrows (17-3) and the London Latin Boys (1-13).

The Herts Falcons came agonisingly close to producing an astonishing comeback in the first game of their two-game series away at the Sheffield Bruins but there was a sense of déjà vu as they lost the lead and suffered another walk-off defeat.  However, the Hertfordshire team have a glimmer of hope as they battled back in the second game of this series. The outcome of that game will be decided later in the season as a thunderstorm put a sudden halt to proceedings.

The Herts Falcons set themselves the task of winning both games of this series but they found themselves in deep trouble trailing 2-7 after just 3 innings. Bruins starting pitcher Jonathan Rodriguez was in control. It wasn’t until the fifth inning that the visitors really started to cause him problems. A single for Cris Hiche and a sacrifice fly for Alex Deacon drove in two runs to reduce the deficit to 4-7.   

The onslaught continued in the sixth inning as they not only tied the game but took an 11-10 lead which included a 3-run home run by catcher Phil Clark (video above) deep to right field. The Bruins responded with home runs by Luis Frometa and Josh Taylor which put them back on top leading 13-11 going into the final inning.

The drama continued as the Falcons loaded the base and squeezed two runs in to tie the game again but couldn’t stop Sheffield in the bottom of the inning as they won it 14-13 thanks to back-to-back doubles by Manuel Silvestre and Luke Armstrong.

Game One Box Scores

The disappointment of producing an incredible comeback only to lose the game at the very end was clear to see on the faces of the Falcons as they prepared for the second game of the series.

That pressure seemed to evaporate and the players looked a lot more relaxed as the team took a 3-2 lead after a 3-run home run by second baseman, Tetsuro Shinkawa – his first in his long NBL career. They extended that lead to 8-2 with 5 runs in the next inning after hits by Harry Quixley, Cris Hiche and another for Phil Clark who went 4-for-8 with 5 RBI over the two games.

With heavy dark clouds fast approaching and teams anxiously looking at the live rainfall radar on the MetOffice website, the two managers had to consider the possibility of the game being called and the importance of being in the lead if that was to occur.

As Herts were starting to run out of pitchers, the Bruins came alive with home runs for Jonathan Rodriguez, Luis Frometa, Jordon Grocott and Daniel Moran who made his debut for Sheffield after his transfer from Herts.

Moran also took the mound in relief which produced the very rare occurrence of two brothers facing each other when Matt Moran (pictured above) stepped up to bat and was promptly hit by his younger brother’s pitch.

The 6 runs scored by Sheffield in the bottom of the 5^th inning tied the game at 12-12.  The clouds could no longer hold back and the game was suspended as the sudden downpour flooded the field within a few minutes. The strength of the rain was such that umbrellas and gazebos were of no use at all and players, officials and fans ran for cover in the Hawk and Dove pub located next to the diamond.

The game is expected to be completed when the two teams meet for the final time in the regular season in Sheffield on Sunday, 6 August.  The game will resume in the bottom of the sixth inning with the score 12-12, runner on second base with one out.

Game Two Box Scores

The Sheffield Bruins have the advantage over the Herts Falcons in the NBL Playoff race going into the second half of the regular season but the Hertfordshire team are still in it if they can win this suspended game and start picking up wins against teams above them in the standings which they have shown that they are capable of doing.

The teams in the NBL and the other three BBF league tiers take a break next week as British baseball fans prepare to celebrate a week of MLB London Series events culminating with the two games between the Chicago Cubs and the St Louis Cardinals at the 60,000 all-seater London Stadium.

Everyone expected sixth-placed Herts Falcons to suffer a heavy defeat away at the reigning champions London Mets on Saturday but it’s a sign of the enormous strides which the team has made over the last few weeks as they left Finsbury Park disappointed to lose the lead and the game in the late innings.

The Mets won the first game of this series after a number of defensive errors gave the Mets an 8-0 lead after the first two innings. It was always going to be difficult to catch the Mets after that but something changed after those first two innings. The Falcons not only regained composure but started to turn the game around.  15-year-old pitcher Tomohiro Tamura came in relief and allowed only 1 hit for the remaining 5 innings of the game. Catcher Alex Paterson contributed behind the plate throwing out two base stealers. Offensively, they found it difficult against the Mets ace pitcher Chris Messer but the momentum was changing.

In 30oC temperatures on the hottest day of the year so far, the players may have looked subdued as they preserved their energy but they could sense that they have a chance to cause a major shock in the second game of the doubleheader.

Game One Box Scores

The Mets scored 5 runs in the first inning after four singles and a home run by Rich Minford but that didn’t seem to faze the Herts Falcons. They tied the game up in the next inning which included a 3-run home run by Cris Hiche to right centerfield.

Pitchers Will Clayton and Tasuku Ishihara kept Mets quiet for the next 2 innings and managed to get out of a major jam allowing only one run to score after the bases were loaded with no outs.  Back came the Falcons in the top of the 5^th inning not only to tie the game but to take an 8-6 lead after a 2-run triple by Dylan Lawler and a third run came in after Tasuku Ishihara’s second double of the day.

The Mets showed why they sit at the top of the NBL table and they responded to win the game 13-10.

But the Falcons’ performance was a clear statement that they are very much in this battle for the playoff places. The last time these two teams met was on Opening Day when the Mets won 0-16 and 0-19. The team’s display on Saturday was on  a completely different level. They scored 10 runs in that second game which is the most runs conceded by the champions this season on 11 hits against their formidable pitching staff and defence.

Game Two Box Scores

Apart from this NBL doubleheader, the day included five other games between Herts and Mets youth teams and made it a real celebration of baseball.

All focus now turns to next Sunday’s huge series away at the Sheffield Bruins who currently occupy the fourth playoff spot. If the Falcons win both games of that doubleheader they will go neck and neck with the Bruins.