Life has been getting much much better for the Herts Raptors recently. There were two strong performances against the Old Timers, then a long-awaited victory against Tonbridge. This week, there was a re-run of the good performance. But the final score was a repeat of the 16-15 defeat to the Old Timers, once again on a walk-off hit.

The wind blew hard across the field at Braintree, and clouds occasionally threatened rain, but two sides who have had their struggles this season matched up well. Both pitchers recorded a clean first inning, with their defenses making the plays smoothly. Then in the second Ken Pike started the scoring for the visitors, with a walk and a steal before being driven in by Senna Ashida. He was then brought home, along with Jose Morillo, by shortstop Chris Deacon’s double to right field. The Raptors had a 3-0 lead.

It looked as if the Rays would answer right back. Their first two batters in the bottom of the second came around to score. But Theo Scheepers picked up his first strikeout of the day, and the Raptors fielders again kept it tight. With runners on first and second, Jose Morillo ended the threat by grabbing a sharp line drive at second base.

The top of the Herts order led off the third inning, and it did all you could ever ask really. Chris Deacon got aboard for the third time, and was driven home by right-fielder Duncan Hoyle’s single to left. John Kjorstad was next to get a hit, then up stepped Glen Downer, the clean-up hitter. The first baseman had already clouted a double to centre, but the Rays came right after him, and he hit right back. Again, it went deep to centre but this one was wayyy back. There is no fence at Braintree but with Hoyle and Kjorstad already safe at home, Downer was heading for third and showed no sign of stopping. He didn’t need to. He crossed home plate standing up for a three-run inside-the-park homer.

Downer was also part of a second offensive explosion, in the top of the sixth inning. He scored his third run of the day, while Theo Scheepers finally had some luck with his big bat, and third baseman Ken Pike also scored his third run.  The Raptors now had 15 on the scoreboard and a 10-run lead. But the problem was that the Rays hit back in the bottom of the sixth, batting around to score 7 runs of their own.

And this might be where the crucial moments of the ball-game occurred. The Raptors needed to extend their lead if they were to be comfortable in the closing stages of this game. Substitute right fielder Tak Ashida led off the inning well with a double. But while Rob Jones was at the plate, Ashida tried to swipe third base. The Braintree reliver was a hard thrower, and the catcher had shown he had an arm which was strong if not always accurate. On this occasion, they combined perfectly to cut down the runner.

Jones battled on, and drove the ball over the head of the first baseman to right field. But he, too, had too much fire in the blood. An attempt to stretch the hit into a double was doomed, and he was tagged out in a clumsy collision at second base. Glen Downer took a walk, but there was little the Raptors could do to recover this one, and they ended the inning without scoring.

The Rays replied with their biggest hit of the day, a triple deep to centre. But they were held to just one run in the bottom of the inning, so the Raptors had a final chance to tack on runs. It was their first nine inning game of the year, and it was going to be tight. Pike reached again, and Senna Ashida reached again (he would make just one out from six plate appearances on the day). After a strikeout, catcher Oz Kemal drew a walk and the bases were loaded. But the Rays’ reliever was up to the task. A second strikeout left the runners frozen, and a final flyout left the Herts side empty handed again.

They now had to defend a 15-13 lead in the bottom of the final frame. Theo Scheepers was in for the complete game, and had shown a lot of fight to keep his side in front, giving up just five walks despite the high winds. The first Braintree batter hit a single, and stole unforgivingly to score on a groundout. One run in, one man out, but that ratio was not going to work for Herts this week. Another hit, more steals, and then a walk laid the table for the decisive blow. Braintree got the final hit they needed to walk off as winners, 16-15.

It was a painful defeat, but it must also be seen as a welcome change from the overwhelming defeats early in the season. Manager Ken Pike — who had a 3-for-5 day with a pair of RBIs – has seen the team grow in confidence and ability during the season. This was the second time in three games that the Raptors had lost by just one run, and a walk-off at that. The third game of the three was a convincing win. The season still holds the return fixtures against Braintree and Tonbridge, so hopes are high that the Herts Raptors can put another win on the 2011 record.

This was a proper game of baseball, with twists and turns and big hits and injuries, and a dramatic walk-off hit. Sadly for Herts, it ended in defeat. But this was the closest the Raptors had come to the big W this year.

The Raptors actually played two games against the Old Timers on Sunday, July 24th, one the scheduled game and one a make-up from a rained out fixture earlier in the year. There was no hint of rain this time — in fact Grovehill was even quite warm in the sunshine. It was the second game which was the classic, but the first one almost matched it.

On the mound, Andrew Slater was taking on the former Herts legend Paul Raybould, and the early exchanges were tight. The visiting Old Timers put up 3, then were shut down in the second inning. The home side squeezed in 1 run in the first, but smashed 4 to take the lead. The big moment came when, leading off the fourth for the Raptors, John Kjorstad deposited a pitch way over the left field fence for a spectacular home run. The side’s first homer of the year helped them establish a 9-8 lead.

But as has been the frustrating pattern this season, a big inning undid a lot of the good work. A handful of walks but also a string of tight singles helped the Old Timers bat around. They scored 12 runs and buried the game. Little League star Jose Morillo came in to pitch and closed out the inning, but there was no way back. The final score was 27-9, not a reflection of how tight the first half of the game had been. Slater and Chris Deacon each scored two runs, while Senna Ashida got on base 3 out of the 4 times he came to the plate.

Rob Jones began the second game on the mound, his debut as a starter. Two walks from the first three batters showed a little tension, but the Raptors defense did its job to get the lower order hitters and hold the Old Timers — now the home side — to 6 runs. By the top of the third it was 9-3 to the Old Timers but rather than be downcast the Raptors fought back. Kjorstad got two hits in the inning, and Theo Scheepers started his sparkling game with a hit and a run. After three innings, it was tied 10-10.

Raptors chose this unfortunate moment to go down 1-2-3, giving the Old Timers a chance to surge ahead. Scheepers had taken over on the mound and also took time to settle in. Raybould got the veterans started with a walk and two steals before scoring. The next three batters also scored, but then the defense stepped up. Ken Pike fielded a fly ball at third; Chris Deacon juggled a ground ball and made the out at first; then Pike finished it all with a neat play of a ground ball.

Herts stayed focused and re-took the lead, only for the Old Timers to tie it again with a single run. That meant it was 15-15 going into the top of the seventh and final inning. It started promisingly. Kjorstad reached with a single, Senna Ashida followed with another walk. Two men on, nobody out. But things can change fast in baseball, and as Jose Morillo struck out, Kjorstad tried to steal third. Not only was he gunned down but he sprained his ankle on the play and is doubtful for the remaining games. Now it was two down and advantage to the Old Timers.  Jones got aboard again, but had no escape when Andrew Slater’s ground ball was neatly fielded by the shortstop and he was forced at second.

Herts had to have a clean inning if they were to take the game to extra innings.But the first batter reached on a single and was gifted second by an overthrow. Once the Old Timers’ clean-up hitter worked a walk, the signs were ominous. And, indeed, a single through the left side of the infield brought home the winning run.

It was deflating for a Herts team which had worked so hard and made so many good plays. But the Old Timers are the total opposite of the Raptors. They are veterans who maybe don’t run so fast any more, but have played the game for years, and made only one mental mistake in the entire game. Herts are young, mainly rookies with potential and rough edges, and they can take confidence for the next game.