(This article was written by Michael Jones and first appeared on britishbaseball.org)

The Nottingham Rebels comprehensively swept aside the Herts Hawks in the second AA semi-final, showing the rest of the country what most of their fellow Midlands clubs had warned them – the Rebels are good.

The game was forced to be shortened to only a seven-inning match, bringing the potential slaughter rule forward to the fifth, following the rain that had delayed the Bucks-Piranhas semi-final, but the match was the fastest of the day, and perhaps the fastest of the summer, being completed in just 77 minutes.

All Star Louis Hare lined into a double-play in the first inning for the host Hawks at their Grovehill home, providing Rebels starter Richard Hu a great start in the Nottingham team’s first ever NBC appearance. In the bottom of the frame, three Rebels knocked in runs and Hu himself came round from first after an uncharacteristic overthrow from the much talked-about Herts catcher Andrew Fulford.

Zeros were traded in the second inning as the Hawks’ Nic Goetz found his rhythm, but Hu looked every part the pitcher that has delivered eight regular season wins during their pennant-winning summer.

To back his own cause, Hu drove in his second and third runs of the game with a triple to right field in the third and scored on Neil Eggleston’s single down the third base line to push the Nottingham side seven runs ahead. But that wouldn’t be the end of their offensive onslaught.

Sebastian O’Dell hit a two-run bomb to cap the nine-run inning as the Rebels batted round, with Oscar Martinez delivering a stand-up triple as the first mercy-rule result of the NBCs presented itself to the fans on the second diamond during the pleasant, if chilly, Saturday evening.

Tim Elkins scored Rod Naghar on a ground-out to second, but Hare went down swinging and Adam Taylor covered some great ground at third base to catch Jon Lewys after a big pop up. Twelve runs up, the Rebels were stealing this one away from the Hawks as they entered the bottom of the fourth.

Goetz was done for the day as Hare took on the pitching responsibilities for Herts, but even his big arm couldn’t prevent the Rebels from seeming to play softball, swinging for the fences. Hu and Taylor each singled, but pinch-hitter Duncan Clarke found Aspi Dimitrov’s glove on the full as the Herts Chairman doubled Hu off at second with the help of co-manager Andy Cornish.

Fulford could only pop up to start the fifth inning before Greg Kobel made a good scoop to help Shannon Henry turn the second out. For the Hawks to come back, Dimitrov would need to deliver something amazing.

Down 0-2, he fought two back, staying alive to work a walk – the least his and his club’s efforts deserved having saved the ground from drowning following the torrential rain that threatened to prevent the match being played. But Andrew Slater went down on strikes to hand the Nottingham ace another win in his outstanding season.

Click to view box scores and play-by-play

Hawks co-manager, Andy Cornish, was gracious in defeat: “The loss ends a good season for our team after several years of pain. It was not the best way to go out of the race and it hurts, but we lost to a good Nottingham team who very much deserved the win today.” Cornish added: “We wish the Rebels and the MK Bucks all the best in the final”.

Click to view a report of the second AA semi-final between Poole Piranhas and MK Bucks

With just hours remaining before the 2012 National Baseball Championships begin at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead, we had a chat with Herts Hawks co-managers, Andy Cornish (AC) and Greg Bochan (GB) from New York via satellite, as the team prepares for their massive semi-final clash with the Nottingham Rebels.

hertsbaseball.com You have played in several NBCs in your career.  This is the first time that your team will play at home.  Will that have a positive effect on the team or will that add unnecessary pressure?

AC: Of course it will be positive; to have the fans, the other teams, and most importantly to have actually played on the field before the weekend is a huge boost

GB: I think it will have a positive effect on the team. We’ve always had good support from our fans even at away games but the familiarity of Grovehill will be a bonus.

hertsbaseball.com How much higher is the pressure on you for the finals, bearing in mind that your co-manager will have to listen to the game on the radio?

AC: I think that the pressure will be on Greg, who we are going to miss. I will have to remind the players that this is the same game as every other game we have played throughout the year, and we need to play 100% for 27 outs. If that happens I will be very happy.

GB: Since I’ll be listening on the radio I won’t feel much pressure :). it’s very tough not being there for these post season games. I’m thrilled that the Hawks are playing great and at the same time I am gutted that I couldn’t be a part of the last playoff game and the upcoming finals. I’d love to be able to feel the thrills those guys must be experiencing.

hertsbaseball.com Is the National Baseball Championship the place to try some small-ball?

AC: We have played small ball throughout the year at situational points, and it has worked well. If the situation does come up, I have the faith that we will be able to execute with the accuracy and energy that we have done all year.

GB: I don’t think this should be answered as I don’t want opponents reading about our strategies. But it’s always a good time to play small ball.

hertsbaseball.com We all know that the Hawks are building their success on solid defence and good pitching.  What is the element that would need to be added if they are to give a good show against the highly rated Nottingham Rebels on Saturday?

AC: Our pitching has been excellent all year, but there is a whole new game to play. The Rebels look like they have good hitting, we still need to keep them off balance, and I know that our pitchers can do it. I think to be successful this weekend; our pitching and defence have to be on top of their game. With our strongest team out on Saturday and Sunday, I have no worries about the hitting, I am very happy 1 through 9 of the line-up, we have speed, power, and in a few cases both as we have shown over the last few weekends.

GB: I think at this point its confidence. We’ve put up the numbers and now we have to believe we can continue doing so. Confidence goes a long way on the diamond.

hertsbaseball.com In view of the plethora of pitching talent that the Hawks currently enjoy, have you made up your mind about your starting pitcher for the semi-final game on Saturday?

AC: I have a plan on who is going to pitch which day. Both of our elite pitchers are going to get a look in over the weekend

GB: No comment.

hertsbaseball.com What is your standing order to the players for their fitness and dietary regime in the next few days left before the finals?

AC: I think that we need to do what we have been doing. I will be having my usual Friday night of fajitas and relax in front of a film. We need to be hydrated.

GB: Keep doing what you’ve been doing, it’s worked so far. Maybe don’t get too drunk this Friday and Saturday nights.

hertsbaseball.com Many of the fans are dying to know what is the meaning of “Boom”?

AC: Well. To be honest, I have no idea. I like to think that it is that explosion of energy from the players when something magical happens. I am hoping to keep it rolling this weekend.

GB: Booya!

SATURDAY’S GAMES INVOLVING HERTS TEAMS

The Herts Hawks semi-final game with the Nottingham Rebels is at 4pm on Saturday, 25 August, at the old diamond. The Herts Falcons start at 3pm in their opening game versus the Southampton Mustangs at the new diamond. This means that Herts fans will have to choose one or the other, or position themselves strategically so they can see both games, or move from one diamond to another, and back again, depending on which team needs the support the most.

The term “epic” is sometimes used to describe a game of baseball in order to highlight the enormity of the occasion, and we are sometimes guilty of overusing it. This afternoon’s AA quarter-final between the Herts Hawks and the Guildford Mavericks was truly epic and there is absolutely no risk of misrepresentation. It had everything – the grand slam, the catch at the outfield wall, the masterful pitching, the energy of the fans, the staring contest, the tense atmosphere, the rally call form the managers, the class acts, and more.

The Herts Hawks are a confident and laid back bunch and they probably would not admit it in public but there must have been a sense of uncertainty ahead of the game. They were about to face a team which has won all 17 of their games so far this season, a team which they had not seen before and which other teams and experts have described as “invincible”. To add to that, the Hawks were missing 9 players, including regular starting infielders Greg Bochan, Louis Hare and Seth Lipstock.

CLASS ACTS

During the pre-game preparations news came in that there had been an emergency situation with the assigned independent umpire and therefore under the regulations in such circumstances the game was to be umpired by an official provided by the home team. There was a concern that in a game with everything at stake, the element of bias, or overcompensating against bias, may cause confrontation, but the Guildford umpires and Guildford’s officials deserve a lot of praise for managing the situation and umpiring with great integrity and impartiality. There will always be plays which are difficult for umpires to get absolutely right even in the multi-billion dollar Major League Baseball, but in terms of neutrality Herts Hawks will be the first to take their cap off to the Guildford officials.

The classy conduct by Guildford did not end there. The Hawks’ starting third-baseman, Andy Cornish, was delayed in traffic so he had to be taken out of the starting lineup card when it was officially exchanged in the official plate meeting between the two managers and the umpires. Cornish arrived just a few minutes after that as the game was getting under way and under MLB rule 4.01 (c) the only way for him to enter the game is if an official substitution is made which would have meant that the Hawks would not be able to use the substituted player for the rest of the day. Once again Guildford acted with admirable sportsmanship and their Manager, Tony Oliva, without any hesitation allowed the starting lineup to be amended. Technically, the Hawks had sufficient grounds to request that the start of the game is delayed (up to 30 minutes under BBF rules) but once the lineup cards were exchanged the amendment of the lineup would not have been possible without Guildford’s waiver.

FULFORD GETS THE “BARRY BONDS” TREATMENT

The Hawks got off to a strong start against Mavericks starter, Tetsuro Shinkawa. In the top of the first Paul Auchtelounie and Tim Elkins reached base with a walk and a single, respectively. With one out, up stepped Herts catcher Andrew Fulford. Guildford Manager, Tony Oliva, must have seen enough from Fulford during batting practice to convince him that he is a major threat and he instructed his pitcher and catcher to walk him intentionally loading the bases. It is only players like Barry Bonds that receive this level of respect. With the bases loaded Andy Cornish worked a walk for the first run of the game. Rod Naghar then got the sacrifice fly to give the Hawks an early 2-0 lead.

GRAND SLAM

In the second inning Andrew Fulford stepped up for his second plate appearance of the game, but this time the bases were loaded. Shinkawa decided to pitch to him. With a count of 3 balls and 1 strike Fulford blasted the ball high up into the sky and over the left field fence for a grand slam (a video of the grand slam will be available to view shortly). This was his second home run of the postseason.

The score was 6-0 but the Mavericks didn’t let their heads drop. They had adopted a “small ball” strategy with a combination of aggressive base running and bunting. Their aggressive running strategy was quickly stopped by the arm of catcher Fulford who threw out 2 runners during the game. Despite this they struck back with 2 hits and took advantage of a fielding error by the Hawks to make the score 6-3. They were back in the game now. Herts scored 2 in the 4th inning to make it 8-3, but Guildford were always threatening.

THE SPAGHETTI-WESTERN STARING CONTEST

In the 5th inning the fans became witnesses to something which they may never see again on a baseball field. Fulford had advanced to third base and he was looking to distract Guildford’s relief pitcher, Owen Hazelby, with claps of encouragement for team mate Rodney Naghar who stepped up for his at bat. It is customary for runners to try to put doubt into the minds of the fielders and the pitcher by taking an unusual lead, kicking dirt or attracting attention in any other possible way. This usually isn’t noticed by spectators as the pitcher stays focused on their role and delivers the pitch, but on this occasion Hazelby appeared to freeze on the rubber in the “stretch” position. He stood motionless for what seemed like an eternity. After 20 or 30 seconds of everyone at the field standing still, batter Rod Naghar called time as it is not realistic to expect someone to hold the bat in the air for such a long time. The pitcher stepped off the rubber and everyone was starting to return to their positions not very clear on what had just happened. Everyone was ready in their positions again but Hazelby once again stood still in the “set” position.

It was becoming clear to players and fans that Guildford’s pitcher did not want to throw the pitch until Andrew Fulford stops clapping his hands. After another 20-30 seconds of Hazelby standing in his “set” position, Andrew said quietly in the direction of the pitcher “I can do this all day” to which the pitcher responded with words to the effect of “I can do this all day too”, which in fact is not legal. Under MLB rule 8.05 (h) when “the pitcher unnecessarily delays the game” a “balk is awarded when there are runners on base”. In this situation a balk would have resulted in Andrew Fulford advancing form third base to score a run. This is a rule which does not come into effect very often so the umpires could be forgiven for not calling a balk. But the effect was that this turned into a staring contest, a shoot out in a spaghetti-western movie. Who will blink first? Andrew Fulford certainly had no legal obligation to stop clapping. This may have been a minor incident which had no direct effect on the outcome of the game and both players would probably have dropped the issue. However, in the context of a highly-charged elimination game this was about not displaying any weaknesses at a critical time of the game. The Hawks bench didn’t want to leave their team mate alone in this psychological battle, so they joined him in clapping and shouting words of encouragement for batter Rod Naghar who was waiting for the pitch to be delivered.

The Guildford fans on the other side of the field also felt they needed to show support for their player and this created a noisy and tense atmosphere – a bizarre scene of every player in the field standing still, endlessly waiting for the pitcher to throw the ball under a crescendo of noise. After a minute or so of this spectacle, Owen Hazelby finally threw the pitch to get a pop-up in the infield for the third out to a standing ovation from the home fans.

THE COMEBACKS

The incident fired up both teams, but it was Guildford who were more in need of a boost so they ended up as the beneficiary. They came out firing in the bottom of the 5th. They may have had only 2 hits in that inning but they did enough to force Herts to commit 3 errors and score 4 runs reducing the Hawks’ lead to 1 run. Herts starting pitcher, Nic Goetz, was still going strong but the fielding errors meant that he had to find that little bit extra to get out of this inning with Herts still in the lead. The Guildford fans could sense their team was truly back in the game now.

It was the turn of Hawks’ co-manager, Andy Cornish, to gather his team for a team talk and to get his team back in the game. Ho achieved an immediate response. With two outs, a single by Jim Arnott and a walk and steal for Tim Elkins put runners on second and third base. Up stepped Jon Lewys. Failure at the plate would have ended the inning and given the Mavericks a further boost. But Lewys delivered one of the most important hits of the season. He sent the ball deep into the outfield for a 2-run ground-rule-double. He was then driven home by an Andrew Fulford single. 3 runs were scored in that inning, all with 2 outs. The momentum was shifting back in favour of Herts. They added another run in the 8th inning after a single by Andy Cornish.

Going into the 8th inning and having thrown 100 pitches, Nic Goetz was relieved. His performance was outstanding allowing only 1 earned run through 7 innings.

In came pitcher Nick Russell. He has been one of the team’s most reliable pitchers all season and he delivered once again for the Hawks. He pitched two innings allowing no runs, no hits and only 1 walk. He received support from his teammates, including an amazing diving catch by catcher Andrew Fulford in foul territory and a catch at the wall by Paul Auchterlounie which was headed for a homerun.

The Hawks won it 12-7 and are now heading home for the Semi-Final next Saturday as the British Baseball community prepares for the deciding weekend of the National Baseball Championships on 25-27 August at Grovehill Ballpark in Herts.

Click to view box scores and play-by-play

Hawks Manager, Andy Cornish, said: “Today was excellent baseball. Everyone contributed in key moments. There was a moment where the momentum had shifted, but we dug deep and I think we wanted to win the game more. I want to thank Aspi, Kal and Slater for their excellent work as the coaches, and also Guildford for supplying some tough opposition. We have to reset now, and want the title as much as we wanted to win today’s game. We also welcome back a few key players, so I am looking forward to a weekend of tireless and emotive baseball.”

People often say that “statistics never lie”. If that’s the case then the Herts Hawks are in trouble. They will travel to Guildford this Sunday looking to turn the form book on its head and put statisticians out of business.

The season so far would indicate that the Guildford Mavericks and the Poole Piranhas are on course to cruise through the Quarter-Finals and into the National Baseball Championships. Guildford have won all 16 of their regular season games and they added their 17th win of the season with a 12-4 victory over the Daws Hill Spitfires in the first round of the playoffs last Sunday. They have conceded only 2.25 runs per game in the regular season and their offense averages 15.8 runs per game. The Hawks have scored at a rate of 9 runs per game and on average they have allowed 4.6 runs per game. No matter how hard the Hawks try to spin those numbers to extract something positive out of them, the odds are stacked overwhelmingly in favour of Guildford.

But we are into the postseason. This is the big stage where sometimes the underdogs can be written off only to find super-human strength out of nowhere and topple the most invincible of opponents. This Sunday the Hawks will need that X-factor, which statistics cannot explain. An outstanding pitching performance, a leaping catch at the wall, an inning-ending double play, a clutch hit in the late innings – the Hawks have proven that they have that special ability of rising to the big occasion against all odds.

The wettest British summer in history meant that the two teams did not meet in the regular season as the game was rained out, so both teams will have little information about each other and they will be looking to gather any intelligence they can get their hands on before Sunday.

.         John Kristensen              Tetsuro Shinkawa                  Owen Hazelby

Herts are expected to face one of Guildford’s three main starting pitchers. John Kristensen (4-0) started last Sunday’s playoff game versus Daws Hill and he has the lowest ERA (1.77) in the team. Tetsuro Shinkawa (4-0) is a player who is well known to everyone at Herts as he played alongside Herts players in the Hunlock Series last October. The Japanese pitcher has played the highest number of innings (32) on the mound for the Mavericks this year. His ERA is slightly lower than Kristensen’s at 3.03, however he has accumulated the largest number of strikeouts (38) in the team. Owen Hazelby is the third likely starter. He has an impressive 5-0 record this year with an ERA of 1.93.

There are three main Guildford players who bring power to their batting lineup. John Kristensen (4 HR), Owen Hzelby (2 HR), John Sparks (2HR) while Kyle Dooley and Testuro Shinkawa have the highest batting average in the team.

The game will be played in Guildford, 12pm start. It promises to be a colossal battle. The winner will progress through to the Semi-Final. For the loser the season would be over.