The Southampton Mustangs brought an end to the Falcons 4-game winning streak, but that setback was only temporary as the team from Herts quickly recovered to win the second game of the double-header.

Before today’s third round of NBL games the Herts Falcons were the only unbeaten team in Britain’s top league, however the Mustangs have proven to very difficult to beat over the last two years. Jordan Farkas started on the mound for Herts and he had another good outing allowing only 1 earned run, 4 hits and 2 walks over 6 innings which would usually be sufficient for a win, all else being equal. However, not all else was equal. The Herts defence had a particularly bad game committing 11 errors allowing 6 unearned runs to score.

The team looked to repair the damage offensively late in the game scoring 4 runs in the last 3 innings, including doubles from Cris Hiche, Liam Green, Dave Tretheway (2RBI) and Ryan Bird (2 RBI) who made his debut in a Herts jersey. That late rally wasn’t enough and the Falcons went down 7-5. Alberto Rodriguez picked up the win for the Mustangs.

Mike Osborn started on the mound in game two looking to make it 3 wins in 3 games on the mound this season. He pitched a complete game allowing only 2 earned runs on 8 hits and 1 walk. The Falcons defence had regained its composure after the nightmare in the first game. The South African duo of Dave Tretheway (3B RBI) and Ryan Bird (2B and 2 RBI) once again delivered big extra-base hits for the team. Jordan Farkas and Kimiyoshi Saionji also contributed with the bats driving in 3 ore runs. The 3 runs scored in the top of the final inning gave the team a little extra insurance for Mike Osborn to complete the game and confirm a 7-3 win for the Falcons.

Herts Falcons Manager, Lee Manning, felt that the results of both games were fair. “Southampton deserved to win the first game. We deserved to win the second. The wind played a big part causing major problems throughout the game. We made far too many errors in game one. We came back well in the second game and we now have to turn our attention to the next games against the London Mets” said Manning.

The team remains top of the NBL standings. However, they are now neck-and-neck with the reigning Champions, the Harlow Nationals, who swept the Essex Arrows and now have 5 wins and 1 loss, same as the team from Hertfordshire.

When the schedule was first announced, coach Lee Manning had highlighted the 2nd week matchup against the Essex Arrows. It would be the first time that Herts would face the former Falcon great Darrin Ward. Ward had been an integral part of the Falcons roster over the past few seasons and led them in almost every offensive and pitching category in 2011.

Darrin Ward’s first start against his old team would be short lived as the Herts Falcons exploded for 8 runs in the first three innings. Ward would be relieved by former Falcon prospect Mario Escobedo who gave up another 7 runs. The top of the Falcons order gave Essex trouble all afternoon. Jake Michels had 2 triples, a double 4 runs and 5 RBI on the day. Hitting behind Jake was heavy hitting Dave Trethway who seemed to also find his swing as he had 2 doubles, 1 triple and 6 RBI.

The Chilean speedster Chris Hiche sparked the Falcons offence with 4 runs and 5 stolen bases. Coach Lee Manning was very pleased to see his new additions dominate at the plate on Easter Sunday. Game one starter Jordan Farkas picked up his 2nd win of the season as the Falcons disposed of the Arrows in a 15-7 rout.

Essex came out in game two with something to prove and put up four quick runs off of Michael Osborn who was battling a stomach virus all day. The first inning would be the last time that Essex would score.

The resilient Falcons quickly responded to score in the second, third and fourth inning. After the rough first inning, Osborn settled in and would only allow one more hit the rest of the way as he earned his second win on the hill.

In the first two weeks of the season the Falcons have showed a lot of heart; they now have two come from behind victories. In game two the Falcons left side of the infield flashed the leather, Mike Cattermole and Jake Michels made several stellar defensive plays to keep the Arrows at bay. Lee Manning and Liam Green shared the catching duties and provided strong backstops for the pitchers.

After the games coach Manning said, “We felt we deserved the wins today. The team played good baseball and we are very pleased with the start we have made this season. We are still missing several players, some on the DL, but the roster we put together this winter will gradually be coming together over the next few weeks and hopefully we will be at full strength very soon. Great start but we have to keep our feet on the ground and focus on our next game which will be a difficult one at Southampton next Sunday“

One significant absentee from the Herts Falcons lineup in the NBL Opening Game against Bracknell on Sunday was 2011 Falcons MVP, Mahendra Prasad.

The Sri Lanka National Team player sustained a knee injury in the Spring Training game playing for the Sri Lanka All Stars at Grovehill Ballpark on March 4. Later in that month he played in the HSL games for the Falcons but it appears that he returned to the team too quickly and aggravated the injury.

Prasad is one of the fastest players in the NBL and it would be interesting to see whether he, Cristobal Hiche or Robbie Unsell will be the leadoff batters in the Falcons line up when Prasad recovers from this leg injury and Unsell arrives from America for his Herts debut. Prasad is expected to miss Sunday’s top of the table clash with local rivals, Essex Arrows.

Everyone connected with Herts is hoping for Prasad’s speedy recovery.

After several months of signing some of the highest profile players in the National Baseball League (NBL), the Herts Falcons met the hopes and expectations of a record Opening Day crowd at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead, with two wins against the Bracknell Blazers.

This year NBL’s Opening Day takes place before Major League Baseball’s equivalent. This adjustment in the calendar has been necessary due to the European Championships and World Baseball Classic qualifiers later in the year for the Great Britain National Team. The large number of fans who came for the game enjoyed a day packed with activities starting with Herts Spring League games at 10am and a 4-team family softball tournament involving youth players and parents from the Herts Little League as well as softball enthusiasts who may turn out to be the building blocks of a project to create the first softball league in Hertfordshire, something which has been discussed at various levels in recent months.

Those at the ballpark were pleasantly surprised to see the recently announced BSUK-funded upgrade of the ballpark appear so quickly with perimeter fencing already installed. After the softball and a few hot dogs, some of the Herts Little League players were on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch of the 2012 NBL season. In the usual Herts tradition all balls were thrown at the same time and Falcons catcher, Phil Clark, had the impossible task of catching all the balls heading in his direction.

The National Anthem rang around Grovehill and it was time for the Falcons and Blazers to get down to business. Jordan Farkas started on the mound for the Falcons and although the Blazers scored a run in the first inning, he didn’t seem to be shaken up at all and did not allow any runs in the subsequent 5 innings. Blazers starter, Reiniel Martinez, also had a very effective start allowing only 1 run in the first 3 innings. In the bottom of the fourth Herts put 3 runs on the board. A walk and two errors were followed by a one-run single by Jordan Farkas and another big single by David House to bring two more runs in. Bracknell brought in pitcher Henry Collins who didn’t allow any more Herts runs but the four runs scored already were enough for them to secure a winning start of the season, despite a late rally by Bracknell which put the tying run on second base, Jordan Farkas completed the game by striking out Dexter Stewart and the dangerous Phil Matthews. Farkas had a total of 9 strikeouts and allowed only 3 hits.

Game two turned out to be even more exciting. Jake Michels made his NBL debut on the mound for Herts. Bracknell quickly put the pressure on with a 3-0 lead after a 2-run home run by Phil Matthews over the left-centerfield wall.

Herts responded with two runs in the bottom of that inning but any kind of offensive rally was certainly not due to any pitching weaknesses for Bracknell. Their starter Jordan Edwards proved to be a very awkward customer. He left the game after 4 innings with the score tied at 4-4 but none of the four runs allowed were earned and the Falcons managed to record only 1 hit against him over 4 innings. Herts committed 3 errors in that game and unfortunately for them they all came in the fifth inning. The Blazers took advantage of this and added 3 more runs making the score 7-4. Jake Michels certainly had the velocity and the movement on the day but one or two walks proved to be costly. It seemed like the game was running away from the Falcons but they responded in a big way in the bottom of the fifth. Jake Michels and Dave Trethway worked two walks followed by Mike Osborn’s ground rule double and a single by 15-year-old Herts prospect, Liam Green, which caused an almighty confusion bringing in Kevin Niedringhaus to tie the game at 7-7. Green went 2-for-2 over the two games.

Mike Osborn came in very effectively to pitch a scoreless top of the 7th inning. With the game tied 7-7 it went down to the bottom of the last inning. David House led-off with a single and advanced to third on an error. Up stepped another debutant, Mike Cattermole, playing against his former team mates, to drive the winning run in with a bullet which just stayed fair down the right field foul line.

Herts Falcons Manager, Lee Manning was pleased with the wins. “We wanted to get off to a good start this year and Bracknell made it very difficult for us. These were two very exciting games on Opening Day and it feels good to win, but the season has only just started and we must stay focused with some very important games coming up”- said Manning. He added: “It took the whole team to win these two games with players coming into the game in key situations and making an instant impact.”

The baseball celebration in Herts started at 10am and ended at 7pm sending fans home happy. If this is a sign of what we can expect this year, British baseball is in for a very exciting season.

GAME 1

Bracknell Blazers at Herts Falcons
Score By Innings	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Bracknell Blazers	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	3	5
Herts Falcons	0	0	1	3	0	0	0	4	6	3

Herts Falcons 4, Bracknell Blazers 2
Herts Falcons					Bracknell Blazers
	ab	r	h	bi		ab	r	h	bi
HICHE Cristobal 1b	3	0	0	1	TRASK Mike 3b	3	1	1	0
SAIONJI Kimiyoshi 2b	2	0	0	0	EDWARDS Jordan ss	4	0	1	0
MICHELS Jacob 3b	3	0	0	0	STEWART Dexter c	3	0	0	0
(b6) CATTERMOLE Mike 3b	0	0	0	0	DUGGAN Fraser lf	3	0	0	0
TRETHEWAY David cf	3	0	1	0	MATTHEWS Phil 1b	4	0	0	0
OSBORN Michael lf	2	1	1	0	MILNER Clinton 2b	2	0	0	0
CLARK Phil c	3	1	0	0	MARTINEZ Reniel p	2	0	1	0
NIEDRINGHAUS Kevin ss	3	1	0	0	(t5) COLLINS Henry pr-rf-p	1	0	0	0
(b6) HARE Louis ss	0	0	0	0	MARTINSSEN Gustav cf	3	0	0	0
FARKAS Jordan p	3	1	2	1	PECKHAM Guy rf	2	1	0	0
GREEN Liam rf	1	0	1	0
(b4) HOUSE David rf	2	0	1	2
TEAM TOTALS	25	4	6	4	TEAM TOTALS	27	2	3	0

E: MICHELS Jacob , OSBORN Michael, NIEDRINGHAUS Kevin, EDWARDS Jordan(2), MILNER Clinton(2), PECKHAM Guy. LOB: Herts Falcons 5, Bracknell Blazers 9. 2B: FARKAS Jordan. SB: STEWART Dexter, COLLINS Henry.

Herts Falcons	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
FARKAS Jordan W	7.00	3	2	1	3	9
Bracknell Blazers
MARTINEZ Reniel L	4.00	5	4	1	2	1
COLLINS Henry	2.00	1	0	0	0	1

HBP: by FARKAS Jordan (TRASK Mike). . . . . , by FARKAS Jordan (STEWART Dexter). . WP: FARKAS Jordan(3). T: 1:55. A: 240.

GAME 2

Bracknell Blazers at Herts Falcons
Score By Innings	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Bracknell Blazers	3	0	1	0	3	0	0	7	5	8
Herts Falcons	2	0	0	2	3	0	1	8	5	3

 

Herts Falcons 8, Bracknell Blazers 7
Herts Falcons					Bracknell Blazers
	ab	r	h	bi		ab	r	h	bi
HICHE Cristobal cf	3	1	0	0	MARTINEZ Reiniel ss	3	1	1	0
SAIONJI Kimiyoshi 2b	4	0	0	0	TRASK Mike cf-p	3	2	2	0
MICHELS Jacob p-ss	2	2	1	0	STEWART Dexter c	4	1	0	0
TRETHEWAY David lf	2	1	0	0	DUGGAN Fraser 2b	4	1	0	1
OSBORN Michael rf-1b-p	4	0	1	1	MATTHEWS Phil 3b-1b	3	2	2	3
HOUSE David 3b	3	2	1	0	MARTINSSEN Gustav rf	1	0	0	0
NIEDRINGHAUS Kevin c	3	2	0	0	(b6) PECKHAM Gary rf	0	0	0	0
HARE Louis ss-1b	3	0	0	0	EDWARDS Jordan p-cf-3b	3	0	0	0
(t7) CATTERMOLE Mike 1b	1	0	1	1	MILNER Clinton 1b-3b-p	3	0	0	0
FARKAS Jordan 1b	1	0	0	1	COLLINS Henry lf	3	0	0	0
(t5) GREEN Liam rf	1	0	1	0
TEAM TOTALS	27	8	5	3	TEAM TOTALS	27	7	5	4

 

E: HARE Louis(2), HICHE Cristobal, MARTINEZ Reiniel(3), DUGGAN Fraser(2), STEWART Dexter, EDWARDS Jordan, MILNER Clinton. DP: Bracknell Blazers 1. LOB: Bracknell Blazers 4, Herts Falcons 9. 2B: MICHELS Jacob , OSBORN Michael, MARTINEZ Reiniel, TRASK Mike. HR: MATTHEWS Phil. SB: NIEDRINGHAUS Kevin, TRASK Mike(2), MARTINEZ Reiniel. SF: FARKAS Jordan.

 

Herts Falcons	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MICHELS Jacob	6.00	4	7	4	5	9
OSBORN Michael W	1.00	1	0	0	0	2
Bracknell Blazers
EDWARDS Jordan	4.00	1	4	0	4	2
MILNER Clinton	2.00	2	3	1	3	0
TRASK Mike L	0.00	2	1	0	0	0

 

WP: MICHELS Jacob (3), OSBORN Michael. T: 2:20. A: 240.