Dark clouds threatening a downpour, jackets zipped up tight, wind whipping away at your scorecard: it’s not the idyllic baseball weather we all hope for, but sometimes you have to battle the elements to enjoy a ballgame. 

The British spring took a turn for the worst in many places on Sunday; less sun cream and shades and more hoodies and gloves. 

Single-A: Cambridge avoid the cold

It was certainly a chilly Coldham’s Common in Cambridge on Sunday, making it preferable for the players to keep moving to keep warm. 

The home town Royals did just that against the Herts Raptors.  They brought nine batters to the plate in the first inning, twelve in the second and eleven in the third on their way to scoring nineteen runs over those frames. 

Cambridge also decided that standing around on the field wasn’t much to their liking either on such a day and made relatively short work of the Herts’ hitters in the top half of each inning, before bringing the game to an early close after the top of the seventh inning.  The Raptors had a crack at four different Royals pitchers but were unable to get a hit against any of them.  They did bring three runs* around to avoid the shut-out though and it was to Herts’ credit that they were still battling hard, and playing in good spirit, in the latter stages when the game was already gone.

(* I should add that the score on the BBF website is 25-2, but I had the Raptors scoring single runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings). 

The victory kept Cambridge’s unbeaten start to the season going, an unbeaten start matched in the A South by Southampton Mustangs II.  They defeated the Old Timers for the second week in succession, this time in a 42-21 run-fest in Enfield.  The Royals and Mustangs II are scheduled to meet in Southampton on 12 June, but both teams will know better than to look too far ahead.  This Sunday the Royals have a home game against Braintree Rays (2-2), while Southampton are on the road to Guildford Mavericks II (2-2).

Double-A: Latin Boys lead the way, Robots win again, Bucks beat Birmingham

Latin Boys made it three wins from three with a 15-13 victory over Kent Mariners (0-3).  Head Coach Pedro Figueroa brings plenty of colour to his game reports and his commentary from this contest suggests that while the Latin Boys are a force to be reckoned with, the Mariners’ 0-3 record really doesn’t tell the whole story about how they are playing.

The Latin Boys are tied with the Essex Archers at the top of the AA-South Pool A.  The Archers had scored 51 runs over their first two games and they tacked 32 more onto their season total against the Essex Redbacks II in a 32-6 win.  Sidewinders (3-0) remain on top in Pool B after a 27-16 win over Herts Hawks continued their unbeaten start to the season.

The Bolton Robots of Doom (6-0) are a winning machine at the moment and they blunted the Sheffield Bladerunners’ previously-perfect 2-0 record with a double-header sweep.  The victories give Bolton an early three game lead in the AA-North standings over Sheffield and the Humber Pilots, with those two teams set to meet in Sheffield on Sunday.

Meanwhile in the Midlands, the MK Bucks and Birmingham Maple Leafs met at the former’s Woughton Playing Fields in a top-of-the-division double-header.  The home team edged a close opener 8-3 and then plated five runs in the opening frame of the second game to set up a 12-6 victory and a two-game lead in the standings.  Nottingham Rebels repeated their two-win trick over Leicester from the previous Sunday, this time winning both games of a double-header against the Blue Sox II team.  Those wins have turned an 0-4 start into a 4-4 record for the Rebels and it will be interesting to see how they match up against the MK Bucks when they return to action on 5 June.

Triple-A: Halton halt the A’s, Metros are Badgered by Bristol

In the AAA-North, the Halton Jaguars recovered from a heavy 20-4 defeat in their first game against Manchester A’s to win the second 14-4.  That gave the Jags their first victory of the season and was also a boost for the division-leading Liverpool Trojans, who saw their closest rivals drop a game.   The Trojans and A’s meet again on Sunday and have a lot to live up to after their excellent double-header a few weeks ago.  They should be two more exciting games and Bootle Stadium in Liverpool is the place to be on Sunday if you’re in the area.

In the AAA-South, the Bristol Badgers continued their exemplary form with two more wins, this time coming at the expense of the London Metros.  The Badgers welcome the Windsor and Bracknell Bears to the Set this Sunday.  The Bears picked up their first win of the season against Richmond Knights, whose victory in the opener of the double-header opened their account for the year as well.  The Badgers’ closest challengers are the Essex Redbacks after they defeated Oxford Kings twice to improve to 5-3. 

NBL: Super Southampton make it eight straight

In the top-tier, the Southampton Mustangs showed no signs of slowing down their blistering start to the season.  They made it eight wins from eight by turning over the Croydon Pirates, scoring an in-no-way unlucky thirteen runs in both games.  The Mustangs lead Pool A by two games over the Richmond Flames, who turned around a 12-4 deficit against Essex Arrows in the first game to take two victories. 

In Pool B, London Mets remain unbeaten after taking two more games from the Southern Nationals.  London took the honours when the two teams met on Opening Day and the confidence gained by the Nationals in winning twice over the Lakenheath Diamondbacks the previous weekend couldn’t stop the return engagement going the Mets’ way again.

The Mets will play the Diamondbacks in a double-header this Sunday, while the split earned by Mildenhall Bulldogs against Bracknell Blazers last Sunday leaves the Herts Falcons as the only team still searching for their first win.  The Falcons host the Bulldogs at Grovehill Ballpark, the Pirates host the Richmond Flames and the Essex Arrows welcome the Southern Nationals to Townmead.