Home British baseball British Baseball Beat: Settling into the season

British Baseball Beat: Settling into the season

by Matt Smith

There was a relatively full schedule of British baseball last Sunday and that should be replicated this weekend.

A number of teams have kept unbeaten starts to the season going this far into the campaign and several of those streaks will be put on the line on Sunday.

We’re also starting to see teams make an early attempt to put some daylight between themselves and their competitors as we move on from the first few rounds of games and really get into the heart of the season through June and July.

National Baseball League (NBL): Mustangs and Nationals lead the way

The Southampton Mustangs and Harlow Nationals are the early joint-leaders in the NBL after both gained two wins on Sunday to improve their records to 7-2.

The Nationals earned their wins on the road against the Croydon Pirates, who are still searching for their first victory of the season after eight games. The Mustangs benefitted from two forfeits by the Bracknell Blazers, who have also failed to register in the win column so far this season.

Herts Falcons now sit half a game behind the top two after they split a double-header against the Lakenheath Diamondbacks. They took the opener 17-5 before narrowly missing out in the second game as the D-Backs edged it 14-13 in extra innings. The London Mets and Essex Arrows also split their double-header.

The Falcons will aim to shake off their tough defeat with two strong performance at home against the Pirates this Sunday. The Mustangs and Mets meet at Finsbury Park, the Nationals are off to RAF Feltwell to take on the Diamondbacks and the Archers are due to host the Blazers.

Triple-A: Splits and sweeps

The big double-header in the South saw the Latin Boys (4-3) and Essex Redbacks (6-2) share the spoils with one win apiece at Melbourne Park in Chelmsford. Bristol Badgers (3-3) moved to a .500 record by securing two victories over the Bracknell and Windsor Bears. The Oxford Kings (4-2) and Richmond Knights (2-4), and the London Metros (3-4) and Cambridge Royals (2-4), all split double-headers.  The Metros and Royals will meet again this Sunday, this time in Cambridge, whilst the Badgers host the Redbacks.

The song remains the same in the North as the Liverpool Trojans made it eight wins from eight, with the Manchester A’s being the latest team to fall victim to their winning charge. The Menwith Hill Patriots are now two games behind the Trojans as they took two wins against the Bolton Robots of Doom to improve to 6-2.  The Cartmel Valley Lions and the Halton Jaguars each took home a win from their double-header. Halton will host Bolton in the sole Northern double-header this weekend.

Double-A: Six up for Sheffield, Rebels win, Pirates and Mavericks remain unbeaten

The Sheffield Bladerunners (6-0) are living up to their pre-season title as the AA-North favourites. They remain unbeaten after six games, taking their latest two wins against the Harrogate Tigers, although the Tigers put up a formidable fight and will be focused on improving their 2-4 record in the coming weeks. Harrogate will travel to Hull this Sunday for a double-header, with the Bladerunners looking to extend their unbeaten start with two home games against the Oldham North Stars.

The Nottingham Rebels (2-0) defeated the Leicester Blue Sox 10-8 to make it two wins from two to start their season in the Midlands, but the Blue Sox (3-1) will have an immediate chance to gain revenge as they will welcome the Rebels to Western Park for a double-header this Sunday. The Milton Keynes Bucks (2-1) won the other game played in the Midlands last Sunday, beating the Stourbridge Titans 16-2.

In the South, the Poole Pirates (5-0), Guildford Mavericks (3-0) and the Essex Redbacks II (2-2) all added two wins to their totals with double-header sweeps, while the Sidewinders (1-2) got their first win of the season at the expense of the Croydon Pirates III (2-1). The 3-0 London Mammoths travel to Herts this Sunday to take on the Herts Hawks. The Mavericks will try to keep their unbeaten start to the season going when they take on the Thames Valley Bisons.

Single-A: Archers and Mavericks II keep on winning

The Essex Archers (4-0) and Guildford Mavericks II (4-0) came out of their games against the Braintree Rays and Tonbridge with their unblemished records still intact. The scoreline (37-1) suggests it was a relatively comfortable fourth win for the Archers, just as it suggests it was anything but comfortable for the Mavericks II (30-29).

The London Marauders were delighted to finally get their season underway and they opened up with a 20-15 victory over the Essex Redbacks III. The Marauders travel to Guildford to take on the Mavericks II this Sunday, with the Herts Eagles facing the Redbacks III and the Old Timers taking on Tonbridge.

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