The action from the British Baseball Federation leagues last weekend saw the number of unbeaten teams come down to three.
Mustangs v Mets this Sunday
Mustangs Field in Southampton is set to host a top-of-the-table clash this Sunday in the National Baseball League.
The London Mets sit at the top of the standings after two wins last Sunday against the Essex Redbacks improved their season record to 6-0. Meanwhile their nearest challengers, the Southampton Mustangs, won two games on the road against the Bracknell Blazers to keep the pressure on with a 7-1 record.
The two teams meet this Sunday with the Mustangs intent on breaking the Mets’ unbeaten start to the season, whilst London will see it as a chance to put some distance between themselves and their rivals.
The third-placed Herts Falcons (5-3) didn’t play last weekend and will get back to action this Sunday with two away games against the Essex Arrows (3-5). Herts had won 5 of their first 6 games before being dealt two losses by the Mets last time out.
Another no-hitter in the AAA-South, and this one was perfect
The Bristol Badgers’ Miguel Peralta laid down the gauntlet to the rest of the AAA-South pitchers by pitching no-hitters in his first two games of the season.
This past Sunday, the Oxford Kings’ Santo Militello took up the challenge against the Richmond Knights and proceeded to pitch a perfect game, shortened to five innings due to his team mates plating 10 runs to see the game end early on the ‘mercy’ rule.
Which AAA-South pitcher is going to do it next?
The Knights rebounded from being no-hit by winning the second game of their double-header 14-6 and it goes to show how competitive the division is going to be this season. The London Mets II (5-1) lead the way with Cambridge Royals (6-2) – beneficiaries of two forfeit victories this past Sunday from the Leones de Feltham – right there with them, the Oxford Kings (4-2) one game back and the London Metros and Bristol Badgers both within striking distance with 3-3 records.
The Mets II and Metros are scheduled to face each other in an intra-club double-header at Finsbury Park on Saturday, with the Cambridge Royals and Oxford Kings meeting at the latter’s Horspath Road field on Sunday.
Eagles eke out victory against Raptors
The Mets II v Metros clash is sure to be a thriller if it follows the lead set in Single-A between the Herts Eagles (1-2)Â and Herts Raptors (2-1). The two teams combined for 61 runs and were only separated by a single one of them at the end of the game when Mike Cresswell won the bragging rights, as explained on the Herts Baseball website:
“[The Raptors] were in front, 30-28, as the Eagles went in to bat in the bottom of the ninth. The stage was set.
The first man got on, stole second. And up stepped pinch hitter Adrian Smithers, last year’s home run champion. He’d not played since the first game of the season, but he came through with a drive down the third base line to bring in a run. He scored the tying run himself after Will Belbin continued his excellent form at the plate and got aboard.
And when lead-off man Mike Cresswell stepped in, Belbin was there on third base as the winning run waiting to score. The crack of the bat was a clean sound and the ball sailed decisively out to the outfield. Arms aloft, Will Belbin crossed the plate. He was mobbed by a team which had its first win of the season in the most dramatic fashionâ€.
The Eagles’ victory ended the Raptors’ unbeaten start to the season.
Elsewhere in the division, the Milton Keynes Coyotes (2-1) faced the Essex Archers in a match-up between two Pool leaders and it was the Archers who came out on top, 38-16, inflicting the first loss of the season on the Coyotes.
Three teams left with unbeaten starts to the season
The AA-North’s Hull Scorpions looked like they had a genuine shot at putting together a perfect winning season with some dominant displays in their first six games. However, the Harrogate Tigers ended those hopes by earning a split against the division leaders last Sunday.
That means only the NBL’s London Mets (6-0) and the AAA-Midlands’ Nottingham Rebels and Milton Keynes Bucks (both 5-0) have yet to experience the bitter taste of defeat so far this year.
The Rebels face the 0-5 Stourbridge Titans this Sunday. If the form book holds true and Nottingham can win both of those games, it will set up an exciting contest in Milton Keynes on 26 May with two unbeaten teams coming together for a double-header.
