The London Mets made some more history at Farnham Park today, defeating London Capitals 14-4 to win the British National Baseball Championship for the third consecutive season, and a record sixth time overall.
The Mets are only the fourth team in British Baseball history to win three national titles in a row, joining the Cobham Yankees (1986-88), Enfield Spartans (1989-91) and Southern/Harlow Nationals (2011-13).
The London Mets came to prominence whilst winning back-to-back titles in 2007 and 2008, but their recent run has put them at the top of the all-time National Champions list. They’ve participated in each of the past six finals, winning four and losing two to the Essex Arrows in 2014 and Southampton Mustangs in 2016.
Sunday’s final was set up by a pair of semi-final games on Saturday. London Mets were pushed hard by the Essex Arrows, but ultimately prevailed 4-1, whilst the Capitals booked their place in the final with an emphatic 17-6 win over Herts Falcons.
The Mets and Capitals finished first and second in the regular season so it was fitting that these were the two teams battling it out to the end. Ultimately, the Mets showed their class by jumping ahead in the final and the game ended on a well-hit line-out to third base in the seventh inning, with the game being called after seven innings and the Mets leading by ten runs.
It’s a great achievement by Drew Spence and his team and there’s no doubt that the London Mets are the benchmark in British Baseball right now.
The games are available to watch back in full via the BBF’s excellent YouTube coverage. The weekend also saw East London Latin Boys capturing their first Triple-A title with a 12-2 seven-inning victory over Cartmel Valley Lions.