After the persistent rain made the National Finals rather less enjoyable than they could have been back on the first weekend of this month, the September sun is familiarizing itself once again with our green and pleasant land. Thankfully, there is still baseball being played, so the solar rays are not going to waste.

I’ve just returned home from Hemel Hempstead, where a 3-week, end-of-season tournament is being run within the Herts Baseball Club (today is the first of three consecutive Sundays). This is the club that put together what was probably the most innovative Spring programme seen in the country for a number of years, with the Herts Spring League. And now the club is ensuring that the season runs through into Autumn with the Kyle Hunlock Series. Hunlock, who played for the Herts Baseball Club in 2005, tragically died in 2006 after an industrial accident in Ohio, USA.

This is the third year that the series has taken place, but this year there was added excitement as the rosters for the competing teams were selected in what is thought to have been the first live radio draft in British baseball.

And this is not the only baseball action still to come in 2008. There is the match between the GB national team and a squad of top cricketers already mentioned on this site, which is taking place on Saturday 4 October in Taunton. Furthermore, I have heard that the rescheduled AA-final between the Bournemouth Sharks and the Sindwinders is set to be played at 1pm on Sunday 28 September, at Bracknell’s ground. If you are interested in that game, keep an eye out for details on the British Baseball Federation site.