What would have been week three of the British baseball season on 1 May was widely rained out. 

Teams were therefore keen to get back out on the diamond last Sunday and that showed with good performances and important results being seen throughout the British baseball league structure. 

Blazers beat the Bulldogs in the NBL, but the Mets keep ahead

The Mildenhall Bulldogs made an eye-opening entry to the National Baseball League (NBL) in weeks one and two, brushing aside Essex Arrows and Croydon Pirates to top the league with a 4-0 record.  After their double-header with Herts Falcons was rained out, last Sunday’s encounter with the reigning champions, Bracknell Blazers, was billed as a real test of Mildenhall’s title ambitions. 

The Blazers took up the challenge and dealt the Bulldogs their first two losses of the season; however, the close nature of the second game in particular (tied 7-7 after the regulation seven innings and eventually won in the tenth by a score of 9-7) shows that the Bulldogs’ early form was not merely a case of ‘flat track bullies’ beating two teams unlikely to challenge for the top spot in 2010.  The Bulldogs look set to be in the running this season, but the same can surely be said for the Blazers, whose 5-1 record is a very solid start to their title defence. 

London Mets (7-1) held on to first place after sweeping a double-header against the Croydon Pirates (1-5) that involved plenty of effort not just in the playing/coaching stakes, but also in getting to Finsbury Park and keeping score.  Richmond Flames (3-3) shut out Herts Falcons (2-4) twice to take both games at Connare Field, while Essex Arrows (0-6) are still searching for their first win after losing twice to Southampton Mustangs (3-3).  Check out Simon Fitzjohn’s NBL report for more details on the Sunday 9 May games.

If the Arrows are to get their first win this weekend, they will do it the hard way while facing the league-leading Mets on the road.  The Bulldogs travel to Croydon, the Blazers host the Falcons and the Flames are off to Southampton to face the Mustangs.

Liverpool lead the AAA North, Bracknell Inferno are setting the AAA South alight 

Liverpool Trojans took advantage of a loss by Harrogate Tigers to move a game ahead of their closest rivals in the AAA North standings.  The Tigers were beaten 8-2 by Manchester A’s in the opening game of their double-header and although Harrogate bounced back with a hard fought 9-7 win in the second game, the Trojans had received some encouragement and they took advantage by winning both their games at Bootle Stadium against Halton Jaguars. 

Starting pitcher Ron Vondy struck out nine against his former team, but it was a second-inning meltdown by the Jaguars, described in the Trojan game report as “a combination of six walks, four wild pitches, two passed balls, four errors and six hits, [counting] for sixteen runs, effectively killing the game off as a contest”,  that really decided things. The Jaguars made a keen fight of it in the second game, putting up six runs in the second inning to take a 6-3 lead, only for the Trojans to regroup and run out comfortable 16-6 winners. 

The Trojans (7-1) and Tigers (6-2) meet in Harrogate on Sunday for a top-of-the-table double-header.

In the AAA South, Bracknell Inferno (4-0) followed the lead of their NBL club mates by winning twice against Herts Eagles (0-2) to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.  Bristol Badgers (2-0) and Oxford Kings (2-0) also swept double-headers against Kent Mariners (0-2) and Essex Redbacks (0-2) respectively.  The Redbacks and Eagles will meet at Herts this Sunday ensuring that at least one of the two will get their win column moving.  The Inferno are not playing so the Kings, who play a double-header against the Mariners, and the Badgers and London Metros, who face each other, all have the chance to catch up. 

Poole setting the pace

Poole Piranhas (3-0) made it three wins from three in AA South with a 17-2 victory over Croydon Pirates III (0-2).  The Piranhas drove home seven runs in the second inning to set up a win that keeps them top of Pool A.  Windsor Bears (2-1) kept up the pressure with a 16-9 win over Thames Valley Bisons (2-2), with Clint Milner knocking in three runs, scoring three himself and also pitching in relief.  The Piranhas will look to improve to 5-0 on Sunday with a double-header against the 0-3 Brentwood Stags, while Pool B leaders Essex Archers (2-0) return from an off-week with a game away to Richmond Knights (1-1).

In the Midlands, the ‘Battle of Western Park’ between the two Leicester Blue Sox teams was, perhaps unsurprisingly, won decisively by the more-experienced Blue Sox 1 team by a scoreline of 40-7. It doesn’t get any easier for Blue Sox 2 this weekend as they are set to take on Mildenhall Bulldogs 2 (2-0), who joined Birmingham Maple Leafs at the top of the league with a 7-5 win over MK Bucks (2-2).

In AA North, Bolton Robots of Doom (3-1) joined Humber Pilots at the league summit thanks to two wins at home to Oldham North Stars (0-4), while Sheffield Bladerunners (2-2) and Manchester Torrent (2-2) split a double-header.  Torrent host the Pilots and Bladerunners host the Robots of Doom this Sunday.

Dragons and Clippers get important wins in A South

Pool A leaders Richmond Dragons improved to 3-0 by earning a 25-5 win over Bracknell Pyros (0-2), a game in which the Pyros conceded a very unlucky 13 runs in the fourth inning.  Meanwhile in Pool B the day belonged to the Chelmsford Clippers (2-1) who put together a comprehensive 15-5 victory over Braintree Rays (2-1) in the ‘Essex Encounter’.  As the Clippers’ full game report describes: “HOME Runs from CJ Evans and Ronnie Saint capped a superb all-round performance for the Clippers as they moved ahead of their local rivals, the Braintree Rays, on run difference after both posting a 2-1 record for the season so far”.

This Sunday, the Dragons travel to Tonbridge (1-1), the Clippers host the Old Timers (1-1) and the Rays try to get straight back to winning ways with a trip to Finsbury Park to take on London Marauders (1-1).

As always, full details on results and fixtures from the British Baseball leagues can be found on the British Baseball Federation website.