British Baseball Beat: Pirates, Piranhas, Trojans and Tigers

There was much to look forward to heading into last Sunday’s British baseball league games. 

How would Milldenhall Bulldogs respond from their first losses of the season the previous weekend? Who would get the better of the top of the table clash in AAA-North?  Would Poole Piranhas and Richmond Dragons keep their unbeaten starts to the season going in AA-South and A-South respectively?

Those questions, and many more, were answered during the usual round of intriguing and entertaining games throughout the British Isles. 

Mets and Blazers lead the way, but Pirates take the headlines

The Mildenhall Bulldogs’ unbeaten start to the National Baseball League (NBL) season was broken on Sunday 9 May when the Bracknell Blazers turned up at RAF Feltwell and won both games of a double-header.  The Bulldogs would have been keen to get straight back to winning ways on Sunday and on paper they had a good chance at doing just that against a Croydon Pirates team that had lost its last four games. 

It turned out that instead of making the Pirates easy prey, that losing sequence only made them more dangerous and determined.

Croydon won both games, one a comfortable 16-5 affair and the other a 16-15 thriller, at their Roundshaw Field ground to improve their record to 3-5 and send the Bulldogs back to a 4-4 mark.  London Mets (9-1) and Bracknell Blazers (7-1) took full advantage by sweeping double-headers against Essex Arrows (0-8) and Herts Falcons (2-6) respectively to move away from Mildenhall, while Richmond Flames (5-3) also swept a double-header against Southampton Mustangs (4-6) to jump up to third place in the standings.  Full details and reaction from the NBL games can be found in Simon Fitzjohn’s report.

The Bulldogs have an excellent opportunity to make amends and to close the gap on at least one of their rivals this Sunday as they host London Mets.  The Blazers are hosting the Mustangs, the Arrows have another crack at getting their first win of the season in a double-header at home to the Flames, while the Pirates and Falcons have a rest week.

Honours even between the Trojans and Tigers

In AAA-North, it was honours even between the Liverpool Trojans and Harrogate Tigers as the top two teams met for a double-header in North Yorkshire. 

The Tigers fought back from an early 4-1 deficit to take the opener 8-5, largely thanks to a five-run sixth inning.  The Trojans regrouped for the second game and enjoyed a nine-run third inning as they got the better of their former pitcher Dave Mecardo in a 13-7 win.  The Trojans’ game report compliments both defences for “producing some great play despite the windy conditions” and these two teams look set to be battling closely throughout the course of the season. 

That battle will be placed on hold for a week as the Northern Leagues take a one-week break, with the Tigers website stating that some of their players “will be competing with the Northern Knights in Austria”.  Good luck to all involved. Well done also to Glasgow Baseball Association (1-9) for recording their first win of the season while splitting a double-header with Halton Jaguars (2-8).

The only details available about last Sunday’s AAA-South games are that Oxford Kings were awarded two 10-0 wins as the Kent Mariners had to forfeit both games. 

Piranhas remain perfect, Blue Sox win again

Leicester Blue Sox (2-2) made it two wins in a row in the AA Midlands League as they sent Birmingham Maple Leafs (2-1) to their first loss of the season. The Blue Sox took what appeared to be a commanding 11-4 lead before the Maple Leafs showed their fighting spirit and levelled the scoreline, only for Oscar Martinez to break Birmingham hearts with a walk-off hit to give Leicester a narrow 12-11 victory.  The Blue Sox’s second team slipped to an 0-4 record following a 22-2 loss to Mildenhall Bulldogs 2 (3-0), although 13 of those runs came in the final two innings.  Leicester’s website states: “the rookies won’t be too disheartened and will take many positives going into their next fixture away at Birmingham”.  That’s scheduled as a double-header, as is the contest between the Blue Sox 1 and MK Bucks (2-2).

In the AA-South League, Poole Piranhas (5-0) continued their excellent form by earning two sizeable wins over the Brentwood Stags (0-5) by scores of 16-2 and 14-0. Windsor Bears (4-1) kept pace with the Piranhas in Pool A by securing two wins on the road against Sidewinders (1-3) and they could jump ahead of the resting Piranhas this weekend if they win both games of a double-header against the Stags. In Pool B, Richmond Knights defeated Essex Archers 25-2 to leave both teams level on 2-1 records.  The Knights host a double-header with Thames Valley Bisons (3-2) on Sunday, while the Archers are on the road against Horsham Hurricanes (0-1)

In the North, Manchester Torrent (4-2) came out on top in two tight games against Humber Pilots (3-3) and that was enough to see the Manchester team join Bolton Robots of Doom (4-2) at the top of the league after the Robots could only manage a split of two games with Sheffield Bladerunners (3-3)

Dream start for the Dragons, disappointment for the Clippers

Richmond Dragons made it four wins from four as they inflicted a 30-7 loss on Tonbridge Baseball Club (1-2), a thirteen-run third inning being especially unlucky for Tonbridge.  Southampton Mustangs II improved to 2-1 with a high-scoring, topsy-turvy win over Bracknell Pyros (0-3).  Chelmsford Clippers (2-2) were hoping to build on their impressive win over Braintree Rays the previous Sunday; however those hopes were dashed by the Old Timers (2-1) who clipped the Clippers’ wings in what was described by the latter as a “fairly hard-fought and heated contest”.  The re-match this Sunday at the Old Timers’ ground in Enfield should be well worth watching if you are in the area. 

 

Floodlit exhibition softball games in Richmond this weekend

On top of all the baseball games, the annual BaseballSoftballUK Softball Tournament is being held in Old Deer Park, Richmond this weekend and as part of the event there will be two exhibition matches under floodlights, courtesy of Richmond Rugby Club.  Once again, that looks like something worth seeing if you can make it.  Full details are available here.

The latest Great Britain baseball news via Twitter

A new Team GB Twitter account has been created to pass on news and information about the international baseball teams. Follow the ‘tweets’at @gb_baseball