September in British baseball, with only a few exceptions, has in the game’s modern era become the October of Major League Baseball. Building on this tradition, in 2013 the National Baseball League postseason and the ninth month share a start day.
Tomorrow, the teams ranked third through sixth from the regular season will travel to Hemel Hempsetad, where Grovehill Ballpark will be hosting the first round of the play-offs. Following 28 games of jostling for seedings, going back to April, each of these sides now has 27 outs between them and a spot in the national semi-finals at Farnham Park on 14 September.
According to a schedule posted on the Essex Arrows’ Facebook page, the timings are likely to be as follows.
- 11h00 first pitch:Â Bracknell Blazers @ Harlow Nationals
- 14h00 (approx) first pitch:Â Essex Arrows @ Southampton Mustangs
Below, we examine each of the four teams involved.