Words and images by Joe Gray
Two main stories have emerged so far in the National Baseball League (NBL) 2009 season. The first is the very positive competitive balance among the leading four teams. More evidence for this balance came from Westmorland Park on Sunday, where the BRACKNELL BLAZERS split a double-header with the visiting HERTS FALCONS. The other main story is the struggles of the CROYDON PIRATES. As happened on week 1, they were forced to field several players who were not ready to play at the level of the NBL, with the result being two far-too-comfortable victories for the RICHMOND FLAMES.
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Bracknell Blazers 6 Herts Falcons 7
Having taken and lost the lead three times in the first five innings, HERTS edged 1 run ahead in the top of the sixth, with Aspi Dimitrov scoring on Lin Yuchih’s sacrifice fly, and shut the BLAZERS down for the last two innings to close out the win. Darrin Ward (pictured right from earlier in the season) conceded just 2 earned runs in a complete-game performance for the FALCONS. He struck out six batters and walked two. Matt Maitland was a hard-luck loser for BRACKNELL as he did not give up an earned run in pitching the last three innings.
Ryan Trask went 3-for-4 with a home run to lead the BLAZERS’ offence. Catcher Matt Bray also contributed three hits. Kimiyoshi Saionji was the FALCONS’ most potent hitter, with a single and a double from his four at-bats.
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Bracknell Blazers 4 Herts Falcons 1
Trask’s single in the bottom of the fifth drove in 2 runs to add to a 1-0 lead that the BLAZERS had been nursing since the second inning. Both teams scored a run in the sixth, leaving the FALCONS 3 runs down with three outs to play with. They were unable to mount a rally, though, with three ground-outs seeing the side retired in order.
Henry Collins did not concede a hit or earned run in 4 innings to register the win, backing up Maitland’s three hitless and scoreless innings as the starter to complete a combined no-hitter. Nick Goetz threw all six innings for the FALCONS, yielding just one earned run.
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Richmond Flames 20
Croydon Pirates 4 (5 innings)
George Naumczik (pictured right) pitched a complete game in blustery and wet conditions to pick up the win for RICHMOND against a weak CROYDON side. The only notable blemish on Naumczik’s performance was a 2-run homer off the bat of CROYDON’s Jose Sosa. the FLAMES’ 20-run onslaught was powered by multi-hit games from Robbie Unsell, Yoshi Saito, Martin Visser, Mike Mann, and Matt Spaulding.
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Richmond Flames 17 Croydon Pirates 4 (5 innings)
The FLAMES used three pitchers in this five-inning slaughter, with Brad Crinion’s earned run-free third and fourth innings qualifying him for the win. Jose Sosa (pictured below) threw over 150 pitches for the PIRATES and faced a constant struggle for control, with his off-speed arsenal being neutralized by a strong cross-wind. Grant Delzoppo connected 
for a 3-run homer for the FLAMES and Ryan Bird drove in a team-leading 5 runs, while Unsell and Saito stole a combined seven bases from the first and second spots in the line-up. Unsell had six steals on the day, including a straight steal of home in the second game.
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The latest results leave RICHMOND (6-2) one game up on BRACKNELL (4-2) and two games clear of the LONDON METS and the HERTS FALCONS (both 4-4). The CROYDON PIRATES (0-6) sit at the foot of the table.
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Joe Gray writes for BaseballGB and also looks after Great British top-tier statistics, Project Cobb, and the Great Britain National Team archive.
