by BaseballSoftballUK, www.baseballsoftballuk.com
The London Mets and Bracknell Blazers continued to pull away from the rest of the field after rain-affected action in the BBF’s National Baseball League on Sunday, May 16. There were also sweeps for the Richmond Flames and, more surprisingly, the Croydon Pirates on another intriguing day of play.
Special NBL Reporter Simon Fitzjohn provides the details.
Herts Falcons @ Bracknell Blazers
The Falcons’ stuttering start to the season shows no signs of slowing down after they were dispatched by Bracknell to the tune of 13-2 and 17-7.
Eleven runs in the first inning all but decided Game One, Henry Collins outpitching Nick Goetz in a game that saw Matt Maitland club a grand slam.
Maitland himself pitched the win in Game Two, with Luis Goncalves taking the loss.
Bracknell coach Rob Rance said: “Game One was fairly comfortable and when you take a lead that big it is very easy to ease off. In Game Two they came at us, and it was not that pretty but they all count. Both teams fielded weakened sides and we are delighted with the wins. To play badly and win is the most important thing.”
Herts’ Aspi Dimitrov admitted things were proving a struggle for the Falcons in their second NBL season.
“For three Sundays in a row we have been swept and that is disappointing,” Dimitrov said. “We have to give credit to Bracknell as they played well, and one or two big innings really cost us. We were struggling player-wise and I feel we battled hard without any real reward.”
Essex Arrows @ London Mets
The Mets did not have things all their own way, but still worked their way to a sweep over the Arrows by scorelines of 10-6 and 19-9.
Jason Roberts took the win in a hard-fought Game One, while Reed Wilson out-dueled Matt Gilbert in a more straightforward Game Two.
The Mets’ Carlos Diaz said: “We had a slow start and a bit of a wake-up call, but once we got into our stride we did a pretty good job. We did not take Essex lightly, as we never really look at the standings – we approach every game the same way and that serves us well.”
For the winless Arrows, coach Phil Chesterton insisted they were moving in the right direction.
“I think today was a big improvement for us,” Chesterton said. “We made a lot fewer errors and we pushed them. Everybody did their job and our hitting through the line-up was pretty good.
“We are not rolling over for anyone,” he added, “and the first win is not too far away.”
Richmond Flames @ Southampton Mustangs
Richmond moved back up the standings with a sweep in Southampton, although it was far from straightforward.
In two tight games, the Flames emerged with a 5-3 win in Game One and an equally tight 3-1 victory in Game Two, thanks to the pitching efforts of Michael Osborn and Dan McAneny.
Richmond’s Grant Delzoppo said: “After being 1-3, to move to 5-3 is pretty pleasing. Away games are always a hard proposition at this level and we were missing a few of our players.
“We struggled a bit hitting-wise,” Delzoppo added, “but the pitchers really carried us through today, and hopefully we can move on from here.”
Mildenhall Bulldogs @ Croydon Pirates
Croydon produced one of the biggest stories of the day, earning their first sweep since 2008 with a brace of wins over Mildenhall.
Game One was pretty one-sided, the Pirates earning a 16-5 win thanks to the pitching of Tim Ssala and a home run from Alex von Rosenbach.
But Game Two was a real humdinger, with Croydon squeezing out a 16-15 verdict over nine innings after a game that swung to and fro.
Croydon’s Dave Ward said: “This is a big step in the right direction for us. After last year we have really picked things up and we have turned the corner. We have a bit of a mixed bag players-wise but it is starting to come together.”
| Time | Home | Visitor | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday, May 16 2010 | ||||
 |
11:00 | Bracknell Blazers | Herts Falcons | 13:02 |
|
12:00 | Croydon Pirates | Mildenhall Bulldogs | 16:05 |
|
12:00 | London Mets | Essex Arrows | 10:06 |
|
12:00 | Southampton Mustangs | Richmond Flames | 03:05 |
|
13:30 | Bracknell Blazers | Herts Falcons | 17:07 |
|
14:30 | Croydon Pirates | Mildenhall Bulldogs | 16:15 |
|
14:30 | London Mets | Essex Arrows | 19:09 |
|
14:30 | Southampton Mustangs | Richmond Flames | 01:03 |
Standings
| # | Team | W | L | R+ | R- | .pct | GB | Streak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London Mets | 24 | 4 | 272 | 120 | .857 | 0 | L1 |
| 2 | Bracknell Blazers | 21 | 5 | 257 | 119 | .807 | 2 | L2 |
| 3 | Richmond Flames | 17 | 11 | 195 | 106 | .607 | 7 | W3 |
| 4 | Southampton Mustangs | 13 | 15 | 189 | 203 | .464 | 11 | L5 |
| 5 | Mildenhall Bulldogs | 10 | 16 | 193 | 178 | .384 | 13 | W4 |
| 6 | Croydon Pirates | 10 | 18 | 186 | 259 | .357 | 14 | L3 |
| 7 | Herts Falcons | 9 | 19 | 146 | 266 | .321 | 15 | L2 |
| 8 | Essex Arrows | 4 | 24 | 122 | 309 | .142 | 20 | L1 |
