by BaseballSoftballUK, www.baseballsoftballuk.com
Bracknell Blazers and the Richmond Flames stepped up their preparations for the end-of-season play-offs with double header sweeps in the National Baseball League on Sunday, August 8.The Flames, as expected, dispatched the last-placed Croydon Pirates 11-1 and 5-4, while Bracknell eased to comfortable victories at Herts Falcons by scores of 9-1 and 22-1.
Richmond started off on the front foot in game one, backing the pitching of Ryan Bird by chipping away with a succession of hits off losing pitcher Tom Kerr. Game two, however, was a different matter – Richmond having to claw back from a 4-0 deficit to squeeze a valuable win from the game.
The second win of the weekend gives Richmond an outside chance of replacing London Mets in first place when the regular season concludes next weekend (Aug 16). The two teams face each other at Finsbury Park on Sunday with the Mets needing just one win from the doubleheader to sew up the division title. Richmond must win both to win the division.
As he prepares his team for the playoffs and a battle for the bigger prize – the National Baseball Championship – Flames coach Grant Delzoppo was relieved just to have picked up the brace of wins against the Pirates.
“I think it is very important to keep winning games. I’m a big believer in momentum and getting used to winning.”
For Croydon boss Dave Ward it was a familiar story. As the 2009 campaign has gone on his side has come close on a number of occasions to recording its first victory of a long season. However, the Pirates remain winless going into the final weekend and are on the verge of setting a new NBL standard for the worst season record.
“We had chances and we failed to take those opportunities,” said Ward of game two. “We are down to our last roll of the dice now to try to win a game and we have to stick at it.”
The weekend’s other doubleheader saw Bracknell jumped above Herts in the standings with a surprisingly comfortable set of victories over the Falcons. Henry Collins earned the win in game one, before the offensive fireworks were set off in game two as Ryan Trask and Phil Matthews clubbed home runs.
After a tough few weeks, Bracknell’s Rob Rance savoured the victory.
“It was the first time this season we had all our guys out there and it was a pleasure to watch. Everything seemed to just click – it all seems to be coming together at the right time for us.”
Bracknell rounds off the regular season by hosting Croydon Pirates this coming Sunday (Aug 16) and has already booked its place in the National Baseball Championship on August 29-30. Herts has concluded its regular season but will also be at Croydon for the NBC on the August Bank Holiday weekend.
Despite something of a slump at the end of the season – the Falcons lost their last six games – Herts’ manager Jason Greenberg still opted to look on the bright side.
“We have finished our season at 12-12 and for our first year in the NBL we are absolutely delighted.We have a lot to be proud of and we will be giving everyone a run for their money in the play-offs.”
| Time | Home | Visitor | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday, August 09 2009 | ||||
 |
11:00 | Herts Falcons | Bracknell Blazers | 01:09 |
|
12:00 | Richmond Flames | Croydon Pirates | 11:01 |
|
13:30 | Herts Falcons | Bracknell Blazers | 01:22 |
|
14:30 | Richmond Flames | Croydon Pirates | 05:04 |
Standings
| # | Team | W | L | R+ | R- | .pct | GB | Streak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richmond Flames | 17 | 7 | 209 | 95 | .708 | 0 | W8 |
| 2 | London Mets | 17 | 7 | 191 | 109 | .708 | 0 | L3 |
| 3 | Bracknell Blazers | 14 | 10 | 176 | 119 | .583 | 3 | W5 |
| 4 | Herts Falcons | 12 | 12 | 146 | 188 | .500 | 5 | L6 |
| 5 | Croydon Pirates | 0 | 24 | 70 | 281 | .000 | 17 | L24 |
