BBF Round-up and preview: 5th June 2013
My experiences over at Melbourne Park in Chelmsford, like many others across the country I’m sure, were of enjoying the great weather and watching people of various diverse backgrounds coming and going, a few staying to check out the spectacle. Unfortunately for my team, the Essex Redbacks, we were on the bum-end of a thrashing in both games against the Southampton Mustangs, providing the south-coasters with some much-needed batting practise after they’d suffered four close defeats in consecutive weeks.
Elsewhere in the NBL, as Southampton re-staked their claim for a playoff place, the Herts Falcons broke London Mets’ hearts as the Herts team soared for two wins and upset the Mets’ perfect season. Herts had stifled Southampton last week and their four wins on the spin elevates them to joint-top with the Mets, albeit having played four games more.
The Harlow Nationals lost two close games to the Bracknell Blazers last week, but returned to .500 with two wins over the South London Pirates to consolidate a share of fifth spot, along with the Blazers and Essex Arrows who split a pair, leaving all three at 7-7. The Redbacks’ four losses over the two weeks consigns them to the basement with a 2-14 record after the first half of their debut NBL campaign, with the Pirates’ 3-9 tally only likely to be overhauled if the Redbacks can beat the team from South London twice on their home turf on 21 July, by which time both sides will likely be out of the running. Lakenheath Diamondbacks (7-5) had a week to recover after two important wins over the Pirates last weekend.
Next week (‘ooooh’, I hear you murmur, ‘a change in the format?’) the Redbacks will put their feet up while the Pirates can pull away from the bottom if they plate two unlikely wins over the London Mets in Croydon. The surging Falcons visit the upstart Blazers, who will be relatively confident of taking at least one of the games from the league-leaders, while Southampton make a monster journey into Suffolk to play the Diamondbacks. The match-up of the week comes in the home counties, though, as the Arrows visit the Nationals in yet another Battle of Essex, each able to move clear of the other with a pair of Ws.
No change from regular programming in AAA North this fortnight – the Liverpool Trojans won twice, to go 10-1 on the season – but Halton Jaguars and Cartmel Valley Lions each beat the other up. Cartmel Valley stay just ahead, with the Jaguars poised to pounce just a game back. Menwith Hill Patriots held the Lions close in the first game last weekend, but are still cut adrift at the foot of the table.
Next week sees the first interleague play in British Baseball for five years. Teams from AA and AAA North compete on the same playing field, with the Lions, Patriots and Jaguars hosting their lower-league companions. The event starts off with the Harrogate Tigers (Lions-vs-Tigers – big cats-series), Hull Scorpions (Patriots-vs-Scorpions – weapons-series) and the Bolton Robots of Doom (Jaguars-vs-Robots – the wtf-series) in Game 1, while the Newton Aycliffe Spartans face the Lions in the late affair, Manchester As reignite long rivalries with the Jaguars and the Sheffield Bladerunners test their mettle against the Patriots. There’s scope for upsets here, especially where the Patriots are playing, so let’s see what teams make of their efforts and if it impacts their decisions next year.
In the Midlands, last week saw a clash of the titans (ironically, not involving the Stourbridge Titans, who incidentally picked up their first ever win by defeating the Leicester Blue Sox in the second of a double header). Both the Nottingham Rebels and Milton Keynes Bucks were unbeaten heading into their contest, but like the NBCs in 2012, it was the Rebels whose uprising stole the show and landed them two wins to move 9-0 on the season, dropping the Bucks to 5-2, becoming six wins when they too pushed past the Blue Sox in a tight game this Sunday. The Titans’ own streak was ended by the Birmingham Maple Leafs in a 25-15 win for the Brummies.
The Rebels visit Birmingham for a pair next week, while the Titans host the Bucks. Home wins are likely to be a rareity.
The London Metros swiped a pair from the London Mets II – age proving over beauty – although lost twice to the Oxford Kings to move to 7-5 on the season. The Mets II joined them there after wins over Herts Ravens, while Oxford’s sweep was matched by the Bristol Badgers, whose two wins over the Richmond Knights means that Bristol finally move properly over .500 this season (now 8-4) as they are showing their perennial playoff form. The Cambridge Royals easily swept Leones de Feltham to join Oxford at 9-3, leading the division.
The Metros take on the Knights next Saturday in a big London-Richmond BBQ event, where AA and Single-A teams also compete. The battle of the bottom-dwellers sees Herts Ravens and Leones de Feltham square off in south London, with little more than a wooden spoon to play for already. A big match-up between the London Mets II and Bristol Badgers could already determine final playoff standings, although a sweep for the Badgers matched to a split between the Kings-Royals double header would see three teams at 10-4 after half the season. Did you get that? Do you get that?!
AA North saw the Hull Scorpions move further ahead with three consecutive big ones, while the Sheffield Bladerunners reined in the Manchester A’s with a sweep this weekend. Harrogate Tigers made up ground in the race for second with two wins over the Spartans after a week off.
The Oldham North Stars have a week off – they weren’t slated to play the Liverpool Trojans in the interleague matches, and probably for the best on past records.
AA South now sees a two-way-tie for the top spot, Hove Tuesday and Daws Hill Spitfires a game ahead of the Guildford Mavericks after wins went their way. Richmond Dragons have been in freefall, but stay ahead of other teams based on their early season form. London Mammoths swept the Kent Mariners – the Mariners and Southampton Mustangs II both with goose-eggs in the wrong column – while Brentwood Stags’ improving performances haven’t been matched with a move up the table.
The Spitfires, who along with the Nottingham Rebels have the only undefeated record this season, welcome the Herts Hawks next weekend, while Tuesday visit the Kent Mariners. Though both are likely to win, Tuesday would go top as Daws Hill only have one game. Guildford will probably keep pace with two games down in Southampton, while the action is rounded out in Richmond between the Mammoths and Dragons on Saturday.
Runs aren’t drying up as the weather gets hotter in Single-A, although teams are slowly reducing the deficits or the final total. ‘Only’ 42 were scored in a one-sided win for the Herts Raptors over the Essex Redbacks II this week, ‘only’ 37 were scored in a tense one-run game between Tonbridge Bobcats and Guildford Mavericks II as well. We tended to the norm with a huge win for the Richmond Dukes over Herts Eagles and also in another one-run game between Leicester 2Sox and Milton Keynes Coyotes, but things were far calmer, although still merciless, in wins for the Haverhill Blackjacks and London Marauders over the Essex Archers and Old Timers respectively. Last week Tonbridge also sneaked a close one over Richmond Dukes and Herts Raptors picked up a crucial win against the Marauders. The Eagles’ extended a winning streak to three with a one-run difference against the Coyotes.
So do you understand the situation? Me neither! Of the three pools, two have ties for the top spot and all four teams are less than two games apart – in the space of a fortnight, literally everything could change. Pool B is the most diverse, with the Redbacks II and Old Timers only with one win, but still just in touching distance of the Archers and Blackjacks ahead of them.
This weekend, the Tonbridge Bobcats (4-2) host the Redbacks II (1-4) and Old Timers (1-5) welcome the MK Coyotes (4-2). The Herts Eagles (3-3) and Blackjacks (3-2) will battle for supremacy over their respective divisions, with wins or losses making a big difference at this stage of the year in terms of momentum and motivation, while the Raptors (4-2) welcome the 2Sox (2-3) in a Pool A derby. The Richmond Dukes (2-3) and London Marauders (4-2) could take a step towards one another after the big BBQ, and ready to capitalise would be Guildford Mavericks II (4-2), who welcome the Essex Archers (2-3) to their back yard.
In other news… Farnham Park’s National Baseball and Softball Facility was completed last weekend too. It’s hoped that it’ll now be available for use as the venue for the National Baseball Championships, but more on that next week…
