British Baseball Beat: Home sweet home for the Richmond Flames

Richmond was the setting for the latest National Baseball League ‘Special Event’ and it proved to be a special Sunday for the home team. 

Meanwhile the Essex Redbacks Youth Academy hosted international opponents and we look ahead to this weekend’s London Tournament.

NBL: Richmond take sole possession of the top spot in Pool A

The Richmond Flames were the big winners at the second ‘Special Event’ of the National Baseball League season.

The Flames have shared the top spot in Pool A with the Southampton Mustangs for several weeks, but they now lead the Pool on their own following a 13-3 victory over the Mustangs.  

Southampton started the season with nine straight wins before Richmond brought that run to an end by defeating them twice in succession. They’ve now made it three wins from three against the Mustangs and Southampton will be keen to recapture their early season form as quickly as possible, having lost five of their last seven games.

The one saving grace for the Mustangs on Sunday was that they retained a four-game cushion over the third-placed Bracknell Blazers.  The Blazers suffered a 14-5 loss against the Croydon Pirates.  The Pirates have now won four of their last five games, a sequence preceded by an eight-game losing streak. 

Lakenheath Diamondbacks continued their excellent form by securing their tenth victory in a row, although the Essex Arrows made them work for it in a 10-7 game.  The London Mets improved to 7-4 on the season with a convincing 11-1 victory over Herts Falcons.

ESPN America were at Richmond on Sunday to record action from the games. Look out for clips being posted on their Facebook and Twitter accounts in the near future.

Triple-A: London Metros move up the standings

The BBF website schedule promised six games from Triple-A on Sunday in three double-headers.  These hadn’t been updated with final scores at time of writing, but at least one of those double-headers did take place.

The London Metros took two home wins at Finsbury Park over the Richmond Knights, by scores of 13-3 and 13-1, with both games being called a result after five innings.  The victories will push the Metros into third place in the AAA South onto a season record of 9-7.

If you have any news on the proposed games between Windsor and Bracknell Bears and Oxford Kings, or Halton Jaguars against the Manchester A’s, please pass it on via the Comments box.

Double-A: More wins for the Mavericks, Latin Boys, Robots and Maple Leafs

The Guildford Mavericks hurtled to the top of AA-South Pool B with two comprehensive victories over Croydon Pirates III.  Their 40-1 and 24-1 wins put the Mavs half a game ahead of the Sidewinders, who will tie for the top spot if they win their game in hand.  The two top contenders do have one remaining game to play against each other on 7 August.

In Pool A, Latin Boys swept a double-header over the Essex Archers.  Those wins combined with the two losses suffered by the second-placed Brentwood Stags at the hands of the Herts Hawks mean that the Latin Boys have all but secured the Pool title in their debut season.

Sheffield Bladerunners edged past the Manchester Torrent twice by a solitary run to improve their season record to 7-5 in the North; however they were unable to gain ground on the Pool-leading Bolton Robots of Doom as they earned two more wins over the Humber Pilots.

In the Midlands, Birmingham Maple Leafs bounced back from two losses against the MK Bucks a week ago by sweeping a double-header over the Leicester Blue Sox II team. 

Single-A: Royals and Mustangs II remain unbeaten

The Cambridge Royals and Southampton Mustangs II remain unbeaten in Single-A.  They secured wins against the Old Timers and Braintree Rays respectively to set-up a mouth-watering clash at Cambridge’s Coldham Common on 17 July.  Meanwhile the London Marauders defeated Tonbridge by a score of 27-17 to make it three wins in a row (the first of those being a forfeit by the Old Timers) and five wins from their last six games.

An international weekend for the Redbacks Youth Academy

Last Saturday was a special day for the Essex Redbacks Youth Academy.  They played host to the Dutch team Hengelo Giants Aspiranten for a double-header at the Forest Glade football club in Billericay.

The event was part of a developing relationship between the two baseball clubs and was hailed as a big success by those involved:

“Everyone involved thought it was a fantastic success with coaches on both sides eagerly talking about a return fixture in Holland next year. The Dutch players were terrific company at the game and both teams headed off to Southend for fish and chips. Smiles all round”

Further details about the games, and more generally about the hard work of the Redbacks’ Youth Academy, can be found on the Redbacks’ website.

London Tournament this weekend

British league action takes a backseat this weekend as up to 18 teams will head to the Croydon Pirates’ Roundshaw Field for the London Tournament.

The annual event allows players and fans to enjoy a whole weekend of baseball, with each team generally getting to play four competitive games over the two days. 

It’s designed to be an enjoyable event and teams may not necessarily have all of their regulars taking part; however seeing the likes of the Liverpool Trojans, Milton Keynes Bucks and Birmingham Maple Leafs taking on some of their southern counterparts could provide an early form guide for the end-of-season National Baseball Championships.

There will be refreshments and a beer tent on hand, alongside a home run derby on Saturday evening.  Further details can be found on the Pirates’ website.