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British Baseball Beat: NBL openers

by Matt Smith

Bracknell Blazers, Herts Falcons and London Mets got their 2013 National Baseball League seasons off to the perfect start on Sunday.

All three teams swept double-headers, against the Essex RedBacks, South London Pirates and Lakenheath Diamondbacks respectively.

Meanwhile the Southampton Mustangs and Harlow Nationals battled their way to a split with the opener being a real back-and-forth affair.

All the details are available in a comprehensive NBL report at the BBF website.

With the NBL consisting of nine teams this season, one side will sit out on any given Sunday. The Essex A’s were the team tasked with waiting an extra week for their Opening Day and it will come this Sunday at Town Mead Ballpark against the Southampton Mustangs.

The London Mets take their 2-0 record to Northbrooks Park to face the Nationals in arguably the match-up of the weekend. The Herts Falcons will look to build on their Opening Day momentum as they head to RAF Feltwell to face the Diamondbacks, whilst the Essex RedBacks and South London Pirates meet for the first time with both teams hoping to get their first win of the season.

Around the leagues

After the top-tier teams got the British baseball season underway last Sunday, the AAA-South, AAA-Midlands (newly reclassified from their previous AA status) and AA-South competitions will all begin this weekend.

There’s an excellent preview of those leagues on the BBF website, providing the lowdown on every team as they head into their seasons.

Two of last year’s AAA NBC contenders are in action this Sunday. Cambridge Royals are hosting London Mets II at Coldham’s Common, whilst the Oxford Kings are facing newcomers Leones de Feltham. Both the Royals and Kings just fell short at the semi-final stage last year and they will be intent on making it back to the NBC.

The Nottingham Rebels will also have the AAA title in sight after capturing the AA Championship last season. They begin their campaign with a double-header away to Stourbridge Titans, with the other Midlands match-up being Leicester Blue Sox against Birmingham Maple Leafs at Western Park.

The fierce battle in the AA-South division will begin with the newly promoted Hove Tuesday travelling to 2012 semi-finalists the Poole Piranhas for a double-header. Herts Hawks, who lost to the Rebels in the semi-finals last year, begin their season with a home game against London Mammoths, with the Sidewinders taking on Southampton Mustangs II.

Both of those match-ups will involve single games, whilst there are two other double-headers being played on Sunday between Kent Mariners and Richmond Dragons, and Daws Hill Spitfires and Guildford Mavericks.

Hopefully the weather will cooperate and there will be plenty of baseball played throughout Britain this coming Sunday.

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1 comment

Joe Gray April 11, 2013 - 1:23 pm

Very nice round-up Matt. Here’s hoping for a great season across all the divisions.

Joe

Reply

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