Richmond Flames, Oxford Kings, Richmond Knights and MK Bucks are
celebrating this evening after they were crowned champions of their
respective leagues at the National Baseball Championships (NBC), held at
Grovehill Ballpark, Hemel Hempstead.
NBL: Bracknell Blazers 1 Richmond Flames 10
Richmond Flames were the beaten National Baseball
League finalists in the previous two seasons and going through those two
disappointments will make today’s triumph all the sweeter for Grant
Delzoppo’s team. Richmond went unbeaten in the double-elimination
tournament, defeating Bracknell Blazers 6-3 in their opening game and
then gaining an 8-2 victory over London Mets before sealing the title
with a 10-1 win over the defending champion Blazers in the final.
It’s the second time that Richmond have won the top-tier competition, their previous success coming in 2006.
The Southern champion Oxford Kings beat the Northern
champion Liverpool Trojans 13-3 in six innings to lift the AAA NBC
trophy. The Trojans had beaten the Kings 3-2 to qualify for the final,
but the Kings recovered with an 8-5 win over Herts Eagles and then
gained their revenge on Liverpool to secure their first ever
championship after falling just short in 2008.
Richmond Knights completed an incredible season by
stunning the Leicester Blue Sox to win the AA NBC in extra innings. The
Knights entered the final, riding a nineteen game winning streak, yet
the Blue Sox looked odds on to bring that to a crushing end when they
scored ten runs in the top of the second inning of the AA final.
However, the Knights scored nine runs in the final two innings to send
the contest into extras and then bounced back from conceding two runs in
the top of the tenth by scoring three of their own in the bottom of the
frame to take the win by a score of 20-19 and to complete a memorable
day for the Richmond baseball club.
MK Bucks made sure the Midlands league didn’t come
home from the NBC empty-handed as they defeated Guildford Mavericks 10-3
to win the A Final. The game was much closer than the final scoreline
suggests as it was tied at 3-3 heading into the ninth inning before the
Bucks exploded for seven runs to leave the Mavericks reeling.
EventsPosted by admin Sat, September 04, 2010 08:17:34 The 2010 National Baseball Championships are
set to get underway at Grovehill Ballpark, home of the Herts Baseball
Club, Saturday morning at 9.30am. The BBF has announced that all games
will be 'simul-cast' live on the internet.
You can follow the AA-final between Leicester Blue Sox and Richmond Knights here:
EventsPosted by admin Fri, September 03, 2010 13:24:42
BBC Radio 5 Live will enjoy a double-dose of British baseball this Sunday. First, during the weekend breakfast programme (Sunday 6am - 8.30am), presenters Rachel Burden and Phil Williams will take a look back at Saturday's NBL and AAA semi-final games, and will preview the Finals for all leagues to take place on Sunday.
The programme will feature Matt Smith, founder and editor of BaseballGB an online publication that is well-known to fans of baseball in the UK.
It is expected the NBC segment will on air around 7am on Sunday.
Then, Sunday evening, BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra will feature the Texas Rangers and the Minnesota Twins as the American League pennant race heats up heading into September. Hosts Josh Chetwynd and Nat Coombs will also provide regular updates from the NBC action at Grovehill Park.
Leicester are going to the
National Baseball Championships for the second year running following another
thrilling encounter against their local rivals. Both teams gave their all in
this AA-Division semi-final and as with their previous two meetings; the
contest was again settled by the narrowest of margins.
The lead was exchanged a number of times in the early going,
although matters almost got out of control in the second inning but for a champagne
moment from Leicester’s second basemen Jez Goddard. The Bostonian pulled off an
astonishing diving catch from Nick Rogers’ line drive bullet and completed a
glossy double play, assisting the resulting pick off at second base as Birmingham’s Ed Jones
couldn’t tag up in time for the third out. That play got Leicester
out of a bases loaded jam and the Sox capitalised by pulling 7-4 ahead by the
bottom of the fourth.
Birmingham
fought back gallantly and pulled it back to 8-8 by the middle of the sixth, but
the Sox immediately replied with two further runs to re-take the lead 10-8.
Both teams cancelled each other out in the seventh, then the
Leafs pulled one back in the eighth to ensure another nail biting finish. Leicester were unable to score in the bottom of that
frame, so it was left to relief pitcher Richard Hu to close out the game in the
final inning.
Riks Iqbal led off with a base hit, but overconfidence got the better of him and instead of staying at first base, he continued towards second and was
subsequently tagged out. Cory Millard was struck out in the next at bat,
meaning only one more out was required for the win. Next up Graham Lee walked, but
Hu took care of business in the next at bat as Ed Jones was dismissed on a
routine ground out.
Relief and excitement resounded around Western Park;
the prize being a place in the AA-Division National Baseball Championship final. The
Sox took the A-Division crown at the same event last year and will be hoping
history repeats itself, with the prospect of a second consecutive trophy for
the Blue Sox cabinet at stake.
Blue Sox Manager Mark Meredith was naturally ‘over the moon’
with the club’s latest success “I am unbelievably proud of the lads and looking
forward to getting down to Herts next Sunday for the NBC”.
The final against the Richmond Knights takes place at the
Herts Baseball Club, Hemel Hempstead on Sunday
5 September, first pitch is 12pm.
The versatile Richard Hu, started out catching Shannon Henry and then took to the mound to close out the final few innings.
It was a Midlands clean sweep in the first round of the BBF AA-Division playoffs at the weekend.
Birmingham and Leicester scored runs aplenty in their comfortable victories over the best from the Northern Division.
In a rematch of the exciting regular season finale held three weeks before, the two best teams in the Midlands will meet again for once last time, with a place in the National Baseball Championship final at stake.
In their last encounter the double header was split, with each game being won by the odd run. Both teams finished the regular season with identical records, with Leicester taking the title on the head-to-head tie break.
If the pre-match billing is anything to go by, this semi-final looks set to go to wire. First pitch at Western Park is 12pm this Saturday (28th).
The eventual winners will face the corresponding Southern Division playoff winner at the NBC final, which is being held at Hemel Hempstead on Sunday 5 September.
Manchester Torrent 3-22 MK Bucks
Leicester Blue Sox II 12-36 Humber Pilots
Elsewhere, there were also runs galore in the A-Division playoffs.
Milton Keynes saw off Manchester in clinical fashion and will now face the Pilots in a repeat of last year's A-Division first round playoff. The Bucks will be hoping to make up for last year’s disappointment which saw them miss out on a place at the NBC over a venue mix up with Humber.
Blue Sox 2 were the least disappointed losers at the weekend and enjoyed a lively game against the hospitable Humbersiders. With the game already won in the early going, the Light Blue’s set about beating their all time scoring record, increasing their best runs total from 8 to 12, which concluded with an exciting 2 out-2 run homer from Tom Smith in the final frame.
The rookies are looking to go on the road in September and close out their first ever year in baseball with a series of friendlies against Northern and Southern opposition.
Following on from their successful A-division postseason last year, the Blue Sox are getting revved up for the start of this seasons' AA-division playoffs.
Unlike last year, Leicester (15-5) will benefit from home field advantage when they entertain the visiting Bladerunners (16-8) at Western Park this Saturday.
The winners of each tie will be paired in the second round, scheduled for the following Saturday. Theoretically, Leicester would retain home advantage in the next round should they progress and this could mean meeting the Maple Leafs yet again in repeat of their end of regular season encounter, which was featured on ITV's Central Tonight yesterday evening.
Looking further ahead, the eventual winner from the second round will meet AA-Southern opposition at the 2010 National Baseball Championship, being held at Herts Baseball Club on Sunday 5 September.
Blue Sox 2 (4-16) are also in action this weekend when they travel to Hull to battle it out in their A-division playoff against the Humber Pilots (14-8). Leicester's second string will be hoping to emulate the first teamer's post season success of last year, where they also qualified with 4-16 record but exceeded all expectations and went all the way to the NBC to win the 2009 A-division crown.
The corresponding Midlands/Northern A-division playoff is between Manchester Torrent (9-13) and MK Bucks (13-7). The latter are strongly fancied in this year's post-season and will be hoping to make up for missing out on last year's NBC, as a result of a mix up over fixture venues.
Again, each winner will matched up the following Saturday to contend for a place at the NBC against A-Southern opposition.
If any of the scheduled games are rained out, they will be played the following day instead. In the unlikely event of the entire weekend being rained off, the team with the superior games-behind record from the regular season will progress.
Blue Sox 2
will be looking to emulate the first teamer’s this Sunday and also end their season
on a high.
Whilst the Midlands playoff rankings have already been decided,
this weekend's encounter with MK is certainly not meaningless. While the rookies have
been at the wrong end of some serious poundings this season, they have remained
close to the Bucks for much of their previous encounters. Should both team’s
beat Northern opposition the following weekend, then they will be back to face
each other in a fortnight’s time for a place in the A division National
Baseball Championship.
So this
Sunday is pretty much a playoff dress rehearsal and both teams will be using it
to put the final pieces of their post season jigsaw puzzle together, with
players jockeying for positions in the starting line up.
As the curtain
goes down on Blue Sox 2’s first ever regular season, the Light Blues will take
some satisfaction from being able to complete their side of the fixtures
bargain without forfeiting, thereby maintaining a 4 season no-forfeit streak
for the Leicester club.
First pitch
at Western Park is at midday this Sunday.
Game 1: Leicester Blue Sox 9-8 Birmingham
Maple Leafs
Game 2: Leicester Blue Sox 12-13 Birmingham Maple Leafs
The Blue Sox were crowned the BBF Midlands champions for the
first time in their four year history this weekend.
Their end of season face off against the Maple Leafs turned out
the classic that had been hoped for, as covered by BBC Radio Leicester and the
Leicester Mercury this week.
On Sunday it was the turn of ITV Central to capture the
action. What was expected to a brief news piece, turned into nearly 3 hours of
live game footage, as the camera crew became totally absorbed by the occasion.
In game one Leicester
sprinted to a 6-0 lead at the bottom of the first, with the Leafs not able to
reply in the next two innings, allowing the Sox to increase their advantage to
7-0.
However the game didn’t turn into a victory procession and
the Leafs gradually fought back. They scored five runs in the top of the
seventh to tie the game at 8-8. Extra innings ensued and Leicester were able to
hold Birmingham
in the top of the eighth, therefore needing just one run in the bottom frame to
take the win.
Player-Manager Mark Meredith lead off with a base hit, he was
advanced by Jez Goddard in the next at bat and brought home in an exciting
finale via a walk off hit from Oscar Martinez. It was certainly one of the most
nail biting, and ultimately exciting finishes seen at Western Park
to date.
Just the one win was required by the Sox to take the title,
a defeat in the next game would see each teams finish with an equal record, but
Leicester would trump this on the
head-to-head.
Game two unsurprising had an ‘after the lord mayor’s show
feel’ to it with both teams playing it loose defensively and plenty of runs
scored in the early going.
Birmingham
edged ahead as far as 13-8 by the middle of the fifth but the Blue Sox bounced
back to 13-12 at the death. Captain Shannon Henry shone offensively with two
home runs in game 2 and was unlucky to be called out in the bottom of the seventh when
the tying run looked likely.
Both teams qualify for the end of season AA-division
playoffs, but the Sox gain home field advantage as league champions. Their
opposition will be decided next weekend when the BBF Northern Division reaches
it conclusion.
ITV Central cameras capturing the game.
The final at bat in extra innings, Mark Meredith is brought home via a walk off hit from Oscar Martinez.
BBC Radio 5 Live will enjoy a double-dose of British baseball this Sunday. First, during the weekend breakfast programme (Sunday 6am - 8.30am), presenters Rachel Burden and Phil Williams will take a look back at Saturday's NBL and AAA semi-final games, and will preview the Finals for all leagues to take place on Sunday.
