Essex Arrows 5
Guildford Mavericks 27

Guildford, July 13th 2003. The Mavericks clinched a spot in the top 6 play-offs, with victory over the struggling Arrows. It was always a fairly comfortable win, as Guildford got on top early, and despite the Arrows hitters finding their form in the middle innings, it was never enough to trouble the Mavericks.

Having taken a 1-0 lead in the first inning, the Mavericks again shut down the Arrows in the second, before batting around in their half of the inning, bringing 7 runners home, keyed by and RBI double from Koichiro, and Castor's 2 RBI triple.

Meanwhile Pete Hammer was pitching strongly, striking out 5 of the Arrows through the first 3 innings.

Trailing 10-0, the Arrows finally got on the board in the 4th, as the middle of their order all got on base, and were brought home courtesy of a 3 run triple by first baseman, Jeff Summers. However, that was just the incentive that the Mavericks needed to strike again, and finally put the game out of reach.

The Mavericks batted around again in the 4th, with 2 hits from shortstop Julius Miller, one a 2 run double, and RBI's from Pete, Koichiro, Ben Martin-Dye and Ollie Mullard.

After that, the result was never in doubt. The Mavericks held strong on defense, highlighted by a couple of good plays in centrefield from Koichiro, one of which was throwing a runner out at third, and also good hitting that saw 4 runs cross the plate in both the 5th and 6th innings. All the Maverick starters had a hit or drove in some runs, although Gavin Tunnell managed the unusual feat of going hitless, but reaching base 4 of his 5 times at bat, via walks!

The victory, combined with Croydon's loss to Bournemouth, means the Mavericks will finish the regular season in 6th place, and so will play in the round robin play-offs, along with MK Bucks, Windsor, Richmond Knights, Bournemouth and Herts.

Guildford MVP: Koichiro Furukawa

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