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Cheddar, June 27th, 2004. The Mavericks made their first ever visit to Cheddar to take on the 4-1 Rockies, on what is probably the most scenic of the all the diamonds in the league, with the Gorge providing a stunning backdrop to the Outfield. Probably as a result of being right on the edge of a lake, the conditions were somewhat windy despite it being a sunny June afternoon, making life difficult for both sets of outfielders. Despite this being the
longest journey of the season, the Mavericks still managed to take a 16
man squad down to Somerset, and this despite losing 4 people late in the
day. It also saw the return of Steve Sawyer in a Mavericks uniform,
following on from his ACL injury in the second game of last year, and
his subsequent re-location for work purposes to Gloucester. In fact with
a number of players taking a bit longer in making the journey and others
unavailable, Steve ended up starting and playing the whole game in CF.
Not quite as planned on a return from this sort of injury, but although
being a bit rusty, Steve showed the recovery had gone well. The game started with both pitchers very much on top, with the Mavericks failing to score in their first 4 at bats, and the Rockies only managing to cross the plate once in the first and a couple of time in the second. In fact at this point the wind was proving more of a handicap to the infielders than the outfielders, as couple of flares seemed to carry just out of reach, one play in particular resulting in one of the Rockies almost being thrown out on a play from the outfield, as the ball had looked as if it was just going to caught on the infield. The big play in the first 3 innings was the Rockies Kevin Murphy hitting a first pitch home run, moments after joining the game, as a replacement for their stating shortstop. With no fence, a well hit ball in the gap was always going to cause problems, although losing out this time, the Mavericks benefited from a lack of fence later in the game, when Rockies CF Lee Ingham teed off in the bottom of the 4th for what is probably the longest (ground rule) double ever recorded, and one which would have carried any outfield fence in this league. Without any run
support, Maverick starter Karl Grigor was playing Cheddar on his own,
with 6 K's in the first 3 innings, and the only 2 base hits.
Unfortunately on neither occasion, were the Mavericks able to get Karl
in from third. However, having gone 6-0 down in the bottom of the 4th,
the Mavericks revival began.
Three runs in the 5th, turned into 5 runs in the 6th, as the Mavericks took an 8-6 lead. Catcher Michael Burdett's triple drove in Gavin Tunnell (2 for 2 on the day) and Ross Pennington, and then another extra base hit from Ben drove him in, followed run scoring singles from Rob Shaw again, and Karl Grigor. However, the Rockies replied with 4 runs of their own in the bottom of the 6th, as Karl began to tire, and put batters on, who had been struggling against him earlier. Cheddar took advantage of this and a couple of walks and Jeff Cherson single drove in the runs for them. Whereas the Rockies took advantage of loading the bases, the Mavericks didn't. In the top of the seventh, they were only able to pull one run back, as Ben hit a come backer to the pitcher, and a pop up from Rob Shaw, that although it was not caught, was turned into a ground out, despite falling into foul territory, as the Mavericks hesitated on the bases. This looked like it
might be costly, both teams scored a run a piece in the seventh, giving
the Rockies 11-9 lead going into the 8th inning, and just 6 outs to make
amends. Fortunately for Guildford, Cheddar starter, Jeff Cherson was
also beginning to tire, and with the last inning and a half being played
in the rain, the ball was becoming difficult to handle. Castor Maduro
singled to get on, and ended up scoring on a wild pitch, whilst , with
one out, Jamie Barnett walked, after hitting one of the longest and
highest foul balls, which was almost blown back into fair territory, and
almost enough to be caught. Ross Pennington then drove in the tying run,
and himself, advanced to third on a throwing error and a stolen base.
But at this point, is was decided by both teams to suspend the game, and
see if the rain would let up.
Unfortunately, the sun was not to be seen again, until both teams emerged from the pub, and some very kind hospitality by the Rockies, about 2 hours later! So as it stands the game is still suspended pending a league ruling, with probably the last inning an a half to be made up the next time the Rockies travel to the South East
Karl Grigor pitches
Maverick MVP: Karl Grigor |
First of all base hits from Michael Burdett
and Steve Sawyer, were followed up by a 2 RBI triple from Ben Mullard,
who in turn was driven in by Rob Shaw.
