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Bracknell, June 6th, 2004. On a day that marked the 60 anniversary of the D-Day landings, the Royals and the Mavericks faced each for the second time in less than a week (if only by about 4 hours!). With Windsor currently building a new ground, they are currently ground sharing with Bracknell, and with a National League doubleheader also to be played, the game was moved to a 10am start. Both
sides lined up for a minutes silence in memory of those who lost their
lives on D-Day, which proved to be about 39 minutes shorter than the
first inning! Maybe it had something to do with the early start, but
both pitchers still seemed to be in bed, as first the Mavericks with 6
runs, then Windsor with 8 runs, shelled the starters to all parts of the
field.
In fact the Mavericks tied it at 10 in the third, on Tomas Diaz's base clearing triple, on which he also scored, following an errant throw to third. A Balk, put Windosr back ahead in the bottom half of the inning, but Ross was now pitching a good game, and retired the side in order in the bottom of the 4th in including a couple of K's, holding the Royals to a narrow 11-10 lead. Another Ben Mullard single (3 for 3 at the time), put him in scoring position to score on Tomas's RBI sac fly, which tied the game at 11, and the Mavericks were beginning to look the stronger side, especially with the Windsor starter, Matias, beginning to noticeably tire. Unfortunately, it was at this point that Mavericks began to self destruct. Two more balks called on Ross put runners into scoring position, and some slack play resulted in these two scoring plus a couple more plated on a passed ball. A couple of hit batters on, and the Mavericks were right behind the 8 ball, as with time running out, they were left having to get back all these runs in the top of the 6th, as there was no way any more innings were going to be squeezed in before the 12:30pm deadline. Despite almost batting around again, this time against the Windsor reliever, Douglas, the Mavericks were only able to score 3 times, ending on the wrong end of a 19-14 scoreline. However, the Mavericks should take heart from this, as yet again, the hitting showed an improvement, with the whole side hitting well...making it very difficult to chose an MVP. The defense was solid, and the bench yet again contributed, when called upon. In fact Guildford were left rueing that first inning, when they really should have scored more than 6, and also should have restricted the Royals to several less. In the end, the game MVP for the Mavericks just went to Tomas ahead of Peter, for his 3 RBI's from a 3-for-4 day at the plate, and some solid defense. Maverick MVP: Tomas Diaz |
In fact the Mavericks had opened up a 6-0 lead still with none
out, and the bases loaded, until a certain coach decided to send Roger Marsden home on a hit to the outfield. Suffice to say the play wasn't
close, and was then compounded, as the aforementioned coach then
grounded into a double play to end the inning. In fact every Maverick
made it to second base, that first time up. Unfortunately the Royals,
then proceeded to do the same, and plated 8 runs in the bottom half of
the inning, although it has to be said the Mavericks had a couple of
chances to end the inning with the lead.
