S
unday’s
game was the perfect example of British weather not quite deciding what
it wanted to do, and those many players waiting on the bench kept warm
by alternately moving the kit into the shelter and back into the sun
(pretty much every ten minutes)
So with the confidence of the clear win
at Tonbridge in the previous week, the Mavericks started the first
inning by only letting the Raptors get away with 1 run, helped by a
classy pickoff at first from Pitcher Matt Bruce (Never underestimate a
left-handed pitcher!) and 1st Baseman James Guerra. The
inning was shut down with a much wished for, but rarely got, tag on the
runner attempting to steal 3rd, as Rob gunned down the runner
throwing to Mavs new comer Stuart Ellis. 
The Mavs bats were strong in the bottom
of the first, and they tore ahead with 8 runs. This was largely helped
by the accurate, but slow pitching of the Herts starting pitcher, which
was an ideal speed for your correspondent to get on base (Twice!). 
The second inning was closed off quickly
by both sides, and the Mavs had another strong inning in the 3rd,
scoring 5 runs. The game continued with the Mavericks dominating the
Herts’ Pitcher, whilst also taking advantage of some fielding errors. The
next few innings saw Pete Badenhuizen hitting a home run, and some gutsy
base stealing which unfortunately landed an out for Phill Nathan after a
spectacular slide into 3rd. Full marks for
entertainment
value!
At the
top of the 6th the Herts players started to get a hold of Bruce’s
pitching, but it didn’t get them very far with Guerra picking up a hard
ground ball along the 1st base line, and a dramatic out from Badenhuizen
tagging the runner heading for second, after a pop-up to right field.
Good recovery boys! Badenhuizen was lead off hitter for the bottom of
the 6th, and very nearly undid all his previous good work by not tagging
up. When the Herts’ left fielder unexpectedly, made an excellent catch,
Pete powered it back to second, and only got there safely on an error
from Herts’ 2nd Baseman. 
The
Mavericks bats went from strength to strength and a nice little poke
from Dr Jones that scored Matt Bruce with a slide at the plate. A pop up
from Ellis advanced the runners after everyone forgot about the
infield-fly rule, and Mavs new player Ben Stobart made it to first,
speeding down the line after a dribbler to the Pitcher. The very
successful inning for the Mavs was closed off after a pop-up from Guerra
was caught by the Herts 3rd Baseman who got the Mavs runner out trying
to make it back to 3rd after not tagging up. 
The
score heading into the top of the 7th was 24 to 6, and the Herts Bats
got stronger, advancing runners home with a double and a single. It was
not however enough to close the gap for the slaughter rule, and a nice
catch from Nathan in left field that flew back to Guerra at first to
double up yet another runner who hadn’t tagged up (Are we learning
something here?!). Brucey closed off the inning and therefore the game,
by striking out the last Herts batter. 
Rob Wheeler caught an excellent game with some strong batting, and Rob Shaw was reliable in the line up as ever, with nice line drives consistently advancing the Mavs runners, overall a very good performance from the Mavericks who will face one of the stronger teams in the League at Southampton on Sunday 23rd May.
Whilst
the Raptors were
packing up to leave, the Mavericks got ready for an inter squad game to
get some practice in for the
increasing club membership, and in preparation for next week’s game,
although the rate at which injuries were sustained from
hit-by-pitches, might not be
that helpful
thanks to Jazz Brown
for
the report
