Sliders welcomed the newly crowned league champions to Newforge last night. The Brawlers were aiming to go a second season in a row undefeated whilst a win for Sliders would have all but guaranteed 3rd in the league. Unfortunately, the home team were very much in end of season mode putting in a pretty hapless performance and were punished by some big hitting. Sliders took to the field with a new combination at short stop and 3rd of Dave and James (playing his first game back this season). Unfortunately, a series of simple mistakes from both the infield and outfield let the Brawlers score 21 in the first 2 innings.
A reshuffle tightened things up a bit in defence but the batting continued to be poor. Things did brighten up a bit in the middle innings. John made some good stops including a difficult diving catch in the fifth. Jonny pitched well, achieving a rare thing in striking Sean out. Despite this, mistakes continued as the basics were forgotten with the outfield giving away bases not getting the ball in quickly and the infield throwing to first instead of third letting runners in. Jonny and Andrew hit doubles towards the end to get a couple of scores but it was too little to late. Sliders lost 33-7.
Highs: John’s diving catch and also a sliding stop for an tough out on two, James making his return in green and a match not played in the rain for once!
Next up is the rearranged fixture away at the Buccs on 10th September. A will win see Sliders finish 3rd for a second season in a row.