Author: Andrew Craven

By Andrew Craven

Aces v Sliders Recap

Sliders travelled to Henry Jones last night to face an in form Smokin’ Aces and came away defeated in an epic match. Despite playing short handed and with a number of players out of position, Sliders raced out of the blocks scoring 12 in the first two innings with Dave scoring his now customary home run. The Aces fought back in the 2nd with 7 of their own as Sliders struggled to get the last out before Paul took a running catch off of his laces. From then on the Aces took the initiative scoring 6 in the 4th to level the game and the Sliders defence looked to be in trouble.

Sliders Captain, Dan, made a tactical switch moving Marian to 3rd and himself to left field. The move immediately paid off as all 3 Aces batters found his glove including one plucked out of the air over his shoulder. Sliders scored 2 in the 6th to retake the lead and 2 more catches by Dan held the Aces to one. Unfortunately the Captain had a rush of blood to the head in the 7th with 2 outs and the strongest part of the batting line up to come getting tagged out on a risky run to 3rd by Pat Joe. Just to rub salt into the wounds Pat Joe then smashed a homer into right field to tie the game. The Aces got runners on base and Sliders just couldn’t keep them out to lose 18-17. In the end the auto out every innings proved costly.

Highs: Home run for Dave. 5 catches in a row for Dan. John throwing a double play (we think the first of the season!) Paul taking a running catch inches off of the ground. Doubles and triples galore in the first two innings.

Next up is the rematch against the Aces on 19th June. Should be a cracker!

By Andrew Craven

Sliders v Bucs Recap

The Bangor Buccaneers pretty much sailed straight up to Newforge to face Sliders in conditions that can only be described as very wet! But the Sliders always seem to play well in the rain and last night was no exception. After conceding just 1 in the first innings Sliders bats turned up in dramatic style. Dave opened as he always does with a homerun. Not to be outdone, Tim launched one for a grandslam a few minutes later. The Buccs seemed to have no answer to the Sliders big hitting and at the end of the inning the score was 11-1. A shutout in the 2nd was followed by more excellent hitting and 7 runs.

The weather got worse and bodies got colder but the Sliders infield continued to deliver (the outfield stood and watched getting cold!). As the game wore on the Buccs gradually found their rythym and put in some scores of their own whilst the Sliders concentration dropped. Jonny pitched a blinder in the last 3 after a mid game wobble and a couple of walks and then got his first homerun in green. Final score 24-14 to Sliders. Next up are the Aces next Monday. Hopefully we’ll have dried out!

Highs: Grandslam homerun for Tim, homeruns for Dave and Jonny, the entire batting lineup getting on base at least once, solid defence from the infield in tricky conditions including several diving saves from Dave on 1st.

By Andrew Craven

Brawlers v Sliders Recap

Sliders travelled up to Henry Jones Playing Fields to play the Brawlers last night and fell to a disappointing 16-6 defeat. It was always going to be difficult playing shorthanded against the big hitting league champions but despite a couple of errors the defence was generally solid. It was with the bat that Sliders disappointed, failing to convert base hits into scores often enough. Big hits seemed to hold in the wind and find blue gloves asSliders struggled to gain any momentum. Meanwhile the Brawlers kept the scoreboard ticking to take the win.

Special mention to Will, who was playing in his last game before heading off to Canada for a year.

High points: Jonny’s reflex catch as his pitch was lined back at him, Suze refinding her mojo with a big triple, John doing most of the work in the outfield and a double play off of a catch.