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ARROWS 1
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Sat 19th January sees the Arrows Celebrate
the 2007 Season
With the
Townmead Clubhouse under refurbishment the 2007 Trophy Night moved to the
nearby Sultan Pub and with a good turnout from both teams the celebrations
began
1st Team
manager Phil Chesterton & 2nd Team Managers Darren Ludlow & Jeff Summers prepare to hand out the awards and player medals. full report and pictures
HERE
Welcome To Essex Arrows 2008 Season
Stop
Press News: Arrows trophy night will be Sat 19th January 2008 at the
Sultan Pub in Waltham Abbey, time and exact details will be confirmed via
email, if your email is not with James Cane please contact us
Arrows1 finish season coming Oh so close (01/10/07)
After
the weather took the main headlines for the season, with no league
managing to complete all their full fixtures, the Final 4s for National,
Premier and Division1 took place at Corydon's Roundshaw field. In the
Premier Div Arrows1 managed to pull of a 2nd place finish which game them
a birth in the 2nd semi-final, below is the official reports by Tim Stride
taken from the BBF website
Premier Division
Semi-Final
Saturday, September
1, 2pm
Essex Arrows 5,
Southampton Mustangs
4
By Tim Stride
One of the closest games of the weekend, this was an untidy affair
littered with errors and arguments but most certainly entertaining for the
neutral spectator. The lead changed hands four times until, tied 4-4 going
into the seventh, veteran pitcher Paul Raybould came in to relieve for
Essex. With the go-ahead run at third he got his team out of the inning
unscathed before making a hero of himself with the game-winning RBI-triple
to right field, an astonishing hit to conclude a wholly unpredictable
game.
It was a game in which Mustangs pitcher Chuck Truelson recorded not only a
brilliant name but just one earned run, yet had to endure his team
permitting four more runs to hand him a loss. A game in which sixth inning
errors threatened to throw the game away for either team. A game in which
Southampton would not even have been playing had it not stepped in to
replace Edinburgh Devils, which withdrew before the weekend.
The key to the game was errors which cancelled out both starting pitchers’
respectable showings. While Truelson allowed seven hits, it translated
into only one earned run and he struck out three. Arrows’ Lance Louw - who
tantalised batters on the outside corner of the plate - allowed five hits
and two earned runs and struck out ten. He left the game after six innings
with bleeding fingers and a bloodied baseball which plate umpire Darrin
Muller did not want back.
The first run of the game – to Essex in the second inning – was scored by
Alan Williams who would not have reached first base had it not been for a
throwing error by Mustangs shortstop Phil Johnson. Southampton replied
with an equaliser in the third when Kevin Tu singled in Ross Arieta.
The atmosphere got heated in the bottom of the fourth when Louw – up to
bat for Essex - and his manager Phil Chesterton argued with Muller over
whether Louw had stepped out of the batter’s box whilst hitting. Essex
then fell behind in the top of the fifth when Arieta again scored, brought
in by John O’Malley’s single to right.
Southampton’s lead was short-lived as Essex scored two in the bottom of
the inning. Dave Shaer walked to lead off. Shortstop Johnson committed his
second error, overthrowing to first base and allowing Steve Simmons to
reach. Shaer stole third and scored on Kerry Wilshere’s single to left.
Simmons, who shouldn’t have been on base, scored on Williams’ sacrifice
fly to right field, making the score 3-2 to Essex.
With two outs in the top of the sixth, a dispute over whether Arrows’
Wilshere did or didn’t catch Matt Watts’ flyball in centre (it was at
least an outstanding diving effort) resulted in the inning staying alive
for Southampton. Watts and the following hitter Simon Taylor came home as
shortstop Sheldon Smith’s throw to first bounced in the dirt. Twice the
inning might have ended before runs were scored but the Mustangs had
retaken the lead at 4-3.
In the bottom of the inning, Phil Johnson’s bad luck struck again… and
again… and again. With two outs and two opportunities to end the inning,
Johnson made two errors at shortstop which firstly allowed Adrian Bonsor
to reach base and secondly saw him score. Had Shane Wodzynski done as he
should with two outs and started running from third when Simmons hit to
Johnson – who subsequently erred for a third time that inning - he would
have compounded Johnson’s woe by scoring the go-ahead run.
But at 4-4, the game was set up for the grand finale.
Reliever Raybould threatened to add to the list of mishaps when he caught
Truelson in a run-down between second and third but failed to throw the
ball to third baseman Wodzynski in time. This putt Truelson safe at third
with Eugene Lin at first, one out and the heart of the batting order up
for Mustangs.
Yet Raybould more than made amends, first on the mound by inducing Johnson
to pop up to the catcher and fearlessly striking out Watts to get out of
the inning; more notably at the plate with the best hit of the game to
drive in Williams and put Essex in the Premier Division Final.
Premier Division
Final
Sunday, September 2, 10am
Richmond
Knights 11, Essex Arrows 0
By Tim Stride
You would be forgiven for thinking Essex doesn’t think fondly of the Final
4. Sunday’s whitewash at the hands of Premier Division South rivals
Richmond made it three times in the last four years that the Arrows have
left the playoffs disappointed after a successful regular season.
In 2004 they resumed a hard-fought contest against Menwith Hill which had
been suspended due to failing light the day before. Picking up the game at
8.30 in the morning - 20-15 down in the ninth with one out and bases
loaded - a bleary-eyed Arrows team promptly lost. The following year they
lost 21-10 in the semi-final to an unfancied Croydon Pirates 2. Last year
they did not qualify.
In 2007 Essex was soundly beaten on the mercy rule (losing by 10 runs or
more in the fifth inning) as Richmond went one better than last year’s
runner-up spot.
Supporting a virtuoso performance by pitcher George Naumczik (5 IP, 1 H, 4
K), the Knights shrugged off their offensively-lean semi-final showing
versus Northampton, recording 12 hits up to the point the game was called
with one out in the bottom of the fifth.
In stark contrast, the Essex box score resembled a big basket of eggs
(i.e. lots of ‘0’). The Arrows mustered a grand total of one hit off
Naumczik. That one hit was Dave Shaer’s lead-off in the first inning
which, in the context of this game, was a case of the Arrows peaking way
too soon. Essex got the ball past the solid infield only twice and when
that happened it was caught both times by centre fielder Brian McKeon.
Meanwhile Richmond batters had a field day off the Arrows’ veteran
pitching. Starter Steve Simmons, aged 47, gave up seven hits, five earned
runs and three walks in 2 2/3 innings and reliever Paul Raybould – one day
short of his 56th birthday – allowed three hits and two earned runs in 1
1/3. The Knights had two walks and added three more runs off 22-year-old
reliever Sheldon Smith, after the first out in the fifth and final inning.
Richmond’s offensive success came through a mixture of fine hitting, poor
pitching, fielding errors and the ‘manufactoring’ of runs, typified by
their first inning.
Leading off, Euan Shields reached when third baseman James Cane fumbled
his ground ball. He took second base on catcher’s indifference and was
bunted to third by Whittaker. Ryan Bird’s line drive over the second
baseman scored Shields. With one out Bird stole twice and came home on
Simmons’ wild pitch. Later, no. 5 batter Andy Nickerson came in on
McKeon’s double to left field.
The Knights added to their lead relentlessly, scoring in every inning.
Notably, Naumzcik hit the only homerun of the weekend on the main diamond,
a two-run shot to the short right field porch in the fourth inning which
took the score to 8-0. The pitcher led the team with three RBIs in the
game.
The mercy rule kicked in at an apt time as events were turning woeful for
Essex in the fifth. Left fielder Bill Marchant dropped Bird’s flyball,
loading the bases with one out and Smith walked in Shields for Richmond’s
ninth run. A single to left by Nickerson drove in Gary Rens and Bird to
end the torture for Essex and win Richmond Knights their first national
title.
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