Archers Game reports
Essex Archers 14-6 Richmond Dragons
Sunday 23rd August 2009
***** "A" League Play-Off *****
By Kevin Bonner.
The Essex Archers marched into the Final 4 Play-Off weekend with a convincing victory over the Richmond Dragons at Townmead on Sunday.
This was the first post-season appearance in the team’s history and all the ingredients that made their regular season so successful were on display, from their patience and timely hitting to great pitching, the Archers were in unstoppable form.
There was a great buzz around the Archers, with a mixture of about 60% excitement and 40% nerves, Manager Darren Ludlow handed the big game start to big Jeff Summers, and he would turn in a masterful display and produce, arguably, the finest pitching performance of his career.
There wasn’t the array of flash bulbs you get in a MLB post season game to accompany the first pitch, but it was a first pitch any Major League starter would have wanted to start a big game, strike 1, and Summers proceeded to send down the first batter he faced on strikes to give his team the perfect start.
The visitors did manage 2 hits in the opening frame, but Summers and the now infamous Archers infield defence managed to limit any damage and escape the inning without any runs scoring.
The Archers bats were just waiting to explode into action in the bottom half of the first, but a patient approach was the order of the day early on, as Dragons starter Woosung Kim and his team allowed the first 6 batters to reach base, with big Jeff collecting the first RBI in Archers play-off history with a bases loaded walk, as a total of 4 runs crossed the plate to give the home team the perfect start.
Top of the 2nd, and after lead-off man Anthony Foot had reached on an error, Summers proceeded to bear down, and show the sort of performance and stuff that the Archers have now become accustomed to during the 2009 season, as both Nicholas Hadley and Grant Bridge went down swinging, and Joby Thomas popped up to end the inning and leave the scoreboard reading 4-0 Archers.
A mixture of timely hitting and heads up base running was to thank in the bottom half of the 2nd, as an Aaron Sneesby single chased home Shane Wodzynski, and Darren Ludlow laced a double into the outfield to score Sneesby, leaving Rich Sprent one of his favourite weekend tasks to take care of - bringing in a run - and his RBI groundout allowed Ludlow to touch home plate and leave his team with a 7-0 lead after only 2 innings.
Into the 3rd, and the visitors got themselves on the scoreboard, with Allan Moffat hitting a double and later scoring, but as so many times this season, the Archers managed to limit the damage and found a way out of the inning allowing only the 1 run, and still maintaining a healthy lead.
The bottom half of the 3rd really broke the game open, as the first 4 Archers reached base, with a Billy Marchant single scoring Ben Sayer, before Sneesby again delivered at the plate with a 2 RBI double to put the Archers into double figures, and Sneesby himself would also score as Jeff Summers just rolled into the batters box to deliver a sac fly RBI and leave the home team leading 12-1.
The Dragons did their best to respond in the 4th, scoring 2 runs on 3 hits, and the Archers bats started to calm down, as Richmond relief pitcher Per Nilsson Eklof began to quiet the Essex offense in both the 4th and the 5th innings, but Summers himself had one of his best innings in the top half of the 5th, striking out Nicholas Hadley for the 2nd time in the game to leave himself in line for the win, as the Archers lead 12-3.
After the visitors had added another run in their half of the 6th, the Archers finally got the better of Eklof, as Ludlow reached on an error to start the inning and a Rich Sprent single highlighted a 2 run inning, which left the home team with an 11 run lead, and because of the leagues’ 10 run slaughter rule, left the Archers only 3 outs away from their seemingly improbable, at the seasons out set, appearance in the Final 4 in Croydon.
Big Jeff climbed back up onto the mound to begin the 7th, but to their credit, the Dragons refused to be slayed at the earliest possible moment, and proceeded to score the run they needed to keep the game going, and Summers day was done, as he left the mound to warm applause from the sidelines, safe in the knowledge he had delivered a great start and more to his team, he was passed by Archers closer Jed Oliver, who entered the action determined to quash any ideas that Richmond had of an unlikely comeback.
But with the bases loaded and 2 out Oliver was helped out hugely by first baseman Ludlow, who ranged into foul territory to take a great catch and secure the 3rd out of the 7th inning, leaving the bags full of Dragons, and also just possibly leaving the visiting dug out with the thought that their fire was all but extinct in the 2009 season.
With the score at 14-6, the Archers knew that 2 more runs in the bottom of the 7th would finish the game, but that was easier said than done against a now dominant Eklof on the mound for the visitors, and the Archers couldn’t muster anymore offense in either the 7th or 8th.
Not that it was a huge concern, as the Archers had Jed Oliver now in full swing and back to his un-hittable best, having already sent the Dragons back to their bench with 0 runs in the 8th, he went to he mound in the 9th knowing that his team were just 3 outs away from the promised land of the Final 4, and after Nicholas Hadley had walked the Archers fearsome infield turned a great double play to leave themselves just 1 out away.
Joby Thomas will be the answer the trivia question ‘who made the last out when the Archers made the Final 4 in 2009’ as his ground ball to Jed Oliver at the mound was easily fielded and it couldn’t have been scripted any better, as he fired the ball to Darren Ludlow at 1st for the 27th and final out of the game, and the Essex Archers, the same Essex team who hadn’t ever had a winning season, never had a .500 record, played with sometimes 7, sometimes only 8 players in seasons past, had just made the Final 4 - bring it on.......
Other Notes.....
Shane Wodzynski scored 3 runs whilst also catching the whole game behind the plate in the 32 degree heat.....Aaron Sneesby led the Archers with 3 RBI.....Darren Ludlow scored 3 runs and had 2 RBI.....and a special mention to Ashley Richardson, who despite not getting into the game, stayed until the end to join in the celebrations with his team.
Archers Line-Up (replacements in brackets):
P - Jeff Summers(Jed Oliver)….C - Shane Wodzynski.....1B - Darren Ludlow.....2B - Ben Sayer.....3B - Simon James.....SS - Aaron Sneesby.....LF - Rich Sprent.....CF - Billy Marchant.....RF - Kevin Bonner.<>
Sunday 26th July 2009
Essex Archers 12 - 4 Braintree Rays
By Kevin Bonner.
The Essex Archers continued their march towards post season baseball, with a convincing win over local rivals the Braintree Rays in Waltham Abbey on Sunday.
It was a display of good defence and timely hitting from the home side as they notched their 6th consecutive victory, and improved to 9-2 on a season that many may not have believed would have been possible only 12 months or so ago.
Veteran Jeff Summers got the start on the mound for the Archers and he seemed to apply a new approach to his pitching this particular afternoon, he decided to allow a couple of runners on base - and then skillfully pick his way through a potential mine field of Rays - and he did this to good effect in the home half of the first, as with runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs, he struck out the Rays No. 3 hitter Trevor Pudney, and then succeeded in getting the next Rays batter to ground into an inning ending double play, with first basemen Kyp Coudounas firing a bullet to catcher Billy Marchant, who took great delight in applying the tag right in front of Umpire Darren Ludlow - and the eagle eyed umpire called the out and the inning was over without any damage.
The Archers got themselves into the lead (where they would stay all afternoon) in their half of the first, as Aaron Sneesby and Summers walked and advanced their way round the bases to both eventually score after some indifferent defence from the visiting side, and the Archers led by 2-0 after the first.The Archers defence was again on hand to turn their 2nd double-play of the day in the 2nd inning, and another patient inning at the plate from the home team saw them tack on 2 more runs to lead by 4-0 after the 2nd, and once again in the 3rd the now dominant Archers infield saw to it that the Rays' Daniel Grimwood would be punished for trying to take the extra base and he was out at 2nd to end the visitors hopes of troubling the scorers in the top of the 3rd.
The home team added 2 more runs in the bottom of the 4th, as base running pest Billy Marchant stole 2nd and 3rd, and he and Aaron Sneesby would both eventually score after the big unit from Beantown Summers strolled into his office at the plate and laced a 2 out, 2 RBI double in what was clearly another attempt from the Archers big number 70, who is as versatile as an egg on the diamond, to pad his MVP type numbers on the season, and leave his team with a 6-0 lead through 4 innings at Townmead.
But the Egg cracked a little, as probably did Scott Coe's ribs, as Summers delivered the traditional hit batsmen to the unfortunate Ray (with big Jeff and his love for the (accidental of course) hit batter its like going to see you favourite band and them not playing the number 1 hit you love, if you didnt see the old 'hit by pitch' in the scorebook then you would be slightly disappointed) and eventually Coe would score the Rays 1st run of the game, but the Archers infield again stole the show with another out at the plate, this time the Rays had again failed to notice that SS Aaron Sneesby can throw pretty well (pretty f@£%ing hard that is!) and C Billy Marchant loves to tag out a runner at home, and the 2 combined to end the visitors half of the 5th.
Top of the 6th and Summers was again in tip-toe mode, as somehow the Rays failed to plate a runner despite getting 5 hits in the inning, as (i'm sorry but i've run out of superlatives!) the Archers infield continued to come up with ways of getting outs on the bases, as a force out and a tag at 3rd delivered the last 2 outs of the inning, to again leave the visitors longingly looking at the scoreboard and wondering quite how they didn’t have more than 1 run to show for their efforts.
Big Jeff then again displayed the one facet of the game his nation calls their 'national pastime' he has failed to master - base running - as with his now legendary adventures earlier in the season on the bases firmly entrenched in everyone's memory - Jeff got himself safely to 2nd in the bottom of the 6th, only to nod off on the bases again and be picked off by new Rays pitcher Wes Seymour, the man is a 1 man highlight and gag reel all rolled into 1, and he finished his work on the mound with a line of 6IP 0ER to once again clasp another finger onto the awards night trophies.
The home team then unleashed Jed Oliver from the bullpen in the 7th, and he was virtually un-hittable and proceeded to put out any lingering hopes the visitors had of mounting a late rally, inducing yet another double play ball for the Archers infielders to devour and leave them just 6 outs away from win number 9.
Despite having only 1 hit in the 8th, Braintree did manage to add 3 runs, but the Archers responded with 3 of their own in the bottom half of the inning and restoring their 8 run lead.
Oliver finished the game off in the top of the 9th, striking out 2 more Rays to put the win in the books for the surging Archers, who now face Southampton this coming Sunday with a chance to move into double figures on the win column....who would have thought it.
Other Notes....
Billy Marchant stole a bucket load more bases whilst going 2-4 with 2 runs scored.....Kypros Coudounas scored a run whilst also playing great defence and heads up baseball at 1B.....The Richardson family (Paul and Ashley) combined to score a quarter of the Archers Runs....and finally Umpire Darren Ludlow admitted after the game that he had lost his ability to judge height and distance on a regular basis to a satisfactory standard - "I remember having it when I left home and I definitely used it in the early parts of the game" he said "but I just seemed to lose a grip on it a certain times during the day, particularly whenever someone over about 5 foot came to bat" This is a serious issue and if anyone has any information about the whereabouts of Darren's sound judgment could they please contact him asap.....
Archers line-up (replacements in brackets):
P – Jeff Summers(Jed Oliver), C – Billy Marchant, 1B – Kyp Coudounas(Jeff Summers), 2B – Paul Richardson(Sam Oliver), 3B – Simon James(Shane Wodzyski), SS – Aaron Sneesby, LF – Joe Toms(Ashley Richardson), CF – Kevin Bonner, RF – Paul Terry(Rich Sprent).
Sunday 19th July 2009
Essex Archers 16-6 Old Timers (7 innings)
NEW FACES YIELD SAME OLD RESULT
By Jeff Summers
There’s a new sheriff in town. Actually, there are six of them.
On a chilly and intermittently damp Sunday, the Essex Archers met the Old Timers with a crop of new starters. Could the Archers be trying to mirror the success of the Arrows by shifting personnel? Says 10 year old first baseman Kyppito Juanito Raul George Michael Coudounas, “I don’t theenk so, Senor.”
The Archers took the opportunity to try out the DH rule, and Ricardo ‘Big Sprenti’ hit for the G Bus, who got his third start of the year. Little G got off to another strong start, with the only hit of the inning coming from a pitch too far inside. The hit batter was knocked home on a fielder’s choice. The Archers continued their own tradition of a good first inning at the plate, scoring three runs with hits coming from Jose Toms and Big Sprenti.
There was no scoring for either side for the next two innings as the defences clamped down. Both starters were showing good control and hitters seemed impatient. The Old Timers managed a run off an error in the fourth, and the Archers, also aided by a fielding error, came back with three more runs of their own.
The Old Timers managed to score two more runs off of errors in the top of the fifth, leaving Jeebus to figure out how his current no-hitter had allowed 4 runs to this point. The Archers plated three more runs in the bottom half of the fifth on some nice hitting and a few fielding errors.
The Archer defence sharpened up again in the sixth and shut out the visitors. They managed only one run themselves after making substitutions in the home half.
The Old Timers finally got through to Jeebus in the seventh, breaking up his no-hitter and scoring twice. The Archers needed six runs to end the game early. ‘Unito G’ Summers and Shazus Wodzynski led off with back to back doubles, and Simon ‘Che Greviras Injuries’ James tripled later on to lead a 6 run explosion to trigger the slaughter rule.
Other Notes....
El Special was robbed of a hit by a catcher’s interference call…Toms led the team with 4 steals…Big Sprenti led the team with 3 hits.
Archers line-up (replacements in brackets):
P – Jed Oliver, C – Shane Wodzynski, 1B – Kyp Coudounas(Jeff Summers), 2B – Ben Sayer(Darren Ludlow), 3B – Simon James, SS – Sam Oliver(Aaron Sneesby), LF – Ashley Richardson, CF – Joe Toms, RF – Leslie Allweis(Kyp Coudounas).
Sunday 5th July 2009
Essex Archers 29-19 London III (8 innings)
Jeebus Saves Bacon, Summers Cycles With Salami
By Jeff Summers
On a hot, sticky day that saw the Archers survive a wake-up call, Jed ‘Jeebus’ Oliver earned the first Archers save of the season, and Jeff Summers hit for the cycle, going 5 for 7 and hitting his second Grand Slam of the season.
Darren Ludlow, the former mound workhorse of years past, made his first start of the season and, after beaning the first batter he faced, quickly dispatched the Marauders in the top of the first, aided by a timely double play and a gentle breeze that buffeted his gravity ball around the strike zone. The Archers hitters took full advantage of Marauder fielding errors and managed 2 runs from no hits.
Ludlow settled in properly in the second, giving up no walks or hits and striking out 2 for his second scoreless inning. The London defence tightened up in the bottom half and made the Archers hit their way to 2 more runs.
Ludlow came out sharp again in the third, putting another goose egg on the board. The Archers were playing well in the field and making the routine plays. At the plate they benefited from a slew of free passes and picked up another 3 runs.
On this Independence Day weekend, it was in the fourth, appropriately, that the fireworks nearly kicked off. Ludlow, his strike zone shrinking to the size of a Susan B. Anthony silver dollar, was perhaps one or two more walked batters from a full fledged head explosion. He walked 6 and plunked a batter before finally coming out with the score 8-7 to the Marauders. He was replaced by Summers, who put out the fire but would later have mound problems of his own. Mercifully, the Archers responded immediately with uncharacteristic patience and allowed the London side to walk them around the bags as well, scoring 7 runs in the process. All told there were 15 walks total in the 4 th inning…
Summers found the top of the fifth inning frustrating as the Marauders tacked on 8 runs off of 4 hits and 2 errors. Fortunately the Archers again responded with 6 runs on 4 big hits, 3 quick steals, and 2 London errors. Not a pear tree in sight.
Summers was chased quickly in the top of the sixth for his shortest outing of the year with a 20-16 lead, leaving two base runners and the tying run in the on deck circle and no outs. Jeebus quickly beaned a batter of his own, loading the bases, and then shut the London side down, allowing only 1 run to score and striking out 2. Essex made 2 hits and a sac fly count and scored 2 runs.
Jeebus mixed wild pitches into his deadly rain of knuckleballs and fastballs and only allowed one run while striking out 3. The London side, playing much better than their record suggested, was still within 4 runs of the Archers and still looked to try and steal the game. Manager Ludlow loudly implored his players to put the Marauders away. A few walks, a hit batter, a single, and a Slam later, the Archers closed the frame 9 runs up and drove the dagger home.
The Marauders were only able to get one more run off of Jeebus in the eighth. The Archers made quick work of applying the slaughter rule, with Ben Sayers driving in the winning runs.
Other Notes....
Shame Wodzynski led the team with 6 of the team’s 25 steals. Summers led the team with 5 hits, 5 runs scored, and 7 RBIs. Ben Sayer also tripled, driving in 2 runs. There were 9 hit batters in the game.
Archers line-up (replacements in brackets):
Darren Ludlow – P, Shane Wodzynski – C, Jeff Summers 1B, Dave Martin(Ben sayer) – 2B, Jed Oliver – 3B, Aaron Sneesby – SS, Rich Sprent – LF, Kevin Bonner(Billy Marchant) – CF, Paul Terry(Joe Toms, Leslie Allweis) - RF
Sunday 21st June, 2009
Essex Archers 27-2 Braintree Rays (7 innings)
ARCHERS WITNESS SECOND COMING OF JEEBUS
By Jeff Summers
On a cloudy Summer Solstice the Essex Archers unleashed Jed ‘Jeebus’ Oliver on their unsuspecting opponents. It was the bad luck of the Braintree Rays, already missing some key players, to be the first to encounter the Jeebus Juggernaut.
Jeebus, finally healthy after his fight with a doorway, ascended the Mound and fired his brimstone, and before you could say ‘Holy Fastballs, Batterman!’ he was Robbin’ the Rays of at bats, striking out the side in a 1-2-3 inning. The Archers bats rose to the challenge and gave him a five run cushion.
Jeebus continued to get Biblical on the Rays in the 2nd, going 1-2-3 and again smiting out the side, and again the Archers responded at the plate, scoring another 4 runs. Power hitter Jeff Summers got the first of his 3 extra base hits in the inning, and strikeout specialist Kyp Coudounas collected his 2nd of four hits. Jeebus continued his roll through the 3rd, but the Archers were unable to plate a run despite hitting a triple. Perhaps they were saving their energy for the next inning? Braintree broke the shutout in the 4th with an unearned run, but the real news was the Archer’s hitting. The home side batted around twice and scored 16 runs on 10 hits, with Simon James getting on base 3 times in the frame on a hit and 2 walks. The bats all but went quiet for both sides down the stretch. Paul Terry just missed his first hit of the season when a solid, opposite field line drive was snagged by the Rays shortstop. Unlike last week’s 7 inning meltdown, the Archers managed to keep their heads in the game and the slaughter rule ended the game 27-2 after 2 and a half hours of play.
Other Notes....
Jeebus’s 5 hit complete game was his first and the 3rd complete game thrown by Archer’s pitching this year and was the second lowest hits given up (3), and his 14 strikeouts the highest single game total this year. Ben Sayer led the team with 4 RBI. Aaron Sneesby led the team with 3 steals.
Archers line-up (replacements in brackets):
P – Jed Oliver, C – Shane Wodzynski, 1B – Jeff Summers, 2B – Ben Sayer (Simon James), 3B – Darren Ludlow, SS – Aaron Sneesby, LF – Rich Sprent (Paul Terry), CF – Simon James (Dave Martin), RF – Kyp Coudounas (Leslie Allweis)
Sunday 14th June, 2009
ARCHERS PULL LAST MINUTE ACE ON MAVERICKS
Essex Archers 18-13 Guildford Mavericks
by Jeff Summers
The Essex Archers took the field on a beautiful June Sunday, trying to put their recent frustrating loss to the Blazers behind them. They faced a Guildford team boasting an identical 3-2 record and knew they had to get down to business.
Jeff Summers started on the mound with the usual strong defence behind him, and the Archers shut the Mavericks out of the scoring line, stranding 3 runners, in the top of the first. Out came the Essex bats, and the home team hit and stole their way to five big first inning runs. There were 5 steals in the inning as Essex found they could grab bonus bags at will. They would steal another 17 by the end of the game.
The Mavericks failed to score in the second, stranding 2 runners, or in the third, stranding another 3. Summers was living dangerously but the defence and a few timely Ks kept the shutout going. Essex plated 8 runs total in the second and third on great team hitting and running.
The Mavericks got on the board in the 4th off of 2 hits and a fielding error, but the Archers came right back with 2 of their own in the bottom of the frame. Summers got his only three up three down in the top of the 5th, and the Archers managed 2 more runs in the home half of the inning. However, the Maverick pitcher, tired as he must have been, was starting to get a second wind.
Neither team scored in the sixth with both pitchers bearing down. Going into the 7th the Archers were leading 17-2 and the home team players were mentally done and showered. This proved to be a mistake.
The top of the 7th saw a tired Jeff Summers trying to finish what he started. The inning started innocently enough, with the Mavericks getting 3 runs at the expense of two outs. The last out proved very difficult, however, and by the middle of the 7th Summers was on the bench, Jed Oliver on the mound, and the Archers in full meltdown. The score was still 17-11 to the home team, but the momentum had completely switched directions.
The Archers managed one run in the bottom of the 7th off the suddenly rejuvenated Maverick lefty and gave up 2 more in a tense top of the eighth. They couldn’t manage a hit in the home half and may have been the most nervous team in history to ever take a five run lead into the ninth inning.
But the Archers dug deep. Losing may have been a habit other years, but this year they knew how to win, finishing the game with another 1-2-3 inning.
Other notes....
The starting 3-4-5 hitters had 9 hits, 10 runs, and 10 RBI. Shane Wodzynski had 7 steals and Billy Marchant had 6.
Archers Team (replacements in brackets):
P – Jeff Summers (Jed Oliver)…..C – Billy Marchant…..1B – Darren Ludlow (Simon James)…..2B – Ben Sayer (Andy Christoforou)…..3B – Shane Wodzynski…..SS – Aaron Sneesby…..LF – Kypros Coudounas (Joe Toms)…..CF – Paul Richardson (Dave Dillon)…..RF – Leslie Allweis (Sam Oliver)
Sunday 17th May, 2009
BOYS OF SUMMERS CONTINUE WINNING WAYS
Essex Archers 32-4 Herts Raptors
By Kevin Bonner.
The Essex Archers continued their impressive start to the 2009 season and moved to a 3-1 record by defeating the Herts Raptors 32-4 on Sunday afternoon.
Jeff Summers continued his Babe Ruthian type start to the season, pitching a complete game 3 hitter allowing only 1 earned run, whilst striking out a career high 12 in the process, and as if that wasn’t enough he also added 9 RBI which included an inside the park grand slam to put the icing well and truly on the cake.
The Archers got off to the perfect start against the developing Raptors, as a patient approach at the plate and some heads up baseball resulted in the visitors plating 5 runs in their half of the first, 4 of them coming with 2 outs in the inning.
Summers then took to the mound, and although he didn’t have his best stuff early on, managed to steer himself through the inning, striking out the last 2 batters of the inning to leave 2 Raptors stranded on the bases.
The visitors added another run in the 2nd, and Summers again managed to negotiate his way through a potential jam, to again strand 2 base runners and escape with no runs allowed.
The Archers continued to add to their advantage in the 3rd inning, Rich Sprent doubled and later scored and Sam Oliver helped to keep the line moving, adding an RBI single to help push the Archers lead to 8 by the middle of the 3rd inning.
The home side got themselves on the board in their half of the 3rd, scoring 2 runs, but they would have to wait until the 6th inning to do so again as the visitors broke the game wide open in the 5th frame, scoring 11 runs and putting themselves in an unassailable position as the home side failed to prevent the steady stream of Archers from reaching base and scoring to leave the score at 22-2 after 5 innings.
The last defining moment of the game came in the top of the 7th inning, when Jeff Summers hit an inside the park grand slam as part of another big inning, with 6 more Essex runs crossing the plate to give them a huge 28 run lead and also their largest victory in team history.
The last of the 7th was a formality for the Archers and confirmed their 3rd win of the season after a game played in a great spirit by both teams, and credit must also go to the Raptors for their persistence and commitment in a gruelling game lasting nearly 4 hours
.
Other Notes.....
Baseball was played all around the world over the weekend, from Atlanta to Amsterdam, but it was highly unlikely any other diamond in the world witnessed what was seen in the top of the 5th inning at Grovehill Park on Sunday.
Hall of Famer Joe Morgan said on Sunday Night Baseball on Sunday that there was no such thing as a ‘5 tool’ player in baseball, but that you needed a 6th tool to be successful in the game – a good head on your shoulders and clear thinking was the other ingredient you needed he said, well sadly Jeff Summers must have left that 6th tool at home in the shed on Sunday!
To set the scene – the bases were loaded, Shane Wodzynski on 3rd, Aaron Sneesby on 2nd and the beloved Bostonian Jeff Summers on 1st after reaching on an error, so the bases are loaded, every bag occupied, an Archer everywhere possible, nowhere for any base runner to advance to, and with Simon James at the plate he took ball one – as the pitch reached the catcher’s glove the watching Archers players on the bench had to pick their jaws up off the ground as they looked up to see Summers heading off from first base at full speed, eyes firmly focused on swiping second base, as he arrived he was greeted by a surprised looking Aaron Sneesby – the man from the land where baseball is the national pastime – had seemingly not noticed the collection of his team mates that were occupying the other bases! Crucially Summers didn’t actually pass Sneesby at the bag and he finally realised what he had done as the Raptors defense struggled to decide where to throw the ball (and fairly so – it’s not a play that gets practiced very often!) and big Jeff headed back to 1st, where he arrived just in time to beat the throw! So technically he stole 2nd and then proceeded to steal back 1st base!! Debate then raged on how to score it! One steal? Two Steals? One steal and then one back the other way = 0 steals? But all in all a truly memorable moment, that whatever else happens in the 2009 season, will not be forgotten.
Other (Genuinely good baseball) Notes:
Rich Sprent hit 2 monster shots to the fence which both just missed leaving the park.....Billy Marchant swiped 6 bases and scored 4 runs.....the top 4 in the order scored half of the Archers total runs.....all 3 of the Archers bench players reached base and scored runs.....numbers 6 and 7 in the line up went 8-11 with 7 runs and 8 RBI.
Archers Team (Replacements in brackets):
C – Billy Marchant.....1B – Darren Ludlow (Simon James).....2B – Ben Sayer (Dave Martin).....SS – Aaron Sneesby.....3B – Shane Wodzynski.....LF – Rich Sprent.....CF – Kevin Bonner.....RF – Sam Oliver (Paul Terry).....P – Jeff Summers
Essex Archers 11-12 Richmond Dragons
by Rich Sprent
The Archer’s made the trip to Ham Street for a clash with the Richmond Dragons in glorious sunshine. Jeff Summers continued on the mound and began the game in strong fashion. Both sides were shut out in the 1st inning leaving a runner on base each.
The 2nd inning began with both Darren Ludlow and Rich Sprent being walked. Ben Sayer then hit an RBI single closely followed by Sprent taking home on an error. Leslie Allweis got his first hit of the year with a drive to right field. The Dragons pulled a run back before the Essex side extended their lead to 3-1 in the 3rd. The Archer’s infield training drills paying off with two well performed ground outs helping Summers with a shut out inning.
Wodzynski, Sneesby and Summers all stole a base in the 4th and Summers batted in an RBI. The Dragons kept in touch with two runs leaving it a 1 run ball game going into the 5th. Sprent hit a double to centre field on a full count after facing 10 pitches. Marchant then also doubled with the Archer’s catcher driving in a RBI. Richmond stepped up the pace putting on 4 runs before an out was made finishing the inning with 8-6 lead.
A still injured Jed Oliver returned to the Archer’s side replacing Summers on the mound. He put in 1.1 innings of relief work striking out 4 batters. Although he fast ball was unplayable by Richmond in the strike zone it was his control that let him down walking 6 batters. Oliver then exchanged roles with catcher, Billy Marchant, who replaced him on the mound.
The Dragons extended their lead in the 6th scoring twice after Sprent had RBI’d Summers. Aaron Sneesby then hit a RBI single in the 7th before Marchant shut out the Richmond side striking out 3 batters.
The 8th saw the Essex side close to within a run. Again Marchant shut out the Dragons with help from excellent fielding by Shane Wodzynski completing a 5-3 double play. This left a tense finale with Richmond 10-9 up going into the 9th.
Sneesby tied the game up advancing to home on an error. Summers was then walked before stealing 2nd base, his third steal of the game. Simon James then drove Summers home giving the Archers a 11-9 lead.
Richmond had played a base running game all day and they added a further 3 stolen bases to bring their impressive total to 18 for the game. Coupled with 2 walks and 2 advances to home on wild pitches, this gave the home side a hard fought victory.
Other notes from the game....
Leslie Allweis with his first hit of the year; Billy Marchant hit two 2 RBI doubles and stole another 4 bases; Jeff Summers 4.1 Innings, 3 Earned runs, 5 BB’s, 4 K’s;Jed Oliver 1.1 Innings, 1 Earned run, 6 BB’s, 4 K’s; Billy Marchant 2.1 Innings, 2 Earned runs, 4 BB’s, 4 K’s;
Play of the day:
Shane Wodzynski capped a good performance at 3rd base with an excellent double play in the 8th tagging the runner at 3rd then making an excellent throw to 1st base to complete the play.
Next up for the Archer’s, who are now 2-1, is yet another road trip, this time over to Herts Raptors, 1-2. First pitch, Sunday 4pm.
C – Billy Marchant, 1B – Darren Ludlow, 2B – Ben Sayer, 3B – Shane Wodzynski, SS – Aaron Sneesby, RF – Leslie Allweis, CF – Simon James, LF – Rich Sprent, P- Jeff Summers.
Sunday 3rd May 2009
Essex Archers 13-10 Old Timers
by Rich Sprent
Essex started confidently driving in 3 runs in the first innings. Once on the mound, Summers settled down immediately with the 3 run cushion, shutting out the Enfield based side. This was the first of four shutouts for the big Bostonian.
It wasn’t just with the ball that Summers impressed. With the count at 1-0 in the third he hit a towering one run homer over left centre field giving the Archer’s a 5-2 lead.
The Old Timer’s knuckled down with some good infield defensive work, shutting out the Essex side in the 4th, 5th and 6th innings.
At the top of the 7th Short stop Aaron Sneesby got on base by error. Then up stepped Summers, again on a 1-0 count, The home side had employed a defensive shift against Summers with their Centre Fielder playing very deep and the 2nd baseman dropping into the outfield. This proved ineffective in this inning as Summers launched a dinger over and beyond the centre fielder giving him and Archer’s a 2 run home run and an 8-4 lead.
Just as important as Summers hitting was his pitching with a big shutout innings in the 8 th after the away side had run in 5 (soon to be) very important runs. Manager Darren Ludlow and Billy Marchant both were showing their athleticism by both stealing home. Marchant stole a total of 3 bases during the game adding to his impressive defensive game.
With the score at 13-6 at the bottom of the 9th, the Old Timer’s launched a last ditch counter offensive. 2 runs were quickly scored with 0 outs. The Essex side hit back getting 2 outs but at the cost of having the bases loaded. A hit to Left Field was dropped by replacement Rich Sprent allowing 2 runs to score.
There was now palpable tension being felt all across the ballpark with victory seeming so close. The Old Timers had nothing to lose and now had the tying run at the plate. Another aggressive swing looped the ball up to the left but this time the Archer’s rookie Left Fielder clung on to help Summers to his second win in as many games. Summer’s pitched a complete game allowing 6 earned runs, walking four batters but striking out six.
Other notes from the game: Darren Ludlow hit 4-6, Aaron Sneesby 3-5. Paul Terry was hit by a pitch.
Play of the day:
Billy Marchant, sprinting from centre field to virtually second base and sliding in to make a brilliant catch from a blooped hit.
Next up for the Archer’s, who are now 2-0, is another road trip, this time to down to Richmond to face Pool 3’s Dragons who are 2-1. First pitch, Sunday 2.30pm.
Archers Starting Line-Up
C – Shane Wodzynski, 1B – Darren Ludlow, 2B – Ben Sayer, 3B – Simon James, SS – Aaron Sneesby, RF – Paul Terry, CF – Billy Marchant, LF – Sam Oliver (replaced by Rich Sprent in 6th inning), P- Jeff Summers.
Sunday 26th April, 2009 (Opening Day)
ARCHERS HIT THE TARGET ON OPENING DAY
Braintree Rays 11-16 Essex Archers
By Kevin Bonner.
The Essex Archers got the new baseball season off to the best possible start on Sunday, by defeating their local rivals the Braintree Rays by the final score of 16-11.
The team claimed their first win under the new Archers name, introduced during the close season to give the 2 nd team in the Essex Baseball Club their own identity, and they didn’t wait long to put the first win in the books.
Manager Darren Ludlow had a mix of new and experienced players to choose from for the season opener, and elected to give a first career start to Jed Oliver, who in turn provided a very solid foundation for the Archers to stamp their authority on the game.
After the opening frames had passed, the Archers really began to show patience at the plate and capitalised on defensive indifference from the home team to plate 3 runs in the bottom of the 3 rd inning to give them a 3-2 lead.
The runs kept coming in the 4th frame, as timely hitting delivered 5 runs for the visitors, with the middle of the order proving a mine field for the Rays pitching staff to negotiate, with a selection of ground balls through the infield and well placed hits leaving the Archers with an 8-2 lead, and a growing sense of belief that the game was there for the taking.
Starting pitcher Jed Oliver departed with 1 out in the bottom of the 5 th, delivering 4 and 1/3 strong innings, and reliever Jeff Summers took to the mound and carefully made his way through the Braintree line-up over the coming innings, scattering only a few hits and locking down the Archers lead.
Top of the 7th inning and the Waltham Abbey based team were on the offensive again, bringing 6 runs across to score and breaking open the game in the process against a Rays team who were using the full extent of their large bench by this stage, but it was to no avail and once the dust had settled the Archers lead 15-8 after 7.
Summers closed out the game, his 4 and 2/3 inning performance in relief was one of his longest in recent memory, striking out the last batter he faced to put the icing on the cake and leave the newly named Essex team with a well earned victory, and give them their 2 nd opening day victory in the last 3 seasons.
Next up for the Archers is another road game against the Old Timers next Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for 2.30pm in Enfield.
Other notes from the game....
Debutant Rich Sprent had 3 hits and plated 2 runs in his first game for the club.....Shane Wodzynski caught all 9 innings behind the plate for the Archers.....Darren Ludlow had himself an adventurous day, mixing a few errors with some very timely hitting.....only 2 balls made it out of the Archers infield in the air all day.
Just to prove the ball did make it into Darrens glove
Archers Starting Line-Up
C – Shane Wodzynski, 1B – Jeff Summers, 2B – Ben Sayer, 3B – Darren Ludlow, SS – Aaron Sneesby, RF – Leslie Allweis, CF – Kevin Bonner, LF – Rich Sprent, P- Jed Oliver.