Phew! Osborn’s scorcher stops Bucs’ sweep bid

by Michael Orpen-Palmer

CloseThe Brighton Buccaneers visited Finsbury Park, home of their arch rivals, the London Warriors, on 10 August — the day when record temperatures were recorded in the capital — for a double-header. Despite the searing heat, the teams treated the spectators to two very close and exciting games of baseball over a total of just under five hours playing time.

In the first match-up, starter Michael Close limited the fearsome Warriors offence to two runs on six hits in a repeat of a match-up against London’s ace Simon Pole, who had won a similar pitchers duel between the two in May.

The first of these London runs came in the bottom of the second, when first-baseman Craig Perry, who had reached on a fielder’s choice, rounded the bases on a double by left-fielder Colin Denver, that was slow in coming in from the outfield. London were not to even look like scoring again until the bottom of the seventh.

Brighton had already posted three runs in their half of the second inning. Centre-fielder Martyn Dutton led it off with a single to left field, and was moved up when Pole plonked second baseman Ben Gogan with the very next pitch. Up to the plate stepped unlikely hero — Louis Chesney — who drove a 1-1 pitch, into opposite field for a single, scoring Dutton. Gogan scored and Chesney went to second on Pole’s only wild pitch of the game. A sacrifice bunt by left fielder Mark Mills, and a base hit by shortstop Pat Austin made the score 3-0 as Chesney trotted home.

Gogan’s single in the sixth was the only other hit that the Bucs were to get against Pole for the rest of the game. They clung on to their precarious 3-1 lead as the two pitchers battled it out. Close faced only fourteen batters through the next four innings, during which Brighton only looked like threatening Pole on a couple of errors by London’s third baseman Michael Osborn, who was to be their hero in the second game.

In the last half inning of the first game, the tension mounted as London second baseman Alan Bloomfield led off with a single up the middle. He reached second base as Will Lintern tagged Perry at first; and third on a base hit by left fielder Colin Denver. A tiring Close then threw a wild pitch on which the runners advanced, scoring Bloomfield. With Osborn at the plate, Denver was picked off at third by an excellent throw by catcher Alex Malihoudis. Osborn hit a weak grounder toward third baseman Martin Stabe, whose wild throw to first sailed out of the field, placing Osborn at second with the potential tying run. But Osborn then made his own mental error by trying to steal on the very next pitch. Malahoudis, alert to the danger, threw a bullet to third to end the game.

Mills Coach Craig Savage elected to start Close again for the second game, but his hopes for the same level of dominance were dashed as London jumped out to an early lead, after Brighton had stranded two base runners in the top of the first. “Michael still felt strong; he proved it by what he threw, but was let down by the defence,” said Savage. “ Although I anticipated not letting him throw more than 40 more pitches, I realised that he still had his stuff and left him in. He got the job done. He has been magnificent for us all season.”

London’s lead-off batter, second baseman Alan Bloomfield, reached on a walk and was driven home on a two-base hit by Maurizio Mosca. Singles by Pole — now playing right field — and DH Grant Delzeppo saw Mosca home. Close came back with two strikeouts to end the threat. In the next half inning, Brighton drew level with two runs off Warriors starter Alan Smith. Again, a base-on-balls saw the lead-off batter, Ben Gogan, aboard. Gogan would score along with Martin Stabe, who reached on an error by Perry, after the Bucs laid down two sacrifice bunts and Pat Austin drove a ball to deep left for a double.

Errors by Stabe and Austin were to cost the Bucs dearly in the bottom of the inning, as the Warriors posted four runs, three of them unearned. It was poor reward for Close, who — despite having thrown more than150 pitches during the course of a sizzlingly-hot afternoon — recorded three strikeouts in this last inning of work. He was replaced by left-hander Mark Mills, who pitched three innings and gave up just one hit. Mills was aided by a great play by Gogan in the bottom of the third, which prevented Bloomfield’s hard-hit grounder from reaching the outfield.

During Mills’ tenure on the mound, the Bucs offence put three runs on the board. In the fourth inning Stabe scored again as Chesney produced his second clutch hit of the afternoon: this time a two-bagger to left field. In an unusual play, two runs then scored as shortstop Eric Pierzechala elected to throw to first to get batter Martyn Dutton. Excellent base running from second by Alex Malahoudis saw him beat the subsequent throw, as he joined Nick Carter at home plate.

Excitement mounted as Brighton first tied the score, and then took the lead in the top of the seventh inning. Close, now playing left field, led off with a single. Relief pitcher Martyn Dutton then stroked a double to left. After Gogan popped out and Stabe had drawn a walk, Chesney’s ground ball scored Close, who beat out the throw to the plate. A walk issued to Austin by London reliever Owen Smyth saw Dutton home to make the score 7-6 in Brighton’s favour.

In the bottom of the final inning, Michael Close provided another piece of excitement for the Buccaneers. Racing to the fence in deep left field, with his back to home plate, Close somehow managed to haul in a drive off the bat of Craig Perry for a dramatic first out. With the game on the line, Warriors manager Alan Smith sent in Osborn to pinch-hit for Margetts. Osborn responded by sending Dutton’s 2-1 pitch a bit farther over Close’s head for a screaming home run to left.

With the score now level, Bloomfield on base with a single, and two outs, the Bucs intentional walked both Simon Pole and Cody Cain to bring up Smyth, who had struck out in his four previous at bats. The ploy misfired as Smyth lined a pitch to right for his first hit of the day, to bring home the winning run.