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Imperial win maiden Shield |
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Monday, 26 October 2009 17:44 |
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The British Universities Baseball Fall Shield tournament took place on Saturday, October 24, on the wide expanse of Nottingham's Grove Farm Park.
The Fall Shield acts as the Tier 2 sister tournament to the Universities Fall Cup, the early-term tournament that gives freshers a chance to experience competitive baseball and that took place in Hertfordshire on October 17-18.
Originally planned as a four-team event, eleventh hour withdrawals by the University of Brighton Panthers and the University of Leeds Oaks resulted in only two squads arriving in the East Midlands on a wet and windy Saturday morning. The University of Lincoln Commoners and the Imperial College Falcons are both playing their first full season of university baseball, and in a bid to keep the competition alive, it was agreed that the two institutions would battle for the Shield in a best-of-three series.
Game One
Game One was the first ever competitive baseball match played by a representative side from Imperial College, and what a start for them it turned out to be! Starting pitcher Hanson Cheung struck out the side in the top of the first inning before going on to punch out six of the first eight batters he faced. And the first-timers' bats fired early on as well, as Imperial put up three runs in the bottom of the first.
It was a lead that Imperial would not relinquish. Despite some defensive miscues late on, the Falcons held on for a maiden victory by a score of 12-7.
Game Two
Imperial College sent YY Chen to the mound to start Game Two. Pitching his first-ever baseball game, Chen settled down after allowing the first five Lincoln batters to reach base, leading to four runs in the top of the first inning. Imperial stormed back in the bottom of the inning, striking for 12 runs on six hits and gaining a lead they held throughout the game.
Lincoln did not give up without a fight however, scoring seven runs over the next three innings and cutting Imperial's lead down to just four runs. However, with offensive contributions coming from the whole Imperial line-up, that was as close as Lincoln would get. The decisive inning came when the Falcons scored six runs in the fourth inning, securing the Shield in the process.
Shuofei Dong had an impressive showing at the plate for Imperial College in this game, going 3-for-3, with two extra base hits and four RBIs.
Despite the obvious disappointment in having a considerably smaller event than planned, the two teams played with enthusiasm throughout. Windy weather and poor visibility as dusk was approaching certainly didn't help, but the teams played through it all, with good baseball and great tenacity being shown by both sides.
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Last Updated on Monday, 02 November 2009 15:25 |
