Blue Jays seen off by Kings
The Oxford Kings beat the Chiltern Blue Jays 13-12 in their first ever game in the Britiish Baseball Federation Senior League. Chiltern made a brisk start, taking a 5-2 lead after two innings following some unforced fielding errors.
In the third inning, first baseman Peter Teriete (St Cross) faked a throw back to pitcher Santo Bains (Keble). Thinking the pitcher had the ball, the player on first stepped off the base only to be tagged out by Teriete. Oxford scored three runs in the bottom of the third to tie the game 5-5.
Both sides pitched well over five innings. However, despite Chiltern changing pitchers, both sides struggled with pitching in the sixth inning as the score doubled to 12-11 for Oxford.
Daniel Adamson (Mansfield) and Bains hit doubles in the sixth that would have been home runs had the pitch been fenced like a major league ball park. The big hitter for Oxford, though, was novice Klaus Hachmeier (St Cross). Hachmeier hit the ball superbly four out of five times at bat, knocking down the pitcher on one occasion. On the running side, Teriete was top scorer with four runs.
Chiltern got the equivalent of a red card in the seventh and final inning. A player on third started for home at an inopportune moment only to have the Chiltern coach, standing nearby, throw him back on base. Umpire Andy Meigs chastised the coach and ruled the player out. However, Chiltern managed to score one run to stay alive at 12-12.
Richard Pan (Balliol) hit a single in the bottom of the seventh and made his way to third while Chiltern claimed two outs. Bains then his a grounder to third and hustled to first. Trying to obstruct the runner, the first baseman dropped the ball as the two made contact and Bains was declared safe. In the meantime, Pan ran home to score his third run, ending a thrilling game and starting the night's celebrations at Bar Oz.
The Kings take on the Bournemouth Sharks next weekend, keen to build on this early success.