Exiles Usurp Kings
The Oxford Kings lost a hard-fought and contentious game last Sunday to the London Exiles, 5-13.
Suffering their third consecutive defeat, the Kings were overpowered by Exiles pitcher Gary Guano, who recorded 16 strikeouts and allowed only six hits in nine innings of play. The ineffectiveness of the Kings' bats, together with another poor defensive showing, accounted for their loss.
The Exiles took an early lead in the top of the first, scoring two runs. In the bottom half of the inning, centrefielder Jason File scored on an error, closing the gap by half. However, the Exiles added a run in the third, 2 in the fourth, 1 in the fifth, and 3 in the sixth, capitalizing in each case on the Kings' fielding errors with strong hitting from the top of their lineup.
Trailing 1-9 but mounting an offensive in the latter innings, the Kings refused to succumb to the ten-run rule (whereby a team is declared winner if leading by ten runs or more after seven innings of play). In the bottom of the seventh, third baseman Richard Johnston reached first base on an infield hit, stole second, and scored on a line-drive to center by pitcher Masahura Egawa.
In the ninth, Johnston scored from second on a terrible throwing error by Exiles' catcher Patrick "Pattie" Klingass. Egawa walked and later scored on a skyscraping homerun by shortstop Santo Bains.
However, the ruling of field umpire Jason File was egregiously overruled by Exiles centrefielder Jak "Bushy" Falsmouth, who claimed that Bains' hit had landed in-play before bouncing into home run territory (and therefore was only a ground-rule double).
The argument that ensued stopped play for several minutes. By an arcane law (dating to the days prior to field umpires) when rulings could be made by outfielders, the Kings were obliged to concede the point. Bains returned to second, although Egawa's run was allowed to stand.
Despite the 5-13 loss, there were many points to be celebrated during the Kings' team barbecue at third baseman Peter Teriete's home following the game.
Masaharu Egawa struck out seven Exiles in just over seven innings of play, collected half of the Kings' six hits, and made a stunning defensive play at shortstop to end the Exiles' late offensive in the ninth. For these reasons, Egawa was voted "Man of the Match" by the Kings.
Jason File, Mathias Thomann, and Tom Evennett made excellent plays in the outfield, robbing the Exiles of some fine hitting. On the basepaths, Johnston stole four bases and scored 2 of the Kings' runs. Santo Bains extended his home run streak to 2 games (unofficial). Alex Carey gave another fine performance behind the plate.
Contributing to the Kings' efforts were rightfielder Peter Naumann, second baseman Chris Deverson, and rightfielder Ed Bird.
If the Kings keep up their excellent pitching and mend their sometimes patchy defence, they will pose a considerable challenge to the Croydon Pirates, whom they meet Sunday in Oxford for a doubleheader.
8th Jun 2001