Falcons do the double

The Imperial Falcons are back to winning ways after club President Dan Harris went 3 for 3 and Sidney Louzon hit a home run to fire Imperial to two victories against UCL. Following on from defeats against ULJS and a minor identity crisis after Felix thought we were the basketball team, the Falcons were back at their nest in Harlington for a double header against UCL. The Imperial supporters were out in force (there were three horses in the next field this time) for the Falcons’ first home game of the season. The first game began with both teams scoring runs in the first innings, as Dan led off with a base hit, with Sidney and Kevin “Movember” McDonald both getting RBIs. The Imperial defence then kept it tight for the next two innings, as pitcher Hajime Urata didn’t give up a single hit. Imperial tacked on another run in the third, putting us 3-2 up going into the fourth inning. After a pitching change by Imperial, UCL grabbed two runs to take the lead with no outs, but Imperial’s fielders recovered the situation to keep UCL’s lead to a minimum after three and a half innings. History was made in the bottom of the fourth innings as right fielder Chris Carter became the first player at the club to be hit in the head by a pitch. All were relieved that the batting helmets actually work, and even more so when Dan got another base hit, leaving us with two runners on base. A neat delayed steal tied the game up, and Dan came home on a ground-out to put Imperial in the lead. UCL now had to score to make Imperial bat again. Sidney, now our closing pitcher, struck out the first two batters meaning the Falcons needed only one out to end the game. UCL’s next batter got on base with a walk, then rounded the bases, only to be caught trying to steal home by catcher Marcel Ngan for the final out, completing a 5-4 win for Imperial. The Falcons opened the batting in the second game and were unlucky to end the first innings with three runners stranded on base, after hits by Kevin and Rory Thomas. Imperial then scored early in the second innings, followed by a monumental home run by Sidney in the third. The Falcons’ defence held firm, helped in no small way by the performance of “demon pitcher” Vincent Li (according to the UCL captain). After the top of the third innings, the game was appropriately called off for bad light, with UCL graciously accepting a 2-0 defeat. The opposition held their own, despite being inexperienced as a club, and both teams will have learnt from these games. Imperial’s performance was very promising, and we hope to build on these victories as we begin our league campaign against Oxford this week in the coming weeks.