Baseball Softball UK Inter-University Baseball Spring Cup

The Imperial Falcons participated in the BSUK Inter-university Baseball Spring Cup over the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd of March with a team composed largely of newcomers and achieved a respectable third place finish after close losses to the top two teams.

The Falcons opened up their campaign with a rousing 15-6 demolition of the UCL Capitals with a strong pitching performance from freshman pitcher Zack Wang. The team also put up a good offensive showing with 6 hits and 8 walks drawn. The huge win put the Falcons in first place overall going into the second game against the Nottingham Thieves who had earlier been routed by the University of East Anglia Blue Sox 17-7.

The second game got off to a good start with the Falcons cycling through the entire batting order for 4 runs off 2 walks and 4 hits from Matt, Stephane, Ashley and Zack. One more run would have scored but third batter Rhys was tagged out at home in an attempt to steal. The Thieves then put up a strong batting performance and capitalized on Falcon errors to score 3 runs and get back in the game. The second inning saw the Falcons extend the lead by 1 run before closing out the inning in style with ace pitcher Vincent Li putting up a monster performance with 2 strike outs to give the Falcons their first 1-2-3 inning. The third inning saw the Falcons pile on more pressure with shortstop Ashley leading off with a massive ground rule double that was centimeters shy of a homerun. Vincent and club president Chris Carter then drove in 2 more runs to give the Falcons a commanding 4 run lead. The Thieves responded well however and answered with 3 runs of their own to bring themselves back in the game. The fourth inning proved to be the most disastrous one yet for the Falcons, as they failed to score any runs and committed multiple errors to allow the Thieves to score 5 runs and take the lead which they did not relinquish for the rest of the game. Despite a huge 2-run homer from Zack in the top of the sixth, the Falcons fell to a 10-15 defeat, putting them in second place going into the final round-robin game against tournament favourites, the UEA Blue Sox.

After a much needed rest, the Falcons were back in action on Sunday against the Blue Sox. The Falcons exploded out of the gates with a massive 8 run top of the first to instantly take a commanding lead against the Blue Sox. Ace Vincent then held the Blue Sox offense to 3 runs to give the Falcons a 5 run cushion. However, the Blue Sox then stepped up their game and showed their credentials as tournament favourites to score 19 runs while holding the Falcons to none in subsequent innings. A late pitching switch by the Blue Sox allowed the Falcons to notch up some more runs for a respectable 18-24 scoreline as the Falcons fell to third place in the tournament standings.

Following a walkover over the UCL Capitals in the third place play-off, the Falcons emerged as overall third in the Spring Cup. Despite the disappointing showing, the Falcons showed their strong potential with newcomers Alex, Stefan, Rhys and Monal putting up strong performances in the field and on the plate. With the strong improvements made despite a limited training schedule, the Falcons are confident of better results in the coming year as the team looks forward to the BSUK Inter-university Softball tournament on Saturday (29th March).