Imperial Immigrants start season strongly

Last weekend was the BSUK National University Baseball Championships, one of the biggest baseball tournaments of the year. This time around it didn’t fail to provide drama as the Imperial Immigrants had many tough games but pushed on through.

The first match of the day was against London rivals UCL. After taking the lead with a run in the first UCL managed to get a few back due to some solid batting to take a 4-1 lead but the Immigrants weren’t going to let them run away with it. In the top of the second Imperial had scored three runs and had the bases loaded with only one out when baseball veteran but newly Immigrated Luke Looney hit a long ball past centre field for an impressive Grand Slam, immediately ending the inning on the mercy rule with two outs to spare. The game was far from over though as UCL were not going to go down without a fight, scoring another three runs in the net inning to bring the score to 8-7. It all came down to a nerve wrecking final inning and as the away team the immigrants had to survive an inning without conceding. Easier said than done, especially when there was the tying run on third; winning at second, and only one out. One strikeout later the pressure was eased but only slightly. UCL’s next batter managed to make contact but some good fielding allowed for a forced out to end the game.

The second game provided no less drama as Imperial took the early lead, but Nottingham somehow managed to minimise the gap and started the last inning three runs away from the tie. After scoring two in the bottom of the last inning they looked like they would be able to upset the Immigrants, but Immigrants don’t give up so easily. Again with the tying run on third with two outs the tensions were high, but more again the Immigrants held on for the win.

The final game of the group stage was also a close one against UEA, and while Imperial had taken the early lead they couldn’t quite hold on for a third victory. In the end the Immigrants still booked their place in the semi finals.

Returning on Sunday afternoon the Immigrants faced off against a strong Loughborough side who played some good baseball and some solid left handed pitching. Although Imperial made some solid contact and got a few hits in it wasn’t enough to overcome the would-be champions.

In the final match of the tournament the Immigrants had a different idea. Playing for third wasn’t going to ruin the afternoon for those who wanted to just enjoy themselves, so that’s exactly what they did against Nottingham, a team they had already defeated the day before. After team newcomer but baseball veteran Aíd pitched the first couple of innings things were switched up for the third where the positions were played around with so players could experiment on other parts of the field. Zayd, the team’s third baseman, was given his pitching debut while Stephane tried his hand at first base. The entire team was playing out of position for what would be two of the most enjoyable innings of UK baseball, even despite the confusion of some players in both dugouts. There was even a contender for play of the tournament when second baseman Min made an incredible diving stop to force the runner out at first to end the inning. The game eventually ended, but not before Zayd got his first strikeout.

While Nottingham may have won on paper the real winners were the Imperial Immigrants for making the most of the day and enjoying the game for what it is. Well done to the team who had some old faces but many new. President and captain Zack has started a great year alongside the very talented team GM Eduardo. Newcomer Alvaro did not fail to impress with some solid hitting, even getting a triple in one of the games, and Yuki who brought experience into the field to command first base like a pro.

The first of many, the fall tournament showed a team, who had just been assembled a couple of days before, displaying their true spirit and it will only get better with practice. Watch out because the Imperial Immigrants are a force to be reckoned with.