Talons @ Spartans

This past Sunday, the reigning NEBL champions and current league leaders, set out to Staindrop to play their third series against the fourth-placed County Durham Spartans. Having swept the Spartans twice already this year, two more wins seemed a possibility, but some key setbacks for the Talons alongside an in-form Spartans side resulted in the two teams splitting the series. The Talons took game one 15-12, while the Spartans won game two 12-10.

In the week leading up to the series, captain and ace pitcher Paul Brown underwent knee surgery that rendered him unable to play. Meanwhile, the Talons’ other key starter, James Hacking, was also unavailable. This left the job down to Newcastle’s developing pitchers, Eliot Rosenstock, Chris Holland, and Ryota Kawase.

Rosenstock took the bump for game one, pitching an effortless 1-2-3 first inning. One strikeout and two clean plays in the infield made short work of the Spartans’ bats. In the bottom of the first the entire Talons lineup made an appearance, with three key singles and clever baserunning netting 6 runs.

The second inning was slightly tougher for Newcastle. The Spartans bats came out in force, scoring two runs and forcing Rosenstock to make a diving catch for the third out. A colossal home run by Ryota Kawase stretched the Talons lead to 7-2. The third inning was much the same as the last, as the Spartans brought in another two runs due to two close misses by the outfielders.

Coming into the fifth inning, it was 12-5 Talons. Some tough calls and well placed hits allowed the Spartans to score an additional 4 runs, but a stellar catch in right field by Hetherington ended the inning and prevented additional damage. The Talons went through the full batting order in the bottom of the inning to stretch their lead to 15-9.

In the final inning, Rosenstock and the infield worked hard to limit the runs, and after much effort were able to topple the Spartans.

Game one - Talons 15-12 Spartans

In game two Chris Holland stepped up for his second pitching appearance of the year. It was a tough first inning for Newcastle. Despite making two outs early on, including a spectacular catch in left field by Harrison Himelfield, the Spartans were able to make use of a tightly called zone to load the bases and bring around 7 runs, hitting the inning limit and forcing the change. Two walks in the bottom of the first seemed promising but some decisive strikeouts limited the Talons to only 1 run.

In the second inning, after another two runs by Durham, the Talons made a pitching change to Ryota Kawase who kept the score to 1-11. Newcastle’s bats were more successful, bringing in an additional 3 runs.

The third inning was phenomenal for the Talons. Kawase played the top of the inning almost single-handedly, notching his first strikeout, and sprinted to first base to secure the final out. Nine batters came up in the bottom of the inning to close in on the Spartans’ lead, making it 9-11 going into the fourth inning.

The fourth and final inning started strong, as the Spartans were only able to score one additional run. Left-fielder Himelfield made another amazing grab to bring up the Talons’ bats. Unfortunately, the fatigued Newcastle lineup could only send home one runner, giving the County Durham Spartans their first win of the year.

Game two - Talons 10-12 Spartans