Wings are 2024 NEBL Champions
As summer turned to autumn, the 2024 NEBL regular season closed leaving one last game to play. Last Sunday our two Newcastle Nighthawks sides faced off in the 2024 NEBL Final to decide the premiers of the North East.
The last series between the two teams in August was a sweep for the Wings, who took game one 14-1 and game two 10-9 against the Talons. In the final standings the Wings edged out the Talons with a 0.5 game lead, allowing them to take home field advantage for the final. In contrast to the Wings’ upward trajectory of the preceding weeks, the Talons lost even more key players to injury including middle-infielder Cieran Sneddon, pitcher Eliot Rosenstock and outfielder Harrison Himelfield. Still, the Talons had a strong base of players to rely on, each pulling their weight and more on Sunday. The Wings, too, had lost a few stars including ace pitcher Zachary Lau.
When the day came the weather was perfect, grey skies, no wind, and bone dry. With the Talons up to bat first on the day, the Wings put Estil Peniche up on the bump. The top of the first was a one-sided affair as Peniche pitched a lights out 1-2-3 inning. Leadoff Phillips grounded out, as Voisey followed with a pop-up to left field. Reid, batting third, got caught looking to end the inning.
To take on the Wings’ lineup the Talons selected Chris Holland as starting pitcher. The bottom of the first inning was a more lively affair as Aaron Rook led with an explosive double. Luke Ellet followed with a walk, and both stole bases to keep up the pressure. Peniche launched one to centre-left to drive in the two runs. Two groundouts and a flyball back to the mound halted the Wings’ progress.
In the top of the second inning the Talons’ picked up the pace. Desmond Chan started with a well hit single, stealing second base within minutes. Catcher Alex Parchment followed with a walk and Holland with a single. Chan stole home to bring in the first run for the away side. Peniche locked in and secured two strikeouts. As Distin swung through strike three, Parchment made an attempt for third but got tagged out as he slid past the bag in a cloud of dirt.
Wings’ Catcher Richard Wilson hit a 3-2 fastball to shallow centre, tipped but not quite caught by right-fielder Hetherington, to start the bottom of the second. Alex Winter followed with a colossal double. Wilson stole home, and Adam Barker-Wyatt made a sacrifice play to drive in the second run of the inning. Centrefielder Voisey loped under a flyball from Rook to nab the second out. The third out, however, would not come for the Talons. Ellet hit a single, stole two bases and reached home on a passed ball, as Holland gave up four consecutive walks to load the bases and allow another run. After a lengthy mound visit, the Talons replaced Holland with Russell Phillips. The Wings batted around the order and Wilson reached first for the second time in the inning with a 3RBI single, the seventh run of the inning, forcing the change. The Wings’ exceptional patience at the plate made it a 9-1 ballgame going into the third.
With an eight-run difference, the Talons needed to act. Hetherington took an aggressive approach at the plate, out on a foul-tip strike three. Phillips also struck out swinging on an 0-2 count. Voisey reached base on an error by Peniche, but was tagged for the final out on a risky play to take home when Read launched the ball into the deep outfield.
The Wings lineup shone once again in the bottom of the third. Winter walked and scored with Barker-Wyatt’s second RBI of the day. Another single and walk followed shortly after. Carlos Francisco and Peniche both hit first-pitch doubles driving in two runs a piece, and Gianluca Lavorgna made it three doubles in a row. Wilson closed the inning with an RBI single that pushed the Wings over the seven-run scoring cap, as the Wings led 16-1.
The Talons came into the fourth inning strong. Chan blasted the ball into the deep outfield for an opening double. Parchment reached base due to an error by the first baseman, Pasquale Lavorgna. Holland was hit by pitch to load the bases. Courage struck out looking on a 2-2 fastball and Holland was caught out trying to steal second. Distin followed with a walk to load the bases again. Hetherington, too, was hit by pitch, sending one run home. Phillips walked to bring in the second run of the inning for the Talons. However, their comeback ended short as Voisey popped up to first to end the inning.
After a rocky first inning on the bump, Phillips came into the bottom of the fourth more measured. It was a quick and easy 1-2-3 inning for the Talons pitcher as he got the job done in only 6 pitches. Winter hit a grounder for the first out, followed by a pop-up from Barker-Wyatt, and another ground ball by Rook brought the inning to a quick end.
Alex Winter took the mound to relieve Peniche in the top of the fifth for the Wings. The closer gave up a single to Read on a full count, but quickly regained composure. Chan hit a flyball to shortstop and a grounder by Parchment resulted in the second out, although it did result in a fourth run for the Talons. Holland struck out to bring about the bottom of the inning.
Phillips continued to limit the Wings in the bottom of the fifth. Although conceding a full-count walk to Ellet, with only two pitches he secured the first out. Francisco popped on up for an amazing catch by Chan now in centre-field. Peniche reached base with a single but was caught off the bag, and a groundout ended the fifth with no runs scored for the Wings.
Winter came back on the mound for what was likely the most impressive pitching performance all game, with three back to back strikeouts. Courage and Distin both swung through strike three while Hetherington was caught looking at a motionless knuckleball.
The Wings offence got back in form for the sixth inning. P. Lavorgna started with a hard hit single and Wilson got his fourth single of the day. Winter hit a grounder for the first out, but Aidan McHugh, replacing Barker-Wyatt, walked on a full count to load the bases. Rook sent P. Lavorgna home with a single but Wilson was caught on the basepath home for the second out. Another single by Ellet was followed by a lineout directly to Talons’ shortstop Read to limit the damage.
Coming into the seventh and final inning the Talons had an incredible task in front of them. The Wings led the game 17-4. Things got off to a promising start for the away side as Phillips hit a single and Voisey walked to put two on base. Read got his third hit in a row with a powerful double that brought Phillips home. Chan hit the ball into the infield, bringing in a sixth run for the Talons, but was forced out at first. Parchment fell into the same trap, a ground ball into the infield for another out. With only one out to go and a runner on third the pressure was enormous for Holland. Holland made contact with the first pitch, sending it short for another groundout to end the game.
After a long and gruelling season, the Newcastle Nighthawk Wings secured victory in the 2024 NEBL Final. Despite injury and absence and a myriad of other problems, both teams left everything out on the field. The Player of the Game award went to Estil Peniche for his strong pitching performance through four innings and the Championship trophy was received by Alex Winter.