Jubilant Dukes celebrate walk-off win
Connare Field, Richmond, 5th June 2022
By Alvin Michael | alvinmichael.com | @AlvinMicWrites
On the last day of Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebration, Richmond Dukes had their own celebration with a dramatic walk-off win to round off a perfect day and take top spot in the BBF Single A South Central-B division.
Game 2 of the doubleheader versus Guildford Gold Cats was a slugfest from the outset that swung back and forth, and could have gone either way. Both sides showed patience at the plate, readily taking walks, and aggressively hammering pitches in the strike zone, launching hard hit balls through the gaps.
Guildford hit the ground running taking a 5-0 lead on the back of a Sam Beckwith (1B) double and a James Underwood (LF) single to centre field. Undeterred, Richmond roared back level in the bottom half of the 1st, with base hits by 1B James Guerra, 3B Toby Reynolds and 2B Luke Ellett. Dukes’ bats remained red hot in the 2nd inning. LF Andy Nendick, batting .850 for the season, knocked in two RBI off a double to left centre, and Reynolds added an RBI double helping Dukes to establish a lead for the first time in the game, 10-6.
Down but not out, Gold Cats fought back to retake the lead in the top of the 3rd. Base hits by Underwood and SS Hamish Carle, followed up with 4 back-to-back walks, scored the maximum 5 runs allowed per inning. Richmond manager Paul Tiley made some pivotal changes for the 3rd inning, bringing in Henry Slesser to 3B and Alvin Michael to 2B. Michael led off the bottom of the 3rd with a walk and came in to score on an RBI single up the middle by SS Dave Wrigley.
The game was now tied and delicately balanced heading into the 4th and final inning. James Guerra, now pitching, struggled to find the strike zone. Guildford capitalised, loading the bases and scored 5 runs aided by Underwood’s 3rd hit of the game. Great defence by Richmond saved them from haemorrhaging any more runs. An outfield assist from CF Sam Hofbeck to C Monty Nendick easily tagged out Thomas at home, and a leaping catch by Slesser from a bullet line drive at the hot corner got the final 2 outs.
Guildford had amassed a comfortable 16-11 lead which would test the home team’s fortitude. The pressure was on, but Richmond rose to it admirably with clutch performances at the plate throughout their line-up, taking full advantage of new pitcher, Harry Thomas, who couldn’t locate his pitches. Slesser started off the comeback with a single to centre field, and the next 5 batters walked scoring three and loading the bases. A pitching change did nothing to quell the Dukes behemoth. Sam Beckwith took over from Thomas for Guildford on the mound, but walked RF Cam Esmond putting the tying run on 3rd base and the winning run on 2nd. Dave Wrigley stepped up to the plate and, in a repeat of the previous inning, delivered a single to shallow centre, scoring LF Leo Sakai-James easily from 3rd. The fleet-footed Michael followed Sakai-James home from 2nd base to score the winning run with the fortuitous help of a miscue at the plate by C Stephen Brown. It was a massive victory for Richmond, putting the rest of the Single A division on notice.
Dukes dominated game 1 in a very one-sided affair winning 14-3. Guildford could not a muster a single clean hit throughout the game, though they were able to reach base on fielding errors and walks. Richmond starting pitcher Sam Hofbeck was dealing early on, striking out 11 batters total for the win, including 9 of the first 11 he faced. It wasn’t a vintage performance from Hofbeck who also walked 9 batters, giving up 2 earned runs, but it was decisive nonetheless, as he recorded his 2nd complete game of the season and his first career no-hitter.
Richmond’s offence was unstoppable. Toby Reynolds hit his first career home run, a towering fly ball with 2 outs in the 1st inning that just snuck inside the left field foul pole. It was a marker for things to come. Every player on the Dukes’ roster contributed at least one walk or base hit over the two games. As a team, Richmond batted .422, with 20 walks and 41 stolen bases, a stat that manager Paul Tiley was exceptionally proud of. “I think this was the best base running we have done this year. We took advantage as often as we could, it was aggressive and made a difference to the final score.
“[I’m] super proud of the brand of baseball we played yesterday. This brings our win streak to 3 and we are 5-1 for the season.”, said Tiley. The euphoria in Dukes’ clubhouse is palpable, and they will be riding this vibe into their next matchup on 12th June at London Minotaurs. They will be looking to extend their hot streak, and understandably have every confidence in winning both games. But the Minotaurs on home field should not be underestimated, especially as Richmond have them to thank for their only loss of the season so far. It will be an exciting contest, and one which might prove to be significant in the final standings for the Single A South Central-B division.