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by Daniel Ajanaku
On Sunday lunchtime, Finsbury Park saw a true showdown as the London Mets (13-9) welcomed a visit from their fierce, interclub, NBL rivals, the London Capitals (12-7). This was set to be a cracking game, as they have matched up in the last 5 playoff finals. Despite the home team sweeping all 5 of these past NBL final matchups they felt they had something to prove as their rivals had swept them earlier in the season.
The day started off in stalemate 0-0 innings until the bottom of the 4th inning where The Mets drew first blood after Theberge’s right field single allowed Tyse to run home followed by Dominguez cleverly stealing the home plate, to double their lead.
Scoring would continue into the bottom of the 5th with Tyse hitting in Vinall and then stealing home after a wild pitch, with Edmonds at-bat, to build on a strong lead.
At the top of the 6th inning, The Capitals responded with a run scored by Kido after Cedeño’s right-field hit. However, The Mets put a firm stop to the momentum they were trying to build up, closing the half with an out at the home plate and a ground out
left: Tyse (2AB, 2R, 1H, 1RBI, 1BB) sliding home vs The Capitals.
Right: Messer (7.0 IP, 3H, 1R, 1 ER, 4BB, 7K, 0.72 ERA) pitching vs The Capitals.
Game 2: 4-3 Capitals
Game 2 saw a tighter contest. The defeat woke the underdogs up, as they brought out Pitcher Hashiguchi, who has consistently given his team fine pitching performances since joining in 2021.
It only took until the 2nd inning for the rivals to kick back into their scoring ways, with The Capitals scoring 2 runs at the top of the 2nd inning via Cedeño and Tezuka scoring on consecutive plays. When the bottom of the 2nd came around, The Mets responded swiftly as Gondobintoro’s right field single, allowed Power to run home and Dix’s left centre single allowed the now DH Messer to score. The inning closed out on an unfortunate note when The Capitals shut down the home team’s momentum after Figuereo Almonte caught Gondobintoro creeping and picked him off at 3rd base.
The Capitals right fielder Josh Marriot hit a bomb over the right field fence at the top of the 3rd inning and this was the morale turning point as they increased their lead. This led to a bit of chirping from the Capitals dugout, which Coach Cook was not best pleased about. However, The Mets again responded correctly as Edmond’s single allowed Tyse to run home, continuing his scoring run set from game 1. They traded defensive blows in a scoreless 4th inning that saw good fielding performances, containing each other’s offence. Then come the 5th inning, the Capitals struck another blow as Kido’s right-centre single allowed Wampler to run home, making it 4-3. Unfortunately, The Mets could not continue their streak of responses, as they fell short at the hands of Hashiguchi’s pitching and securing more runs. The Mets put up consistent pressure with commendable hits, but luck was not on their side as some of their efforts fell straight into the path of The Capitals’ fielders.
left: The Mets in a pregame huddle before Game 2.
Right: The Mets and the Capitals after their matchup.
Tuning in to Coach Cook’s post-match thoughts, he vocalised his overall satisfaction with the quality of both games and their aggressive base running. He specifically praised star man Chris Messer who threw a season high 115 pitch complete game striking out 7 over 7 innings giving up only three hits off him in game 1.
He saw the loss as a ‘turning point’ and great encouragement to come out playing even harder, in their next meetup. Also, a turning point for the younger players with him, “wanting them to get experience and gain confidence against a very solid pitcher.”
He placed great emphasis on rising to the next level, in aggressive base running and applying pressure on offence, to be well-prepared for next month’s playoffs.
The Mets will look to finish the season on a strong note, before next month’s playoffs, with their next game on Sunday 25th of August, being against BC Vetra.
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