2011 Game Reports

Frank Caunce Tournament 18th June 2011 - Bronco

Our Bronco team arrived with great anticipation and ambition to repeat last year's great sensational win.

Not put off by the deliberate delay tactics of road works and road closures by Yorkshire county council. The Cumbrian team made it in spite of all of this, to prove, yet again, it was the best team in the North West. The Cumbrians are coming!!!

Our first game against the host nation (Menwith Hills) was a well fought battle with Cartmel taking advantage of the opportunity to hit out and beat this young, up and coming team. The result was 14-1

Special performances - Murray for batting , Hamish for two catches & Cameron for pitching.

The second game was against Halton where Cartmel was almost undone by one talented player who out pitched, out ran and out thought our team. After the initial shock, Cartmel fought back with gusto and narrowly beat Halton 6-4.  Special performances - Oliver for batting & catching also fine batting from Coby & Ross B.

 The final was played against Northwich with a fine team effort  and sporting performance from all. This highly charged game was the pinnacle of Cartmel’s achievement of the day. We held down the opposition with strong pitching and fielding. The final result reflected this 4-0 victory. Special performance for all the team but Johnny’s pitching was fantastic. Well done Ross D. for catching for 9 innings.  Glen Duclos

28/05/2011

Cartmel Valley 8 Halton Polecats 5

Halton are scoring games this season using the GameChanger IPhone application, which can collect stats & combine them into a computer generated match report - the one for this game can be seen on their website. Unfortunately, I think an AutoReport is never going to do justice to a game of baseball as gripping as this one was. It was the sort of game that should be required viewing for any English sports fan trying to perpetuate the myth that cricket is a better game than baseball. Just watch Cartmel Ponys, & be convinced! Talking of the malign influence of cricket, it was obvious that Jonny H had been spending too much time in the nets at school, as several times when he was pitched a low ball, he tried to deal with it by a forward defensive stroke! However, by his third plate appearance he managed to remember that he could lay off the bad balls, and drew a walk. Tom hit a ground rule double, and with doubles also for Dale and Ryan these were CV’s only hits of the game; but some excellent stealing and baserunning meant that every time a man got on base they looked likely to score. Cartmel started well with four runs in the top of the 1^st inning, but as usual Halton clawed their way back, tying the score at 5-5 going into the top of the fourth. CV then managed to regain the lead with single runs in each of the next three innings, and superb pitching by Ryan as closer, and great catches by Chris (playing up from Broncos) in left field and Dale in foul territory by 1^st base prevented the Polecats from scoring again. After the recent bad blood between the teams, generally this game had a better atmosphere with both sides playing hard but fair, and hopefully we will see more great games like this in the future.  Dave Hill

14/05/2011 Pony Game

Cartmel Valley Pony 19 Manchester Saints Pony 6

Having lost by only a single run to Halton in an ill tempered game the week before, the fourth league game of the season saw Cartmel Ponys playing the first half of a home double header for Manchester at Allen Field. In a busy sporting day for Manchester, United had already won football’s Premiership trophy, and City would later lift the FA Cup; however, there was little chance of a clean sweep for the city, as the power of Cartmel’s batting and the control of their pitching proved unbeatable! CV quickly established a lead, with five runs in the closed first inning, three in the second, and four in the third. All of the Cartmel line up had at least one base hit apart from Amane, who more than made up for it with 2 runs scored after three walks. Jonny H batting ninth was 3 for 4, but the outstanding display was undoubtedly that of Tom, who was 4 for 4 with a walk, five runs scored, a double and two home runs including a grand slam. Meanwhile Manchester were being closed down by superb pitching from the Armstrong brothers, Isaac especially giving up only one hit and striking out five batters in the last three innings.

After the game a gathering of all the Cartmel and Halton Pony players and coaches was addressed by Larry Hansford, the League Commissioner, in order to try and calm down the bad atmosphere which seems to develop whenever these two teams meet. To me this stems largely from the fact that the two teams are so close in terms of ability, with games almost always hinging on a single run, and have to play each other so often with only three teams in the league. Hopefully next time people will think about the reasons why we are here and the atmosphere will be friendlier.  Dave Hill

30/04/2011 Pony Games

One of the comments after the northern Pony & Bronco teams all lost to southern rivals at the Final Four last season in 2010  was that the northern teams were at a disadvantage, having not played enough league baseball (Funny - nobody said this when Cartmel Broncos won it in 2008!) As a result the Pony fixture list has been rearranged to include double the number of games this season and with only 3 Pony teams in the league, it has been decided that home teams will have to play against both league rivals each Saturday.

 Game 1 - Halton Polecats 8 Cartmel Valley 9 

The most exciting thing I've ever seen in GB baseball happened in the 1^st inning of this game, when the Cartmel infield combined to produce a triple play from 4 put out attempts! Polecats had the bases loaded with no outs when a line drive was caught by 2nd base man Amane, who then stood on second to put out the runner trying to tag back. Amane then threw to first, where the man tagging back was safe (!), but first base man Dale then threw to catcher Tom to tag out the man trying to steal home -  An incredible F4-U4-3-2 triple play!

After that outstanding start, it would have been difficult for the day to keep the same level of excitement, but as usually happens against Halton, the result was in doubt right until the final out of the last inning. Both teams kept the scoreboard ticking over, until Cartmel looked to have broken the game open with 4 runs in the bottom of the 4^th, making the score 8-4. But then Halton clawed their way back into the game, only being prevented from re-taking the lead by some sharp pick off throws to first base by Tom, who had taken over from Isaac as pitcher. Polecats scored in the top of the 7^th to get within a run at 9-8, but then with the tying run at third centre fielder Niall caught a line drive from S Roberts to finish the game. Dave Hill

Manchester Saints 1 Cartmel Valley 15

In their 2^nd game of the day the CV bats were on fire, scoring 15 runs from 15 hits. Every CV player scored at least one hit, making sure these were converted into runs by sharp base running, and there were extra base hits by Dale, Amane, Connor and Jonny H. A quietly efficient display of pitching from Ryan, Dale and Luke with 11 strikeouts in total kept the Manchester bats subdued, and the game was finished off in time for us all to enjoy a well-earned barbecue. Dave Hill

2010 Game Reports

Cartmel Ponies travelled to Halton knowing that nothing could stop the two teams finishing 1^st and 2^nd in the NW League, and that only victory by more than 9 runs would enable CV to take over first place. However it was decided to play the game anyway as practice before the Final 4, also to be held at Halton in a fortnight’s time. It turned out to be an outstanding game of baseball, with great hitting and defensive play from both teams, and the result hanging in the balance right until the final pitch. Halton were on top initially, with five runs in the third inning taking them to an 8-4 lead, but then CV gradually crept back into the game, closing down the Halton bats and taking over the lead 10-9 in the top of the 7^th. Then, with the tying run for Halton at 2^nd base and spectators girding up for extra innings, Dane struck out the final two batters to finish the game. Defensive plays of the game included identical 1-4-3 double plays by both teams, two outstanding catches by Dale, and an incredible diving catch at the backstop fence by Halton’s new catcher David Mountfield. So, CV’s third victory of the season over our arch rivals and a great display by both sets of players, which augurs well for the imminent challenge against the best teams from the South.

Dave Hill

2009 Game Reports - most recent at top.  2008 Game Reports are now in the Archives.

For the second time this season Cartmel came up against the irresistible force of the best pitcher in the league, Harry Pickup of Halton, who again managed to finish off a complete game in less than 85 pitches. CV batters struck out 15 times and only managed 1 base hit, an RBI double from Tom in the 4^th inning. Ryan was the only batter not to be struck out at least once and he went 0 for 1 with a flyout and a run after being hit by a pitch. Defensively Cartmel did well, keeping Halton to only 1 hit after the 2^nd inning, but the damage had already been done with sharp base running from the Polecats leading to 7 runs in the first 2 innings. On the plus side there was some good work at first base by newly converted outfielder Jonathan H, and more fine pitching from Amane who went hitless and struck out 3 batters in 1 and 2/3 innings before retiring with a sore arm. Thus Cartmel finish the season on 6 and 2 and must wait to see if they can stay in position for the Final Four playoffs while Manchester and Halton finish their schedules. Dave Hill

What was expected to be an awkward away fixture at rainy Manchester turned out to be a relatively easy win in glorious sunshine. Cartmel managed 16 hits, including Tom going 4 for 4 with a double and a home run, and efficient pitching from Amane, Ryan and Tom produced 15 strikeouts in 6 innings and restricted the Saints to only 5 hits. So CV went 6 & 1 for the season and stayed top of the league, but whether they will still be there when other teams have caught up with games in hand remains to be seen.  Dave Hill

6 June 2009 - Cartmel Valley Broncos 25: Rudheath Majestics Broncos 6  

It was business as usual for Cartmel in their last home fixture, despite the showers, as once again Rudheath were unable to cope with CV’s powerful batting lineup. The Cumbrians amassed 25 runs, the maximum possible in 5 closed innings, and were only put out 4 times in total. Highlights of the batting performance were Ryan going 3 for 3 with two triples, three runs scored and four RBIs, and Jonny H going 2 for 2 with a triple and a ground rule double; but generally the whole team batted well with 16 hits shared between eleven different players. Rudheath looked a lot sharper than in the equivalent away fixture, especially base running, and were only the 2^nd team this season to score 5 runs in a closed inning against us. On the pitching side Amane made his debut and did very well for the first two innings, with 3 strikeouts and a high percentage of first strikes and positive counts, after which Ryan and Tom closed down the opposition without showing any of the jitters of previous weeks. So Cartmel made it 5 wins from 6 so far this season, but with tricky away fixtures against their two main rivals in the league still to come.  Dave Hill

For the second week running Bolton were unable to cope with another display of awesome batting power from Cartmel, who scored 24 runs in 5 closed innings for only 5 outs. The main feature was a return to batting form by Jonny H who went 3 for 3 with 2 home runs and a triple, 4 runs scored and 5 RBIs. The only defensive weakness was, once again, a seeming reluctance to close down the game after a good lead had been established. Of the 33 runs conceded by CV in the last 3 games, 23 (and 28 walks) have come in the oppositions’ final inning. Still, Cartmel held out for the win, and thus returned to the top of the BSUK Bronco NW League. Dave Hill

Cartmel’s second away match of the season saw more magnificent hitting from their "Murderers Row" of a batting line up, with 23 hits in total including 13 extra base hits, This culminated in Sam achieving the cycle, going 6 for 6 with two singles, a double, a triple and two home runs, making it definitely a victory won through good batting rather than poor fielding by Bolton. Defensively the Cumbrians were quietly efficient rather than outstanding, with Sam gaining the win on his pitching debut, and thus making himself the MVP. So CV again proved too strong for one of the newer teams in the league, but it remains to be seen whether they can gain the advantage over their main rivals Manchester and Halton.  Dave Hill

Cartmel’s unbeaten record came to a grinding halt in this game against Manchester, mainly due to a shortage of experienced pitchers. Everything seemed to be going smoothly for four innings as the rain held off and the home team built up a 10-1 lead, with Tom scoring two home runs in successive innings. Then the showers returned and the wheels came off as, once Ryan finished his stint, nobody else could get the ball in the strike zone. Tom gave up 5 runs in the top of the fifth, so was taken off in favour of Luke for the open 6^th inning. Four different pitchers were tried, conceding 13 walks and 14 runs before Jonnny H (CV’s version of the Big Unit – but pitching in a game for the first time ever) finally managed to get two strikeouts and end the inning. So ultimately a bad day for Cartmel but hopefully they will be able to shake it off and bounce back next week. Dave Hill

9 May 2009 - Cartmel Valley Broncos 22: Rudheath Majestics Broncos 0

In contrast to the previous week, the story of this game was the inability of Rudheath, in only their second ever league game, to cope with the experience and power of Cartmel’s batters. In 1927, the NY Yankees batting lineup was so strong it was known as ‘Murderers Row’, and with Tom, Ryan and Jonny H getting 12 runs from 10 hits between them, it was hard not to make the comparison. Cartmel scored the maximum possible 5 runs in each of the first two closed innings, with only 2 outs in total, but from then on Rudheath managed to improve defensively and achieve the outs required to finish the game, restricting CV to only 12 further runs in 4 more innings, including the open 6^th inning. Superb pitching from Ryan and Luke (in his pitching debut) kept the opposition scoreless, and thus CV continue their winning record, not having lost a competitive game since September 2007 at the Final 4 in London. However they should not be complacent as other teams will provide a greater test of their abilities in the coming weeks. Also Rudheath can take heart from the fact that Bolton suffered similar losses in games at the start of last season but had improved enormously by the time of the 2008 Frank Caunce Trophy.  Dave Hill

2 May 2009 - Halton Polecats Broncos 1: Cartmel Valley Broncos 3

Cartmel’s first Broncos fixture of the season was short and low scoring, with only 7 base hits in the entire game, but nonetheless exciting for all that. CV started well, with 3 runs from 2 hits and a walk in the bottom of the first, but from then on were closed down by a superb pitching performance from Harry Pickup. Harry gave up only one more hit, no more walks, and managed to complete six innings despite this season’s new rule restricting each pitcher to a maximum of 85 pitches. Meanwhile, however, Cartmel’s Ryan and Tom were doing a similar job with 16 strikeouts in total restricting Halton’s batters to only 1 run in 5 innings. Thus Cartmel Broncos continued their winning run into a new season despite the inevitable loss of several of last year’s stars who have progressed to the Pony team. Dave Hill