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Manchester Express 2002

Game 5 & 6 : Liverpool Trojans - by Roger Young

At noon, GB pitcher and Liverpool lead-off batter Martin Godsall stepped up to the plate for the first Northern Double Header (DH) of the season. He singled and later scored on a sac-bunt by Alan Alger, but it was when Martin took to the mound in the bottom of the first to defend a 1 run lead that he grabbed the game by the throat.

Martin faced 20 Express batters in total in a 5 innings match, striking out 11 and giving up just 4 hits and no BBs. The only hits were by Roger Young (2), Hervé Boutin and Dave Gould. Two of the hits led to the only Express run in the third as Roger bought home Dave from second on a single to left, denying Martin a shutout. Starter Rob Denham (0:1) picked up the loss, but pitched well and was let down by several defensive errors in what should have been a much lower Liverpool total, a total which was built on only 5 hits. Martin was particular good against Danny Allen who was fresh from his first GB training session the day before, striking him out each time he faced him.

In the second game starter Sam Allen (0:2) picked up the loss, but again pitched well in a closer game containing fewer errors. The Express were again not outhit by Liverpool, but were unable to convert runners on base into runs scored. In offense there were 2 more hits for Roger, 2 each for Rob and Sam, a 2 RBI single by Alex Rossi, a limped run on a HBP from Yobert Pino and Danny Allen's only hit of the day was a solo home run in the 5th to take his tally to 5 homers in 6 games.

Injuries: The second game of the Liverpool DH on Sunday saw Express first baseman Karim Ariane catch a ball in the nose from a nasty hop, this was later confirmed as broken. Then Express catcher Yobert Pino was hit by a fastball from Martin Godsall, this was later diagnosed as a fractured tibia. Karim may be fit for next week but Yobert could be out for a while, everyone at MBC wishes them a speedy recovery.

Hervé pitches the second game against Liverpool

Game 7 & 8 : Menwith Hill Patriots - by Roger Young

The Express struggling with injuries (Sam Allen and Yobert Pino), players unavailable (Rick Garcia, Dave Garrett, Alex Rossi, Karim Ariane) and a GB call up for Danny Allen (see below), only just made 9 players for this DH. Thanks are due to father and son combination Sergio and Will Rubiano for stepping up from the A's to allow the game to go ahead.

The first game saw James 'The Heat' Hatherley (0:1) make his first start of the year. He pitched a great game with 5 K's in 5 complete innings holding Menwith to 12 runs - 5 of which were in the first innings. In reply the Express only managed 2 runs on 3 hits from Roger Young, Rob Denham and Will Rubiano. Runs were hard to come by all day as Menwith kept a mean defense, putting the pressure on the Express batters and giving their pitchers a lot of support.

Roger successfully avoids an inside pitch against Menwith Hill
but he was not so lucky in the first innings

In the second game Hervé Boutin (2:1) started badly, giving up 6 runs without a single out, but the Express didn't give up and tightened their defense and started to pull the game back. Menwith went 12-6 up in the top of the 4th with no outs, and Hervé gave way to reliever Roger Young (1:0). The game started to turn in the second half as Roger only gave up 1 run in 2 innings, then James came back to pitch 2 perfect innings. Meanwhile the Express made steady inroads into Menwith's total, scoring in every innings except the 6th, helped by 2 hits from Rob Denham, a lot of patient batting, and Matt Cooper audaciously stealing home with 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th. However the early runs they gave away were again to cost the Express as they were left just short on 11-13, but they played some great baseball and gave Menwith their closest game so far this season.

The Express at Allen Field against Menwith Hill

Game 9 & 10 : Sheffield Bladerunners - by Roger Young

The Express (5:7) lost a DH against Sheffield on a sunny day in Yorkshire.

A's manager Ian Marchment had come into the squad on Saturday after one player had pulled out, then the Express had two players cry off at 9.30am Sunday morning to leave them with just seven. A's player Ronan Dunne and rookie Peter Mawbry answered the call, and made it to the field in Sheffield for a delayed 12.30pm start. Without them the match wouldn't have gone ahead so cheers guys from us all.

The first game was a 14-0 five innings shutout by Sheffield, with pitcher Tommy Booth showing no signs of rustiness after the mid season break, he gave up no runs and just one hit to opposing pitcher Roger Young (1:1). The Sheffield runs were scored early in the game, but agonisingly for the Express 6 in the first (all on two outs) and 7 in the second (also all on two outs).

In the second the Express started better, and were 6-5 up after five innings, with 3 hits from lead off batter Dave Gould and two each to Roger Young and Ian Marchment. Then in the bottom of the sixth innings the Bladerunners scored 8 runs (including a grand slam of reliever Matt Cooper) as starting pitcher Hervé Boutin (2:2) lost his energy and control - hitting 4 batters. There was no last innings come back for the Express as Booth came back on to close the game and Sheffield won 14-7.

Stats: Dave Gould hit his 50th MBC career RBI in the match, and moved up into second (above Rick Garcia) in all time MBC career hits (113). Updated MBC records here.

Express on the road home from Sheffield

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