Bucks baseball proves a big hit
Spotlight on Sport - This week... Baseball
MK Bucks Baseball Club started their 2010 season with a 9-4 win over the Leicester Blue Socks at Woughton-on-the-Green on Sunday.
The club has now been established in the city for some 25 years and plays in the British Baseball Federation third tier, which is made up of teams from around the midlands.
MK Bucks has played a leading roll in the development of the sport in the UK. The club is the oldest in its league and has reached the BBF final four play-offs on several occasions, winning the championship in 2006.
Last season saw Bucks finish third in the Midland League, only behind the Mildenhall Bulldogs and the Alconbury Braves - both of which are American Air Force teams based in the Anglia region.
Bucks finished fifth in the annual summer London Tournament in Croydon, putting in a strong showing on day two against National League side Northern Knights, even leading for much of the game, only to lose by a single run in the final inning.
The sunshine made Sunday an ideal day to play and Bucks started strongly, going ahead by three runs in the first of nine innings.
Excellent pitching from Tom Lloyd made it tough for Blue Socks to put any runs on the scoreboard. He pitched five innings allowing just one run to be scored.
Chris White, another addition to the Bucks squad, came in for Lloyd in the sixth inning, and by the seventh the score stood at 5-3.
White was followed by Tom McVay, as he came in to shut down any late charge by the Blue Socks. And in the ninth inning, with the score at 9-4, the Socks' final out was taken by Jon Reynolds.
Bucks stuck together and played well as a team, and the highlight of the game was probably Ben Alexander's excellent display at the plate. Martyn Poynter was also exceptional in the field, making crucial catches in the outfield.
Player/manager Ernie Ayala was spoilt for choice, and using six of his eight substitutes during key moments, ensured Bucks finished strong and sent Leicester back up the M1 with a 9-4 defeat.
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Weather for Milton Keynes
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -1 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: -0 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: West
