RICHMOND - The Richmond Knights continued their amazing winning streak, taking down the Poole Piranhas 11-4 in the second round of the AA playoffs for the team's 19th consecutive win. The team finished 17 and 1 in the regular season (the best record in all of the British leagues) and beat the Windsor Bears in the first playoff round. The Knights only loss of the season came in the opening weekend and the team has undergone a major transformation since then.
Now the Knights qualify for the AA final at the National Baseball Championships to be held at the home of Herts Baseball Club on September 5th. They play the dangerous Leicester Blue Sox, the reigning champions of the A division and 2010 Midlands champs.
The Knights started off well against a good Poole team. Team manager Dan Lally took the starting pitcher role for the Knights. Poole included a number of strong bats as well as a very dependable and durable pitcher in Shannon Hall. After one inning the Knights held a 3-1 lead but did not hold back and continued to add to the lead, scoring two in the third, three in the fourth and two in the fifth. By the end of the fifth, the Knights had a 9-3 lead and it was just a case of keeping the defence tight. Gary Lam at shortstop had a busy day, including a spectacular snare on a line drive to end the top of the first. Patrick Igoe has been a Hoover at first this past month and continued his strong form and the defense shut down Poole. Despite the talent of some of the Poole batters, it was a quiet day for the outfield.
Lally finished with the complete game win, striking out 10 Poole batters in the process. On the offence, Nick Osborne took the plaudits going 4 for 4 with a walk and a monster home run to centre field. As they were throughout the season, the Knights were solid offensively all the way through the line-up.
Looking forward to the NBC final the batting will continue to be one of the Knights strength, without any weaknesses in the order, and the team will also get a boost from the return of John Irving and long-time absentee and early contender for the batting title, Craig Abouchar.
Good luck to the Knights in the AA championship game.
