Wednesday 15th May - Hunts Pond Road
The first home game of the 2024 softball calendar was upon us as we hosted the Redbridge Raiders from Southampton. With slow moving traffic on the M27 delaying the start, the game kicked off slowly too. With captain Scott Summers struggling to find the strike-zone early, good infield work got him out of the bases loaded jam with only a solotary run across the plate. The response from the home team was limited. Some base runners of singles but ultimately the inning ended with a fly-out to left-field with no runs scored.
A better consistency in pitching held the Raiders to a scoreless second inning and runs on the board for the Vikings as Scott lead off with a triple into centre field. Shortstop Stefan Rudeforth scoring the first RBI of the game with a single to left. Sian Madigan started her perfect 5-for-5 game by getting on base behind him, but two fly-outs (the first scoring off a sacrifice fly) ended the inning with the score 2-1 in favour of the Vikings.
The game then came alive in the top of third, with runners galore for the Raiders as a few overthrows let the Vikings down. The visitors managed to plate seven runs to push ahead. The bottom of the third started brightly with two base-runners, but a fielder's choice to Raiders' second baseman Mike Doe earned the first out. Last season's Division Two Rookie-of-the-Year Gabriela Dascaslescu got the Vikings on the board with a well-hit double followed up with an RBI single from Scott.
Some great pitching and defensive work saw a quick scoreless inning at the top of the fourth; just what the Vikings needed when trailing by four. Five consecutive singles to open up their half of the fourth scored three runs to pull the game to within one at 8-7. Again, good work by the Vikings defence in the 5th inning limited the Raiders scoresheet to just one run. With the sun setting, the Vikings bats finally came alive. 9 hits, a 3-run homer from captain Scott Summers and a couple of doubles from Stefan and Doug Sutherland exploded the line-score with 9 runs to give the Vikings a 16-9 lead heading into the 6th.
The Raiders responded dutifully, scoring three of their own to move back to within four. The first four plate appearances yielded base runners (with Sian getting the only walk of the night for the hosts) scoring two runs. 1st baseman Tom Anderson then hit a 2-run single, shortly followed by Scott's second home-run of the night, hitting a well outside ball deep to right field to score another three. With a 23-12 lead at the top of the seventh, the Raiders were shut out, three-up three-down to end the game.
The Black and Orange Vikings venture east for the first time in our history to face the 2022 League Champion Chichester Falcons this Sunday.
