League Match Reports, 2005
Apr 27: Bats 14 - Lions 27
A shaky first innings resulted in an 8-3 deficit, but after that there was no stopping us as the hits rained down.
It was a bit of a homer fest, Ramon leading with 4, with further contributions from Ben, Brian and Felix.
The defence soon tightened as well with the highlight an all action display from Gill at second base.
Tony also distinguished himself with a solid performance at first, returnng to a position he hasn't played regularly for about two years.
Overall it was a fine performance against a Bats team who gave a good account of themselves despite fielding several rookies.
MVPs: Male - Ramon, Female - Gill
May 4: Lions 12 - Piranhas 3
After the batting feats of week 1 it was the gloves that stood out on week 2.
We only allowed 3 runs and shut the Piranhas out for 6 of the 7 innings.
The bats were quiet after the heroics of week 1 with Brian the only one providing a home run.
Defensive highlights were a pretty double play in the top of the first,
(our second double play in 2 weeks), and the fact that we shut the Piranhas out for six of the seven innings. Gill excelled around second again and
an honourable defensive mention should also go to Michelle who made a fine play scooping up a ground ball and rocketing it to first to end a Piranha threat.
MVPs: Male - Tony, Female - Gill
May 11: Monkeys 15 - Lions 16
A bizarre game that had as many story lines as a soap opera.
It had a heroine in Gill, who turned down £200 in overtime to play, got smacked in the head by the ball
and yet turned in a top class display at second including getting the out on the final play by ignoring the useless advice shouted from first.
Ramon smacked a couple more homers and if it hadn't been for a strange 4th innings in which the Monkeys scored 9 runs despite scarcely hitting the
ball out of the infield we might have won quite easily.
In some ways we didn't deserve to win at all but after that one awful innings we turned it round completely and shut the Monkeys down for the last three innings.
MVPs: Male - Ramon, Female - Gill (yawn)
May 18: Lions 18 - Speeders 24
The best game we've played in this year. Could have gone either way but the Speeders always looked to have that little extra in the tank.
Ramon excelled at first, Ben was perfect with the bat and hit our only homer. Michelle did a good job at 3rd.
Brian took a storming catch in the outfield.
Dave stalked the dead ball line but then found he couldn't count to 7.
MVPs: Male - Ben, Female - Michelle
June 8: Hackers 16 - Lions 21
Another game of two halves with a dead first three innings followed by a triumphant fightback.
Tony shed blood, Brian took a ball in the face, but it all came out well in the end with 2 homer Ramon leading the charge
and even the skipper getting in on the act with his first homer for some years !
MVPs: Male - Tony, Female - Lisa
June 22: Lions 26 - Bats 14
Catching the ball caused us a few problems but the batting looked great as we won easily against an under strength Bats team.
Mets Kate and Yvonne helped out in hour of need and looked the part playing at a higher level.
MVPs: Male - Ramon, Female - Gill
June 29: Rangers 22 - Lions 20
A slow start left us too much to do but we played well on the whole and got be better as the game went on.
Kate turned out for us again and pushed Lindsay close for the MVP.
MVPs: Male - Ben, Female - Lindsay
July 6: Lions 11 - Growlers 13
Another game on pitch 1 - another trip to A & E - Lindsay didn't get past the first play of the night but fortunately (for once) the X-ray showed no break.
The disruprion caused by the injury led to another slow start but we played well again and had the winning run at the plate in the bottom of the 7th.
Kate turned out for us yet again and is likely to be back next week after Lindsay's injury.
MVPs: Male - Ben, Female - Lindsay
July 13: Lions 25 - Monkeys 21
We hit the stuffing out of the ball but defensively had a BIG hiccup in the middle of the game.
Kelly looked good on her return from honeymoon, both pitchers had good games and Ramon flashed the leather at first.
Kate deserves a Lion's shirt, if we had shirts that is.
MVPs: Male - Ben, Female - Kate
July 20: Lions 24 - Speeders 9
We finally put it together on both sides of the diamond this week with some fantastic hitting allied to increasingly effective defence.
Lindsay was fantastic on her return and Ramon was death to flying things in left field. Tony pitched a fine game and six different players hit home runs.
The Speeders had their moments too in an enjoyable game played in an excellent spirit.
MVPs: Male - Ramon, Female - Lindsay
July 27: Lions 16 - Rangers 3
Another fine performance with bat and glove. The infield were solid all the way through whilst the outfield just watched for most of the game.
Ramon and Felix got their weekly homers whilst Tony excelled, adding two home runs, including a grand slam,
to another fine pitching performance which included five strike outs. The less said about Dave's batting the better...
MVPs: Male - Tony, Female - Kelly
August 03: Lions 11 - Hackers 9
This was a flat performance and the main redeeming fixture was that we won.
Tony pitched a good game without having his recent control and hit the homer that eventually gave us the win.
Derek ran Tony close for the MVP award with a complete performance with bat, glove and on the bases.
Thanks to Yvonne and the ever reliable Kate for helping us out when short (again).
MVPs: Male - Tony, Female - Lindsay
August 10: Lions 10 - Growlers 15
This game was tight until the bottom of the 6th when the Growlers scored 8 runs, most with 2 outs.
It was another 'flat' performance in stark contrast to the heroics of the weekend and our outfield weaknesses showed themselves again.
MVPs: Male - Tony, Female - Gill
August 17: Lions 10 - Speeders 13
Another flat performance but the Speeders played well and deserved the win. We hit a lot of homers but with no one on base.
MVPs: Male - Ramon, Female - Gill
August 24: Lions 19 - Piranhas 5
The infield and outfield swapped places for the final game of the season and Ben siezed his chance to put on a bit of a show at short stop.
Brian pitched a solid game, newcomer Carrol showed promise, Nel took an excellent catch in the deep and the whole team batted well.
The offensive star was Ramon who batted leadoff and hit two home runs to secure the Second Division Home Run crown.
MVPs: Male - Ramon, Female - Gill
| Apr 27 | Bats (a) | W. 27-14 |
| May 4 | Piranhas (h) | W. 12-3 (6&1/2) |
| May 11 | Monkeys (a) | W. 15-16 |
| May 18 | Speeders (h) | L. 18-24 |
| May 25 | REST | |
| June 8 | Hackers (a) | W. 21-16 |
| June 15 | REST | |
| June 22 | Bats (h) | W. 26-14 (6&1/2) |
| June 29 | Rangers (a) | L. 20-22 (6&1/2) |
| July 6 | Growlers (h) | L. 11-13 |
| July 13 | Monkeys (h) | W. 25-21 (6&1/2) |
| July 20 | Speeders (h) | W. 24-9 (6 - Mercy) |
| July 27 | Rangers (h) | W. 16-3 (6&1/2) |
| August 3 | Hackers (a) | W. 11-9 |
| August 10 | Growlers (a) | L. 10-15 (6&1/2) |
| August 17 | Speeders (a) | L. 10-13 (6&1/2) |
| August 24 | Piranhas (a) | W. 19-5 |
