Merlins Down Knights in Fierce Contest
On Coronation Weekend, the New Forest Thunder Knights made their way over the Prince of Wales bridge for a matchup with the Cardiff Merlins. After two low scoring and very competitive games, the league leading Merlins came away with two wins. In game one, the Knights pulled out to an early lead with Warren Doyle and Danny Vinkler scoring after some smart base running. Pitcher Andy Moore then drove in Doyle to add another. The Merlins reached the South West and Wales playoff final last year behind some excellent all round play, but the defense of the away side held strong throughout. Shaun Barrett, Alex Frampton and Eddie Donald all made good catches in the outfield, with Chris Lawson his normal excellent self at Short Stop. In the final inning the New Forest team clawed back to 4-4, as Frampton scored on a Moore infield hit. However, Cardiff walked off with the win as Ben Davies drove in the winning run. Game two was a pitching duel as Lawson went up against Sri Lankan, Saliya Wijesinghe. Both were excellent and showcased the high standard of the league. Leigh Froud earned himself play of the day honours with a great running catch at Left Field off a strongly hit line drive. However, the Knights struggled to get the bats going against the pace and movement of the home side’s pitching. Doyle picked up a hit and Vinkler showcased his arm by throwing out a running at home plate. After an excellent performance at Catcher in game one, Vinkler was also named player of the day. The away side came away with a 4-0 win at the end of play. After three away games to start the year, the Thunder Knights welcome the Bournemouth Bears for their home opener next Sunday.
Sponsorship Boost as Grove Sales back the Knights
After an exciting start to their first ever season as a club, the New Forest Thunder Knights are delighted to have secured the backing of another local business. Grove Sales Ltd have agreed to sponsor one of the team’s home games during the season, providing much needed support for equipment and hire costs in return. So far this season the Knights have gone 2-2, sitting tied for second place in the Severn Division of the South West and Wales Baseball league. A tough opening slate of games has already seen the New Forest team travel to Bristol and Taunton, with another difficult day in Cardiff looming. All the support from sponsors like Grove Sales is put straight back into the running of the club, with matchday sponsors able to throw out the first pitch and have their branding displayed on social media and game days in return. Team Manager, Warren Doyle, said: “It’s fantastic to get this backing from a company of the size and reputation that Grove has. We’re incredibly grateful to them, and everyone else in the New Forest and the surrounding area that has supported us so far.” Grove Sales Manager, Luke Ramsier, said: “All of us at the Grove love our local sport, and we’re more than happy to support the Knights in their first season. We’re looking forward to watching the club grow and wish them success going forward.” Following on from some great early coverage of the team, the Knights welcomed their first new players to training recently as the popularity of baseball in the UK continues to grow after Team GB’s participation in the World Baseball Classic. Grove Sales Ltd are a national distributor of various electrical goods. Based in Christchurch, with a wide reaching network, they supply to all over the United Kingdom and Europe. Along with a range of other products, they specialise in goods such as Weller soldering stations, Bofa fume extraction units and the G-Tek range of ESD products. Further Information:
Lawson Leads Knights in Taunton
Chris Lawson stole the show as the New Forest Thunder Knights battled for a split against the Taunton Muskets on Sunday. In a fiercely competitive day of baseball, the Knights showed their resolve to hold on for a game two win in extra innings. Lawson hit the first ever home run for the newly formed South Coast team, before adding a second shortly afterwards. He also pitched two innings in relief to secure the first win of the season for Marcus Senior. Senior got into his groove as the second game went on, picking up 16 strikeouts in an impressive tandem performance with Mitch Sullivan at Catcher. Entering the first extra inning, the scores were tied at 8-8. The Knights performed heroics on defence to keep the score tied, with both Rob Holbrook and Alex Frampton throwing runners out at home plate. Then in the second additional inning, hits from Sam Williams and Danny Vinkler helped break the game open before Lawson closed out a 17-9 win. Earlier in the day the Muskets had edged a tight first game by a score of 7-6. With the bases loaded twice in the first two innings, the away side were unable to push runs over the plate. In turn, a home run from Andres Bianco gave Taunton a six run lead. However, the Knights fought back to level the game thanks to the bats of Sullivan, Lawson and Williams. Despite shutting out the home side in four of the first five innings, the Knights weren’t able to prevent the Muskets from winning the game in the final inning. A single from Fumihito Yasuhara was enough to bring home the winning run. Lawson’s huge day with the bat, and his pitching efforts earned him player of the day honours. The Thunder Knights are next in action on 7th May as they travel to division leaders, Cardiff Merlins I.