Morley halts Rhinos’ charge

The Hornets put themselves in a great position to make the play offs with a vital 25-20 win over the Rhinos. But they were pushed hard by the Rhinos who held a one run lead going into the last inning.

The game was also a crucial in the race to be Home Run King. Chris Borah (8) and Trev Morley (5) were leading the way in the table. Their record-breaking pace has raised eyebrows amongst softball chiefs and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) launched an investigation into Borah when he arrived at Spring Training looking like this:

Trev Morley got to work early with his first home run of the night giving the Hornets an early 3-2 lead after the first. In the second, the bats for both teams were on fire with excellent base hits from Leanne Reynolds, Laura Wicks, Steve Lamb, Lauren Shkurko and James Bradley, along with a three-run home run from Chris Flynn.

It proved to be the high point of the night for Chris, who was oblivious as a throw from the outfield bounced off his head. Thankfully, no damage was done, although the ball was checked over by the first aider.

The exciting action continued with a great outfield catch by Ashley Goodfellow, another three-run home run by Trev (yawn) and a great double play turned by Rhinos’ infielders Chloe Love and Vickie Robson.

At this point I had no idea what the score was as I was trying to fend off derogatory comments about my chair, which admittedly does look like it belongs on Margate beach in the 1970s.

The umpiring was as ever top notch by Jake Clarke. His strike call is better than anything that will be seen at the MLB London Series. He did luckily avoid injury to his nether regions from a foul tip but fortunately it was just high and outside of the strike zone.

In the 5th, the Hornets’ base coaching was all at sea, with no one at third. This was a point made forcefully by Natalie Davis as she rounded second! There was at least a pathetic attempt from the sideline to hold the runner.

In the middle of the 5th it was 17-16 Hornets after a ninth home run of the season by Chris Borah. However, the Rhinos’ weren’t finished, although the ball supply nearly was after Carl Billson hit some big foul balls. Carl – here’s the link to replenish the stocks…

In the 6th, Lauren Shkurko, guesting for the Rhinos hit a fantastic triple before falling over third base, and Steve Lamb’s hit made it 20-19 to the Rhinos. But the lead didn’t last. A walk from Kim Davies was followed by another three run home run by Trev Morley and moved the score onto 25-20 to the Hornets. A fine catch by Hedley Bevan and a good catch on first by Leanne Reynolds ensured the Hornets closed the game out.

This was one of the best games of the season and a credit to both teams. Both Trev Morley and Chris Borah were led away by WADA officials after the game for urine testing, with Chris absolutely delighted when he realised his lead in the home run table had been significantly cut: