Back
Battling Gold split at Milton Keynes as Maroon fall twice by a single run at Cambridge
Fine margins all round — a hard-won road split for the Gold, and two agonising one-run defeats for the Maroon at Cambridge
Week 17 of the British Baseball Federation season served up a Sunday of the narrowest margins for both Northants Centurions sides. The Gold squad travelled to Milton Keynes and came away with a share of the spoils, shrugging off a one-run heartbreaker in the opener to roar back and take the nightcap. Down in Division 5, the Maroon squad were on the road at Cambridge and pushed a strong Monarchs outfit right to the final out in both games — only to come up a single run short each time. Two teams, four tight ballgames, and, for all the fine margins, plenty to be encouraged by.
Division 4 — Northants Centurions vs Milton Keynes Bucks 2
The Gold made the trip to Milton Keynes for a doubleheader against a Bucks 2 side sitting second in the Central conference, and the two games could hardly have felt closer — even if the results diverged.
Game One
NHC 15 – MKA 16 LOSS (extra innings)
The opener was a proper slugfest that went right down to the wire — and then beyond it. Northants hauled themselves level in regulation to force extra innings, only for Milton Keynes to find the decisive run and edge it 16–15. To claw all the way back and tie the game up showed real character, and fifteen runs would be more than enough to win the vast majority of ballgames. It is a familiar and frustrating story for the Gold this season, though — another to add to a run of one-run defeats that could so easily have swung the other way.
Game Two
NHC 15 – MKA 10 WIN
Full credit to the Centurions for the response. Rather than let the opening loss linger, the Gold came out in the second game and again reached fifteen runs — this time backing the bats with the pitching and defence to keep Milton Keynes to ten. A five-run win over the conference's second-placed side is a genuinely encouraging result and earned Northants a thoroughly deserved split on the road.
★ MVP — Rob Kilworth. The Gold's man of the day for one unforgettable swing: a grand slam home run in Game Two, four runs in a single crack of the bat to blow the game open and set Northants on their way to the win.
Division 5 — Northants Centurions 2 vs Cambridge Monarchs
The Maroon headed to Cambridge to face the Monarchs, the East conference's second-placed team, and produced their most competitive doubleheader in weeks. Both games came down to the very last margin, and on another day the Centurions 2 might well have come home with a win — or two — in the bag.
Game One
NHC 11 – CBM 12 LOSS
A tense, back-and-forth contest that Cambridge shaded 12–11. The Maroon matched the Monarchs run for run for much of the afternoon and were right in it to the finish — a big step up from recent outings, even if the scoreboard didn't reward the effort.
Game Two
NHC 9 – CBM 10 LOSS
More of the same in the second game: another single-run decision, this time 10–9 to the hosts. To take a strong Cambridge side to the wire twice in one afternoon is no small feat, and while back-to-back one-run losses undeniably sting, the competitiveness on show is a real marker of progress with the closing weeks of the campaign now in view.
Standings Snapshot
Division 4 — Central Conference
Birmingham Bats stay top and clear at 16–4, with today's opponents Milton Keynes Bucks 2 second on 14–8. The split leaves the Northants Centurions on 9–13, holding third place in the conference comfortably ahead of Leicester 2sox (3–17). Third spot looks secure, and with the bats producing fifteen runs a game there's every reason to fancy a strong finish.
Division 5 — East Conference
Herts Raptors remain the runaway leaders at 18–2, with Cambridge Monarchs second on 13–9. Today's two narrow defeats leave the Northants Centurions 2 on 4–14, fourth in the conference, just behind Essex Redbacks (5–15). The record doesn't begin to reflect how close this afternoon was — pushing the division's second-best side to a single run in both games points to a team heading in the right direction.
Two tight days, then, but plenty of positives to carry forward: a battling road split for the Gold and the Maroon's gutsiest showing in some time. The margins are wafer-thin right now — keep swinging, keep competing, and the results will start to fall the right way. Thanks, as ever, to everyone who travelled and everyone who cheered them on. Come on you Centurions!