It was a Sunday of small margins for the Northants Centurions. The Gold squad travelled to Birmingham and came home empty-handed from a doubleheader that could so easily have gone the other way, while the Maroon side shared the spoils at home against Essex Redbacks — losing a one-run nail-biter before roaring back to take the nightcap. Two teams, four games, and two results decided by a single run: it summed up a season in which the Centurions keep finding themselves on the wrong end of the closest contests, but also keep showing the fight to stay in every one of them.

Division 4 — Northants Centurions vs Birmingham Bats

The Gold squad made the trip to face Birmingham Bats, one of the form sides at the top of the Central conference, and pushed them all the way across both games. There was no shortage of effort or runs from Northants — what was missing, by the finest of margins, was the win column.

Game One
NHC 10 – BIB 11 LOSS

A one-run heartbreaker. Northants put up ten runs against a Bats side that has been among the division's best, but came up just short, falling 11–10. It is a scoreline the Gold squad have seen too often this year, and there will be real frustration at letting this one slip — but ten runs on the road against a top-two team is something to build on, not hang heads over.

Game Two
NHC 7 – BIB 10 LOSS

Birmingham edged the second game 10–7. The Centurions stayed competitive throughout and kept the deficit to three, but the hosts had just enough to complete the sweep. A tough afternoon on paper, yet the Gold squad asked plenty of questions of a side sitting near the summit of the conference.

★ MVP — Tony Dufour
The Birmingham batters were big hitters all afternoon, and they kept Tony Dufour busy in the outfield — he answered the call with five catches across the day, plus a stolen home to boot. A standout shift in the field and on the bases, and a thoroughly deserved MVP for the Gold squad.

Division 5 — Northants Centurions 2 vs Essex Redbacks

The Maroon squad hosted Essex Redbacks for a rearranged pair of fixtures and served up the day's most dramatic baseball — an agonising loss followed by a feel-good response that showed exactly what this group is about.

Game One
ESR 18 – NHC 17 LOSS

Heartbreak by a single run. The Centurions 2 traded blows with Essex in a genuine slugfest, racking up seventeen runs of their own, only to be edged 18–17. Games like this are cruel — so much went right with the bats — but there was no questioning the character on show, and it set the stage for what followed.

Game Two
ESR 7 – NHC 10 WIN

The response everyone wanted. The Maroon squad steadied themselves and took the second game 10–7, holding Essex to seven and getting the job done to split the doubleheader. After the disappointment of the opener, bouncing straight back for a win says a great deal about the spirit in this side. A deserved result and a real lift to end the day on.

Four games, two of them lost by a single run, and a Maroon win to send everyone home smiling — there's plenty to be proud of and plenty to sharpen. Keep backing the boys; on this evidence, those tight games are going to start falling our way.